The city is giving a hand to the Mental Health Association in the latter’s efforts to resurrect a community garden.
A Community Garden project was started in the mid-1990s on a fenced plot adjacent to the Kitimat campus of Northwest Community College.
However, the project was not long-lived and the plot had since become overgrown.
An administration report to council said the Mental Health Association planned to restore the garden over the next two years and had received a $350 grant from the Northern Health Authority to that end.
The association was asking the city to help out by:
q brush cutting and weed whacking around the outside of the fence;
q removing the cut material;
q donating hand tools and plants:
q providing information on by-law procedures and safe use of tools;
q supplying a garbage bin and regular removal of garbage; and
q monitoring the site for vandalism.
The report noted the city did not have any small tools or plants available for donation nor did it usually provide city employees to work on community projects.
“Our forces are stretched thin doing the tasks needed to keep the municipality running,” it added.
Noting the request did not qualify under the city’s community grants program, the report said if council chose to go beyond policy, the grant money should come from the ‘Council special expenses’ part of the budget.
Councillor Mario Feldhoff moved approving a matching $350 grant which passed unanimously.
Councillor Halyk then proposed the city “provide the labour to help this group start this garden”. That passed 5-1 with Feldhoff opposed and Corinne Scott absent.