Community garden positions to be funded in upcoming budget

Town of Black Mountain reverses course on Dr. John Wilson Community Garden recommendation

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
June 11, 2020

A decision by the Black Mountain Board of Aldermen during a June 10 budget workshop will allow the town to retain Dr. John Wilson Community Garden employees whose positions were recommended to be eliminated in the 2020-21 budget. Fred McCormick

A pair of part-time positions with the Dr. John Wilson Community Garden, initially recommended to be eliminated in the Town of Black Mountain’s 2020-21 fiscal year budget, will now be funded. 

In a June 10 budget workshop, hosted on the virtual meeting platform Zoom, aldermen agreed to add approximately $50,000 to the proposed budget that would allow the town to retain the garden manager, pollinator garden coordinator, a pair of golf course maintenance employees and a position in janitorial services. 

The original recommended budget, which was presented to the board by town manager Josh Harrold on May 22, proposed cutting funding for the positions as the town braces for a decrease in sales tax revenue related to the COVID-19 crisis. During the board’s June 9 regular monthly meeting, alderman Maggie Tuttle asked Harrold to revisit the recommendation. 

“When we put this budget together we were concerned with a lot of things,” Harrold told the board during yesterday’s workshop. “I think a lot of those things will play out later on, but my biggest concern was trying to balance this budget without using any of our savings. By doing that, we save what we have because we don’t know how this year is going to go and we don’t know what the impact will be next year.”

In response to Tuttle’s request, Harrold examined potential funding for the positions. 

“Typically, we make a budget amendment for the golf course at the end of each year,” Harrold said. “This year we chose to do that at the beginning of the year instead. What I’m suggesting is that we pull money from that line.”

Alderman Ryan Stone reiterated that the initial recommendation was not to eliminate the garden, which produced 4,500 pounds of produce last year and features more than 100 community volunteers, but to shift oversight to full-time employees of the town’s recreation and parks department. 

“I think people had the misconception that we were going to abandon the project altogether, and that was not the case,” Stone said. “We wanted to continue it, but we wanted to bring it in-house.”

Discussion of the original proposal to transfer supervision of the garden began as a direct result of the COVID-19 crisis, according to Harrold. 

“It became apparent that we were going to have to make tough decisions, which we did,” he said. “Cutting positions is not an easy decision to make and it was definitely not the first decision that was made during this budget process.”

In crafting the proposed budget, according to Stone, the town manager was tasked with retaining the town’s core services while identifying ways to reduce expenditures. 

“I appreciate him doing that, and I appreciate him taking another look and finding the funding,” Stone said. “But, I do want to make it clear to people that, just like you are at home with your budget, we’re trying to figure this out as we go. While we’re able to save these positions this fiscal year, we don’t know what things will look like next year. But, we are attentive to what makes this a special place and we try to keep those services the best we can.”

Diana McCall has been managing the garden since 2006, developing partnerships with local organizations like Black Mountain-based nonprofit Bounty & Soul. All gardeners are required to reserve a percentage of their harvests to be donated to the organization, which distributes free produce to members of the community who are facing food insecurity. The garden also provides educational resources to members of the community. 

“After touring the garden, I believe they’re doing a really good job down there,” Alderman Jennifer Willet said. “Diana seems to be very involved and there are some really good volunteers who really care about that garden. A lot of volunteers spoke about how it has helped them, mentally, during the COVID-19 crisis.”

The town will hold a public hearing at 5:30 p.m., Monday, June 22, before finalizing the proposed budget.