{"id":1879,"date":"2013-08-06T10:59:52","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T14:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=1879"},"modified":"2013-08-06T11:06:32","modified_gmt":"2013-08-06T15:06:32","slug":"borough-council-gets-dirt-on-public-works-garage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=1879","title":{"rendered":"Borough Council gets dirt on Public Works Garage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facility\u2019s new location could sprout community garden<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n
\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Time<\/em>s<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Resident<\/a>

Resident John Thomas (left) listens as Chris Stejskal, an intern at Maffei Landscape Design, LLC., provides Borough Council with an exterior vision for the new Public Works Garage, a plan that incorporates a community garden into the landscape.<\/p><\/div>\n

A request for gardening space in Kennett Square took root Monday night as Borough Council applauded a request from CATA, a migrant farmworkers\u2019 organization.<\/p>\n

Rachel Winograd, the food justice coordinator for the nonprofit, said the group hoped to make use of space that could be available at the borough\u2019s new Public Works Garage, under construction at South and South Washington Streets. Winograd said the organization launched a similar project in Bridgeton, N.J., buying a site at nominal cost that is now teeming with vegetables.<\/p>\n

She said CATA, which was founded by migrant farmworkers in southern New Jersey in 1979 to improve their living conditions, has seen the benefits of community gardens in fostering improved nutrition, a sense of accomplishment, and residents\u2019 camaraderie. She said the group operates on the principle that \u201cfood is a basic human right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A plan by Maffei Landscape Design, LLC., shows a possible community garden in the top left corner of the borough\u2019s new Public Works complex.<\/p><\/div>\n

In seeking an affordable site, Winograd said she came in contact with Joseph Scalise, the borough\u2019s director of Public Works, who suggested that the new Public Works complex might be a good fit.<\/p>\n

The timing dovetailed well with an initiative from Borough Council President Dan Maffei, who owns a landscape design business. Maffei said he had offered to do a free master plan for the site, and had turned the project over to Chris Stejskal, an intern who was entrusted with coming up with a vision that would beautify the site without busting the budget.<\/p>\n

Stejskal, a University of Delaware graduate who recently served as a horticultural intern at Walt Disney World, apparently brought some \u00a0magic back to Kennett Square.\u00a0 His design, which included thrifty, eco-friendly elements such as a rainwater harvesting shed, a composting post that could be used by residents, and native plants to improve stream quality and combat erosion, also incorporated a potential community garden into the plan.<\/p>\n

Kennett Square Mayor Matt Fetick (left) swears in Earl T. \u201cRusty\u201d Jones as an alternate on the borough\u2019s Civil Service Commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great use of the property,\u201d said Councilman Geoffrey R. Bosley. \u201cIt makes a lot of sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilman F. Sean Walker questioned whether the garden would expose the borough to any liability or interfere with the public works employees; however, he learned that CATA\u2019s allotted space would be outside the department\u2019s fenced area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s absolutely the right thing to do \u2013 without question,\u201d said Councilman Leon R. Spencer Jr.<\/p>\n

Only one citizen, John Thomas, expressed opposition to the proposal, testily chiding Borough Council for not questioning the migrants\u2019 group more about what he perceived as its exclusionary nature. Several Borough Council members told Thomas he had \u00a0misinterpreted the group\u2019s intentions. Although CATA would \u201chost\u201d the site, everyone was welcome to participate, Mayor Matt Fetick said. Thomas later apologized for some of his remarks.<\/p>\n

After hearing the positive consensus, Maffei said the council would continue to \u201crefine the plan and move forward.\u201d If CATA were not interested in using the space, the borough would have had more land to mow or maintain, he said. He also said he hoped CATA\u2019s proposal would inspire other residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe spirit is neighbors helping neighbors,\u201d Maffei said. \u201cBring us your ideas; we rely on the community to help us.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other business, the council approved the appointment of Earl T. \u201cRusty\u201d Jones as an alternate on the Civil Service Commission and thanked him for his willingness to serve. Jones was sworn in by Fetick. Borough Council also agreed to meet with the Kennett Area Park Authority to discuss the pending transition as Public Works is relocated from Anson B. Nixon Park to its new location.<\/p>\n

Richard Lyon, vice chairman of the Kennett Area Park Authority, said the park has proven popular. The summer concerts have each attracted over 400 attendees, and the costs have been covered by the sponsors, he added. He said the park has 13 reservations right now, including the three-day Brandywine Folk Festival, which begins on Aug. 23.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facility\u2019s new location could sprout community garden By Kathleen Brady Shea,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Times A request for gardening space in Kennett Square took root Monday night as Borough Council applauded a request from CATA, a migrant farmworkers\u2019 organization. Rachel Winograd, the food justice coordinator for the nonprofit, said the group hoped to make use of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[1506,1507,1508,1509,1510,365,1511],"class_list":["post-1879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-borough-council-president-dan-maffei","tag-cata","tag-chris-stejskal","tag-councilman-geoffrey-r-bosley","tag-councilman-leon-r-spencer-jr","tag-kennett-square","tag-rachel-winograd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}