11/3/2009 7:15:00 PM Community Garden now a bed of thorns Organizational dispute grows into legal threat
Attorney Justin Vaughn Monday sent a letter to three local residents Monday ordering them to cease their gardening and vacate the premises. Neither side is willing to go on the record in the dispute. The three have been excluded from participating in gardening activities associated with the Cottonwood Community Gardens LLC. VVN file photo
COTTONWOOD -- A battle is brewing in the garden. Ants, gophers and weeds have been a problem. Water is not always plentiful, but there is more to the mopping of brows than the heat and drought.
It's a power play in the garden that has raised the temperature. The battle seems to be control over the plot of land west of the Cottonwood Dog Park.
The Cottonwood City Council is now wondering if it should have granted an acre to build a community garden after all. During last week's strategic planning retreat, City Manager Doug Bartosh questioned the city's wisdom in even establishing the community garden.
It's also now become a legal issue.
Attorney Justin Vaughn Monday sent a letter to three local residents Monday ordering them to cease their gardening and vacate the premises.
Neither side is willing to go on the record in the dispute.
The three have been excluded from participating in gardening activities associated with the Cottonwood Community Gardens LLC.
Bartosh and Mayor Diane Joens have spoken with both sides in the dispute, and have urge them to resolve their differences among themselves.
The City Council last year enthusiastically granted an acre tract for the garden near the river with access to irrigation water. A lot of work was done to establish a garden for the community, a place intended to provide a plot for almost anyone who would like to dig in the soil and grow some vegetables.
Fencing was established, as was piping and a pump to bring ditch water to the garden and the entire plot was plowed for the garden sites.
Each gardening plot was 4- by 16-feet..
After one year, Jay Fleishman, one of the trained Master Gardeners on the board, said, "The first year wasn't perfect. We had a late start. It took time to get the water line in, the economy didn't help and some gardeners fell away. But we had 27 to 28 gardens, some quite beautiful."
In the second season, however, the board promised more over-site, including a "new relationship with new gardeners"
New President Joseph Guthrie said, "Because of liability requirements ... a more complicated application will be used in the new year." Some gardeners have complained that application is burdensome.
The board, originally presided over by Ralph Bauer, includes several Master Gardeners. The volunteer program is affiliated with the Cooperative Extension Service to help educate the public on gardening and horticultural issues.
The board established a non-profit status through Cornucopia Community Advocates to raise money and educate the public.
But sometime during the past year, conflicts grew between members of the board of directors of Cottonwood Community Gardens LLC and some of the gardeners. Board members do not garden plots of their own, but manage the business affairs of the organization.
The gardeners claim there is no communication.
Bauer was terminated as president by the board.
Local gardener Rae Ebeling said that weeds, including an invasive vine, had taken over the site. She said the garden was overrun with ants.
She said when board members were contacted about the problems, they were not responsive and even rude. She said board meetings of the community garden were cancelled or closed to the public and the gardeners were restricted from attending those meetings.
The non-profit status was withdrawn by Cornucopia because of financial concerns, according to Ebeling.
Ebeling said Fleischman advised the gardeners they should form an association for themselves. That's what they did. They formed the Cottonwood Community Garden Association and elected their own board, including a president who is also trained as a master gardener.
In mid-October, the new association took a "vote of no confidence" in the original board, sending a copy to the city in an apparent attempt to wrest away control.
The Vaughn letter disputes that control: "You have no lawful organization, nor does any such association have any authority granted by the City of Cottonwood. As the responsibility for operation of the garden rests with the Cottonwood Community Gardens LLC, so does the authority to have you removed."
