[Communications] [Education] CCGA - Zoom Meeting this Wednesday at 6pm - 2 Motions to Discuss and Vote On - Water Access for Community Gardens & Project with State of Illinois

[Hermitage Street Community garden]

Cordia will be there

Cordia Pugh
Program Director
Hermitage Community Gardens
5647 S Honore street
Chicago, IL 60636
Phone: (773) 245-3017
Email: hermitagestreetcommunitygarden at gmail.com

On Mon, Aug 3, 2020, 4:06 PM Amy Olson via Education <
education at chicagocommunitygardens.org> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I hope this email finds all of you well.
>
> Lorraine has been in touch with many of you individually about a couple of
> items our CCGA working group needs to discuss and vote on. We’ve set up a
> Zoom call for this *Wednesday, August 5, at 6pm* to cover two topics,
> each with a motion to make our support official.
>
> Please read below for some background info on each issue/motion. The
> proposed agenda will be to state the proposed motion, second the motion,
> have a brief discussion about it, and hold a final vote to make it official
> .
>
> Please reply with any feedback or ideas prior to Wednesday’s meeting.
>
> *Here is the meeting info:*
> Topic: CCGA Meeting Wed. Aug 5 at 6pm
> Time: Aug 5, 2020 06:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
>
> To join via video:
> https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6387472394
>
> Meeting ID: 638 747 2394
> Passcode: 728853
>
> To join via phone audio only - Dial by your location
>         +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
>         +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
>         +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
>         +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
>         +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
> Meeting ID: 638 747 2394
> Passcode: 728853
>
>
> *Motion 1: CCGA supports equitable water access for all community gardens*
>
> *In order to respond to the needs and requirements of community gardens
> which are non-commercial and neighborhood **residents’ **growing
> organizations, as pertains to the city water hydrant policy on the hydrant
> cap assembly, back flow preventer, and installation and inspection of **hydrant
> keys**, CCGA supports a survey of gardens affected by this new policy and
> advocates for policy changes and resources for those gardens to be
> conducted in a cooperative manner.*
>
> Here's the link to the draft water access survey:
> https://forms.gle/uroWr5SGR3Hjjwm4A
>
> Background info:
> Water is a vital resource, and we understand that some community gardens
> are struggling to access water given the changes in the City of Chicago -
> Dept of Water's new policy and procedure to obtain a fire hydrant permit.
> Fees are not the only problem, inspections are costly for community gardens
> with little resolution when problems arise, and some gardens continue to
> lack water access, even after thousands of dollars have been spent. We can
> work on more equitable water access and a reasonable fee scale for
> neighborhoods growing their own food in our community gardens.
> Additionally, liability insurance is  now required by the city's legal
> department with little understanding of how this impacts our community
> gardens.
>
>
> *Motion 2: CCGA support of and participation in pilot project with the
> State of Illinois Department of Human Services*
>
> *Community gardeners act as neighborhood stewards of green space in our
> city. These shared spaces provide social networks or norms that establish
> coordinated efforts of all members of a community to support and engage in
> food gardening and environmental awareness; therefore, CCGA is willing to
> work with the state of Ill. Department of Human Services on this
> pilot project. *
>
> Background info:
> CCGA Communications received a request from the State of Illinois to
> provide technical assistance to selected faith based organizations which
> will receive COVID funds to create a new garden or expand an existing
> one. Community gardens may benefit from technical assistance from CCGA. We
> can provide technical assistance in a range of areas including composting,
> plant distributions, gardening resources, and accessing additional
> resources for soil, tools, materials for raised beds or tool sheds.
>
> Materials provided would be
>
>    - *Basic Steps to Starting a Community Garden*
>    - *How to Collect a Soil Sample (with support from Andrew)*
>    - *COVID 19 & Community Gardening Gardening Guide*
>
>
> Please see the attached Word doc titled *State of Illinois Pilot Program
> for Community Garden Scope of Work 07-20 *which was sent to
> Communications by the State of Illinois.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Education mailing list
> Education at chicagocommunitygardens.org
>
> http://chicagocommunitygardens.org/mailman/listinfo/education_chicagocommunitygardens.org
>
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