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Plot Fees
Project Grow has had a peculiar fee structure for as long as anyone can remember. Instead of a flat per plot fee, plot rental specifies a desired range. Gardeners were asked to pay whatever they were able within the range. To make things more confusing, the ranges were divided into 3 tiers, depending on the site of the plot. For example, the top suggested fee for a full plot at the most expensive gardens was $135, while at others the top fee was $125 and at still others it was only $113. In addition, people gardening with Project Grow for the first time were asked to add in a $20 membership fee. Whatever their origin, these differences are now pretty much meaningless since all Project Grow gardens have water, all have identical volunteer requirements, and all require the same overhead in terms of online registration, insurance, and administrative time required from the board and managing director.
These fee discrepancies were discussed at the summer board retreat, and were resolved as follows. From now on, all plots will cost $130 for a full plot and $80 for a half plot. This reflects a fee decrease for more than half of Project Grow gardeners. In addition, we are doing away with the one time $20 membership fee. If you garden with Project Grow during a given year, you are a voting member of Project Grow for that year.
These changes should greatly decrease confusion and overhead required of the gardeners and the Managing Director regarding fees. A simple example of the confusion a simpler fee structure will avoid, is that our website will now be able to prominently display the cost of a garden. This could never be done before because the price depended on the site of the garden, how much the gardener chose to pay, and whether he or she was a first time gardener with Project Grow. Now, all the fees are the same, everywhere. The board felt that this was ultimately the most fair approach.
Low Income Gardens
Project Grow continues to be committed to offering low income gardens to anyone who asks for one. However, we will now ask that anyone requesting a low income plot fill out an application and send in their most recent tax form so that we have a means of assessing those most in need. A policy like this is required for basically any kind of low income exemption, from subsidized cell phones to gym memberships so the board felt it was the fairest way to go. Check the website after January 2nd to apply for a subsidized plot.
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Annual Membership Meeting
Project Grow's 2010 annual membership meeting was on Thursday October 7th at the Leslie Science Center Nature House. Our Managing Director, Cindy Rutherford, was on maternity leave but Board Secretary Royer Held presented the powerpoint presentation Cindy had made up for the meeting. Highlights included three new community garden sites at Chapel Hill, Brooks Street and Dicken Elementary, our first annual Potato Pledge and a look forward at 2011s new gardens and programming. Board President Kirk Jones followed up with a list of 2010 Board accomplishments which included creating a balanced budget despite losing about $10,000 in City of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County funding, hiring a new Managing Director and including 2 weeks of paid vacation in the the Managing Director's benefits (a first for Project Grow). Project Grow's Treasurer, Eric Meves, made also made a short presentation. A question and answer period followed the presentations and were in turn followed by board elections.
Four people ran for four open positions and were all unanimously elected (Kirk Jones, Eric Meves, Marcella Trautmann and newcomer Lucas DiGia). At the board meeting that followed the annual meeting, Kirk and Eric were re-elected as President and Treasurer and Dave Corsa became Project Grow's new Secretary. Lucas will act as Project Grow's new Volunteer Coordinator.
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2011 Registration
Online garden registration for 2011 is slated to reopen for returning gardeners on January 2nd, 2011, and for everyone else on March 15th, 2011. Returning gardeners will receive an e-mail invoice. If they choose to garden again, they only need to update any personal information that may have changed in their registration (phone numbers, e-mail addresses and so on) and return the e-mail with their payment. Anyone not responding to the e-mail invoice will receive a paper invoice in the mail. Failure to respond to either of these invoices by March 15th means the gardener will forfeit their garden for 2011. They can still garden with Project Grow, but will lose the plot they had the previous year and will get whatever plot is available on a first come, first serve basis.
This has officially been Project Grow's policy for years (returning gardeners must claim and pay for their garden by March 15th to be guaranteed a spot and to garden where they did last year) but it has seldom been strictly enforced. This year, gardeners should expect the policy to be followed to the letter, so please respond to our invoices when you receive them!
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 Project Grow's Newest Gardener On Thursday October 15th, Project Grow's managing director gave birth to a 9 1/2 pound boy, Joseph Juniper Rutherford. Mother and son are both doing fine and Cindy is now back to work. |
New Volunteer Coordination Efforts
Project Grow's newest board member, Lucas DiGia, is also Project Grow's new volunteer coordinator. Lucas' goal will be making the best use of our manpower by matching up a volunteer's abilities and interests with Project Grow's volunteer needs. Even if you've filled out a volunteer application in the past, we encourage you to do so again in 2011. The information we'll be collecting for the volunteer database has been pared down and made more useful and easier for us to reference. Much of the volunteer data we now have will be discarded as it is very out-dated.
To fill out a volunteer application click here http://projectgrowgardens.org/volunteer.htm |
Tax Deductible Donations
A garden is a community of microorganisms, insects, animals, plants, and people. All parties interact constantly, some more actively than others, to build that community. We at Project Grow would like to encourage as much active support on the part of individuals like you, who share our passion for gardening and community-building. Whether your gift is one of time and energy, financial support, or an in-kind donation, we thank you for being part of making this Project Grow!
To make a tax deductible donation click here http://projectgrowgardens.org/donate.htm
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