The Town of Prudence • Department of Strategic Planning
Prudence Town Hall • 80 Main Street • Prudence, MA
Chadleigh Parsons
Director, Department of Strategic Planning
MEMORANDUM
TO: Ralph ‘Chap’ Butler, III, Selectman and Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Chadleigh Parsons, Director Department of Strategic Planning
CC: Marilyn Howard, Director Department of Public Works
SUBJECT: MOTION RESPONSE: 4/7/2015 – Selectman Ralph ‘Chap’ Butler, III- Req. Department of Strategic Planning Work With Proper Authority To Publish A Cost Analysis For Raised Garden Plots Operated By Not For Profit Organization
Black Goat Gardens is 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in 2010. It currently supplies and administers raised bed gardens in five locations throughout the town of Prudence. Site A is a .7 acre public lot behind the closed Mosaic Elementary School in the Tanner Row Neighborhood. Site B is just under one quarter acre in size. It is located on a public lot adjacent to Town Hall in the Downtown Neighborhood. Site C is a .5 acre public lot that abuts the Prudence Historical Society’s auxiliary parking. It is also located in the Downtown Neighborhood. Site D is a .8 acre public lot in the Lace Park Historic Neighborhood. It is located in Smyth Grove, which is directly across from the Smyth Boulevard entrance to Lace Park. The fifth and final site under consideration is on one third acreage and is located upon a hilltop across from the Thornton’s Pond Reservoir water treatment facility in the Thornton’s Pond municipal watershed.
On 3/11/2015, Selectman Ralph ‘Chap’ Butler, III motioned for the Department of Strategic Planning to explore public land usage for these raised garden plots. The council unanimously approved the motion. DSP staff visited all five sites to assess their current condition, environmental impact, and their fiscal footprint.
- General Condition
Site A
The wood used to form the rectangular raised beds allotted to garden volunteers is weathered and deteriorating, particularly at their bases where they meet the ground. Around most beds were rings of fungi and untended weeds. Mosses and lichens were also observed growing unimpeded on their exterior surfaces. DSP staff were required to remove and dispose of plastic sheeting used to cover the beds in order to take soil samples, the results of which are not available at this time. Although locked and gated, the beds pose considerable health and safety risks to children who use the nearby playground facilities. Unaccompanied minors were observed climbing fencing near the site to retrieve balls and other items. Despite recent Council urging, Black Goat Gardens has not installed video surveillance equipment to monitor the site’s perimeter. If a child or children access the site, there are several hazards present. The fencing could produce cuts and abrasions. The raised beds, which are 24 inches and 36 inches in height, pose significant risks for trips and falls. The aforementioned material deterioration makes splinters and cuts likely.
Site B
The site is not fenced in or gated. Like Site A, it does not have its own video surveillance equipment per Council suggestion. There is partial coverage provided by a ‘bullet’ camera located on the northwest corner of the Town Hall building. Like Site A, the beds, which again are 24 inches and 36 inches in height, are showing signs of unchecked weathering.
Site C
Despite its proximity to a parking lot in active use, the site is not fenced in or gated. It does not have separate video surveillance equipment, but two dome cameras installed by the Historical Society provide complete coverage. The raised beds are 24 inches and 36 inches in height from the ground. They were replaced in late November and then covered with tarpaulins during the winter season. The wood has not been painted, stained, or treated.
Site D
The site is located inside Lace Park, which is not fenced in. Gates at the east and northwest entrances are decorative and not secured at any time. Lace Park is not monitored by any video surveillance equipment. Prudence Police Department’s last available annual report indicates a 23% increase in burglary by forcible entry compared to the most recent prior available annual data for the Lace Park Historic Neighborhood. The report goes on to suggest that “although LPHN is a high-income neighborhood, access to a methadone clinic via Nashaway Regional Transportation bus routes that make frequent stops at Lace Park entrances may be a major driver of break-ins by unlawful and forcible entry in the immediate area.”[1] The raised beds used are also 24 inches and 36 inches in height from the ground. They are constructed from wood-plastic composite and do not show signs of material deterioration, although cosmetic staining from dirt and other organic materials was observed.
Site E
The site is located next to single story public housing building for disabled veterans. There is no video surveillance equipment present at the site. All raised beds are 24 inches in height. This necessitates frequent bending for volunteer gardeners thereby increasing risk for repetitive strain injuries. As with Site D, they are constructed from a wood-plastic composite and show neither signs of material or cosmetic deterioration.
- Environmental Impact
Sites A-E
DSP employees were unable to find any definitive studies on community gardening and carbon recapture. In fact, there is growing evidence that ‘rewilding’ public spaces, or leaving them untended, is an effective means of carbon repatriation from the air, as well as an effective means to prevent flooding and wildfires, or mitigate damage from them.[2] As such, removal of the raised garden beds from premises would still demonstrate a commitment to ‘climate resiliency’, which is a key criteria for continued support from the Commonwealth Grants ECOGrants program. These grants currently provide the town of Prudence with $15,000 annually to permit Black Goat Gardens’ land use at its five public locations.[3]
Sites D-E
Both Sites D and E use wood-plastic composite materials, or WPCs, for the raised beds located onsite. WPCs combine natural woods, which are organic materials, with plastics, which are inorganic materials. Traditional wood lumber can be refurbished, recycled, or decompose. Traditional wood lumber is biodegradable. The petroleum-based plastics used in the manufacture of WPCs means that the end product is not biodegradable. It is also unclear if WPCs can by recycled by manufacturers into new WPCs or other products. This suggests their end state is as permanent waste and thus are detrimental for the environment.[4]
- Fiscal Analysis
Sites A-E
According to Black Goat Gardens’ own website, one out of every five raised beds is reserved for the organization itself. These beds are used to grow ‘heirloom’ vegetables and other produce that are sold at farmers’ markets and to local restaurants, chiefly The Black Goat Tavern on the corner of Wolfe and Main. They are sold at the market rate and the revenue generated from the sales is placed in the organization’s general fund. Black Goat Gardens refused to provide DSP employees with financial records and/or account information that corroborates this assertion. Their board also refused to offer ballpark figures for how much money might be in the fund on average, and also refused to discuss how many transactions the fund averages in terms of deposits and withdrawals. The potential fiscal damage is twofold. Given the close ties, as indicated by their names, between the nonprofit entity and the for-profit business “Black Goat Tavern’, it is unclear whether or not ‘Black Goat Gardens’ is merely a tax-sheltered supplier for the pub. This would mean The Black Goat Tavern has an unfair competitive advantage over other area bars and restaurants. Again, any records that could indicate otherwise were not provided to DSP employees when requested. This would also mean that the town of Prudence, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and federal government of the United States is being denied tax revenue generated from these sales.
Site C
The site is within walking distance to the commuter rail station. As ridership increases, the demand for nearby parking does as well. Converting the site into additional paid parking spaces will produce immediate revenue for the town of Prudence. Long term, it will also help attract more high-income residents to relocate to Prudence. This in turn will produce generational revenue through property taxes that the town relies upon to fund its essential services.
Conclusion
DSP hopes to work closely with the town council to further inquiries into the public land use at the five sites enumerated in this memorandum. First and foremost, DSP wishes to secure financial information from the nonprofit Black Goat Gardens to provide better oversight of their town owned land utilization.
DSP also hopes to foster partnership with the Nashaway Technical Institute, specifically its Science of Climate Department, to better understand the environmental impact of the current land use.
More immediately, DSP hopes the town council will address the clear lack of upkeep we observed at Sites A-C.
DSP would also like to commend steps the town council has already taken to promote video surveillance of all five sites and recommends passage of binding resolutions that would require the installation, monitoring, and maintenance of video surveillance equipment at all five sites. This is the least intrusive and most cost-effective way to unburden the town and the town’s first responders from health and safety related liability issues at all five sites.
Timeline:
Task Timeline
Repair and Replace Raised Beds at Sites A-C
1-2 weeks
Data Collection on Environmental Impact of Sites A-D
Ongoing
Data Collection on Fiscal Efficiency of Sites A-D
Ongoing
Installation of Video Surveillance Equipment at Sites A-D
6-12 months
Total Implementation Timeline: 12-24 months
[1] Prudence Police Department 2010 Annual Report, pp 54-57.
[2] Google.
[3] Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Commonwealth Grants ECOGrant Application FY2015. Accessed from mass.gov.
[4] Wikipedia.
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