City of Wheatland Community Garden Program

The Community Garden currently consists of eleven 12-foot by 4-foot planter boxes, completewith fencing and watering capabilities. When complete, the garden will include a total of twenty12-foot by 4-foot planter boxes along with four u-shaped boxes with handicap access. Inaddition, the garden will be fully landscaped and will include a picnic area, benches, tool shed,and concrete walkways. The total garden size will be approximately 150-feet by 50-feet.Community Garden Site PlanThe following site plan shows a diagram of the Community Garden plots and common areas. Todate, eleven of the anticipated twenty-four plots have been completed. The WheatlandCommunity Garden is anticipated to be complete by spring 2012.Hours of OperationThe Community Garden will remain open and accessible to Association members and the publicbetween dawn and dusk daily.MembershipThe City of Wheatland will lease garden plots to residents of the City of Wheatland. All lesseeswill automatically become members of the Community Garden Association.2

Program ManagerThe Community Garden Program Manager will be responsible for overseeing the CommunityGarden Program, including: Executing Lease Agreements; Approving Community Gardens special events; Coordinating with the Community Garden Coordinator, as needed; and Facilitating between the Community Gardens Coordinator and the Public WorksDepartment.Public Works DepartmentThe City of Wheatland Public Works Department will be responsible for addressing the largescale infrastructure, operations, and maintenance-related needs of the Community Garden. TheProgram Manager will coordinate directly with Public Works as needs are reported by theCommunity Garden Coordinator. Items to be addressed by the Public Works Department mayinclude, but not be limited to:Irrigation/Drainageo Water breakso Hose replacementsLarge Infrastructure maintenance and improvemento Fencing repairo Tool shed repairsCommunity Garden CoordinatorA key role in the daily operation of the Wheatland Community Garden will be selection of alocal volunteer who will serve as the Community Garden Coordinator. The Community GardenCoordinator will be responsible for overseeing the everyday operations and maintenance of theCommunity Garden and Community Garden Association. The role of the Community GardenCoordinator is further defined in Section IV, Community Garden Association. The CommunityGarden Coordinator may be contacted at:NameCommunity Gardens CoordinatorPhone: ______________E-mail: ______________In case of emergency: _______________4

V .C OM M UNI T Y G AR DE N A SSOC I AT I ONThe success of the Wheatland Community Garden will be dependent on users or gardeners beingresponsible for the day to day operations of the facility. The City of Wheatland expects that thegardeners volunteer their time to ensure the facility remains in good and working order. The Cityof Wheatland will assist with the creation of the Wheatland Community Garden Association,which will consist of the appointed Community Garden Coordinator and all Community GardenAssociation members.Community Garden CoordinatorThe Community Garden Coordinator will serve as the Chair of the Community GardenAssociation and as liaison between the Association and City staff. The Community GardenCoordinator will be appointed by the City of Wheatland and will be responsible for thefollowing:Maintaining a list of all Association members;Coordinating with the Program Manager and all Association members;Completing Garden Orientations;Overseeing the overall upkeep and maintenance of the garden, includingo Garden common areaso Tool shedo Community toolso Monitoring water system and usageo Reporting Public Works related needs to Program Manager;Coordinating group work days in the garden;Assigning various garden duties to Associate members as appropriate;Enforcing plot maintenance and Governing Rules;Overseeing the organization of special events and volunteering/educational opportunities;Community Outreach and fundraising activities; andMaintaining the Community Garden website.The Community Garden Coordinator may choose to delegate some of the above-listed duties toother members of the Association, as appropriate.5

fees and deposits have been paid, the gardener will be contacted by the Community GardenCoordinator for plot assignment and garden orientation.Fees and DepositsGarden plots will be leased for an annual fee of $(recommendation is $50: Council to discuss)per plot. Annual fees will go towards the long-term maintenance and upkeep of the garden andother garden-related City expenses. In addition, each lessee will be required to make a deposit inthe amount of $50. Deposits will be held in the event that the plot(s) become abandoned, are notproperly maintained at the start/end of the season, or in case of replacement of community toolsor City property due to damages caused by lessee.Annual fees and deposits will be due upon execution of the lease agreement and will be paid tothe City of Wheatland, c/o Community Garden. Fees can be mailed or paid directly to City Hallat the following address:City of Wheatlandc/o Community Gardens Program111 C StreetWheatland, CA 95692Office: (530) 633-2761Fax: (530) 633-9102RefundsAs outlined above, annual fees and deposits are due upon execution of the lease agreement.Once a plot has been assigned, the annual fee is non-refundable. Deposits will be fullyrefundable at termination of the lease agreement, given that all lease terms and conditions havebeen met. The Community Garden Coordinator will inspect the plot(s) at the end of the leaseterm to verify that all conditions have been met and that the plot has been returned to its originalcondition. Upon signing off on inspection, the Community Garden Coordinator will notify theCity and a deposit refund check will be issued and mailed to the address on file.Failure at any time to adhere to the lease agreement or Community Garden Governing Rules willresult in termination of said lease agreement and the lessee will forfeit their plot and allassociated fees and deposits.Plot Assignment & RegistrationGarden plots will be assigned initially by priority and then on a first come, first serve basis bythe Community Garden Coordinator. Priority will be given to returning gardeners from theprevious year and residents of the Park Place neighborhood. Returning gardeners will have firstright of refusal for renewing the lease on their plot, assuming that all lease terms and conditions7

were met for the previous year. In the event that the gardener should forgo renewing their lease,the gardener will lose their priority status and the plot will become available to other gardeners.The Community Garden Coordinator will maintain a waitlist of gardeners who were unable toobtain a plot in a given year. As vacant plots become available, the Community GardenCoordinator will contact gardeners on the waitlist in the order requests were received. Prioritywill be given to residents of the Park Place neighborhood as outlined above.Gardeners may request specific plots or more than one plot; however, as plots are assigned firstby priority and then on a first come first serve basis, there is no guarantee that the gardener(s)will receive the requested plot(s).All plots are non-transferrable and are the sole responsibility of the lessee.Un-Leased PlotsPlots that remain un-leased at the start of the planting season will be made available to existingAssociation members on a first come, first serve basis at no extra fees.Garden OrientationOnce a plot has been assigned to a new gardener(s), the Community Garden Coordinator willcontact the gardener(s) to arrange an orientation. The garden orientation will include thefollowing: Tour of the Community Gardens site; Garden access information; Information about the gardener(s)’ individual plot(s); Copy of the Community Garden Governing Rules; Orientation to watering practices, community tools, and common areas; Volunteer information and events calendar; and Other pertinent information.8