Henderson Park Community Garden Progress

Subject: Henderson Park Meeting Summary

Presenters/Speakers:

Revonda Moody, Park Planning and Development

Marti Watts, Silverman Construction Program Management

Steve Provost and Regan Carr, jB+a (the landscape architects awarded the master plan contract)

Revonda and Marti provided an overview of the master plan process for the 7 acres adjacent to the Henderson Park soccer fields. The second meeting will be held on January 20. A third meeting will be held sometime in February. During the second meeting, jB+a will present a preliminary master plan. The master plan process is scheduled to conclude end of February/early March. Master plan construction should be completed by December of 2010.

Steve and Regan presented aerial photos, a topographical survey, and a site analysis, which included the locations of specimen trees. Before they’d finished, it was clear to attendees (including TYSA’s representative) that the site isn’t appropriate for another soccer field.

One attendee, who uses the hiking trails, said he’d like to keep the site as a natural area and make the trails more accessible. The community garden suggestion seemed to get a lot of support. Another attendee suggested a picnic area with grills and shelters (which would be perfect next to the community garden!), which the TYSA rep said would be useful for soccer families, giving them a place to gather before and after games. The TYSA rep had one word of caution, though: he said that parking should be addressed for any additional amenities, explaining that the soccer parking lots are already overflowing during weekend games.

Important and encouraging news for the community garden:

1. In January, DeKalb County will launch its community gardening initiative. Its purpose is to define the relationship between community gardening clubs/groups and the County (for ex, the County rents the site to the club for a fee and the club assumes certain responsibilities, including individual plot rentals), and to set forth rules for community gardens operating in DeKalb parks. Revonda said that a list of available sites will be included and that Henderson Park made the list. (If fact, she said that our proposal from last February can still be used; we’ll just need to attach the additional initiative-related paperwork to it. I’ll look into that once the initiative is launched.)

2. If our community garden is approved (that is, if there is no opposition to it from the community), Revonda said that we shouldn’t have to wait for the master plan to be completed, but that we can get started based on the County’s initiative.

The Henderson Park Master Plan project will be added to the DeKalb County Parks & Recreation web site (http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/parks/) (see Mason Mill Park Master Plan Development as example). Minutes from the meeting will be included.

Short notice and dreadful weather contributed to very low attendance, with as many county and consultant representatives attending as community members. Thanks to those of you who were able to make it. I hope we can improve our turnout for the next meeting, not only as a show of support but also for the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the preliminary plan.

Regards,

Susan Farrar