Hello Everyone,
Last night we had a very productive meeting-- thank you to everyone who joined in and those who volunteered their time with us! I've attached the agenda that I handed out at the meeting.
Jeanne Patterson invited me to join her, Tony Sloan, and other knowledgeable and helpful people at 6 PM to take a look at 3 lots on S. Pearl St. and the 2 potential sites at the middle school. The Pearl St. lots would all work horticulturally as gardens. There are concerns that they are somewhat hidden from public view, one lot is directly under power lines, and also (a biggie) we are not sure who owns them-- they very well could be privately owned. Any garden on Pearl St. would be on the smaller side.
The middle school offers many exciting options and the potential for a much larger garden. A very visible, yet smaller garden would fit in the front of the school and a garden as big as 100' x 100' would fit in the back. Integral to any plan at the middle school would be a children's garden. Setting up a dedicated teaching area for the use of the students would be a priority in any plan we presented to the BOE. We believe that they could use this area to teach many subjects, open them up to apply for lucrative grants, and most importantly, show a new generation where food comes from, proper nutrition, and the importance of working together as a community.
At 7 we all made our way to Zebu and loosely followed the attached agenda. We decided, since this group was initialized with the 94 W. Front St. lot, and so much effort was put into utilizing that space, we should still work to make sure that it is preserved as open space. The lot should not be sold, especially since a primary argument of the council, against a garden, was that it should be open for all to use. We also agreed that because we have been stonewalled on that site, and in the interest of getting a garden anytime soon, we are officially moving forward to have a garden at another site. As of now we are focusing on the middle school. Ernest will be reaching out to the superintendent today and we will be trying to set up a meeting with her, Tony, and just a small group to introduce the idea. We don't want to overwhelm with too many  people. The sense is that if we can get her on board, the BOE will be more inclined to be in favor of a garden on their property.
As a contingency to the middle school, we are still keeping an open mind to privately owned land that might be available. There is a lot behind the Lamplighter on Harding that has potential, and we would still like to get a definite answer on the lot next to Trinity Church on Front St. (that seems to be a real dream location for many gardeners). 
Finally, we discussed the adoption of the Count Basie monument plot. We agreed that we would pursue adopting this site-- doing periodic weeding and cleanup. I will send out the application to Deborah Eadie at NJ Transit by the end of the week.
As a reminder, there will be a group at Riverside Gardens, Sunday, June 26th from 9am to 1pm, doing grunt work-- weeding and pulling invasive vine. Please join in!
If anyone has any input or questions, please let me know-- 
Thank you!
John
 


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