Grassroots group at odds with city of Long Branch over community garden

Grassroots group at odds with city of Long Branch over community garden
Jones: There will continue to be a garden at the site
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
After a contentious press conference last week, a local grassroots group announced they will be withdrawing support from Long Branch’s Seventh Avenue Community Garden.

Protestors hold up pictures of vegetables in front of the site of the Long Branch Community Garden on Seventh Avenue on May 3. Protestors hold up pictures of vegetables in front of the site of the Long Branch Community Garden on Seventh Avenue on May 3. The press conference was held at the garden on Seventh Avenue between Park Place and East Columbus Place on May 3, where members of the grassroots group InCahoots were protesting the city’s construction of a building at the garden site and locking the gate to the garden.

“Lisa [Bagwell] and I showed up to go into the garden to find out that the locks have changed and our key didn’t work,” InCahoots member Steve Treason said.

Jacob Jones, director of the Office of Community and Economic Development, attended the press conference and said that despite the construction, there will still be a garden at the site.

Building under construction at the site of the Long Branch Community Garden Building under construction at the site of the Long Branch Community Garden “There was no area taken from the garden,” he said. “We very much intend to have a garden.

“No one needs to panic, there will be a garden here.”

Jones explained that there is going to be an auxiliary building on site that will include a meeting room and storage space. There will also be a parking lot.

Jones said that the construction project has been in the works for sometime and everyone was aware of it.

“Everybody knew this, it is not new,” he said. “This is funded with federal dollars [Housing and Urban Development] and they’ve approved it.

“This has been in the works for three years; we’ve finally been able to get this building.”

Treason claimed that the line of communication between him and the city was not open.

“We didn’t discuss the plans, we had no idea there was going to be a parking lot,” he said.

Jones refuted Treason’s statement, saying that the parking lot would not affect the garden.

“That has nothing to do with the garden, Steve,” he said. “It just won’t be an exclusive community garden because we will have other people using the building.”

In a press release, InCahoots member Michael Marks announced that the group’s relationship with Long Branch is over.

“It is not clear to us why this happened,” Marks said. “We thought we had a collaboration with the city, but new decisions about use of this land have been made without including us or residents or members of the community.

“We acknowledge their power to do that, but we will not support people or organizations who operate like this. We’ll continue our discussions for community gardens with Asbury Park, but our relationship with Long Branch is over.”

Jones also gave some history of the garden in Long Branch.

“We’ve done these gardens for over 14 years,” he said. “Last year we decided to do this with InCahoots, which worked out fine, but we ran this garden without anybody else’s help besides job bank and volunteers.”

Marks gave some history of the group’s agreement with the city.

“This started in December 2008 with a proposal to the city of Long Branch,” he said. “After about four months of negotiations, we reached an agreement with the city to develop this as a community garden.

“Long Branch contributed the property and part of the agreement was a payment of about $4,000 a year from Long Branch to Lisa Bagwell to manage the garden. InCahoots paid an additional $6,000 to Bagwell.

“In addition, Long Branch provided some manpower in that they cut the grass every week, they tilled the soil, and they provided seeds, plants and tools.”

Marks said that the partnership with the city worked out well for everybody.

“Steve [Treason] worked out a nice partnership with the city where everyone was happy,” he said. “We calculated that several hundred people visited the site last year.

“We calculated that 4,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables was produced last year, 3,000 pounds of which was delivered to various community organizations.”

Some of the organizations Marks listed include Long Branch Senior Housing Centers, Long Branch Housing Authority buildings, food pantries, clients from the Long BranchConcordance and City Hall.

Treason agreed that the garden was a success.

“We can all agree that last year was a fantastic garden year,” he said.

Marks was critical of Jones’s treatment of InCahoots.

“So why did you enter into an agreement?” he said. “We only asked to be met equally. What kind of partnership is this? So you don’t need us and that is not the kind of relationship we want to have.”

Jones explained that he entered into an agreement with InCahoots because he felt they could benefit the garden.

“I have interest in running my garden, so if somebody is interested in helping me out, I will listen,” Jones said. “I didn’t ask Steve for any money and I don’t need any money now.

“I don’t need InCahoots’funds to do this. If you want to still work with us that’s fine, but if you don’t, we will still do this garden.

“We never entered into a partnership, I never knew Steve spent a single dime.”