(Originally published on July 31, 2024)

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Daily Sitka Sentinel Staff Writer

At its meeting last Tuesday the Assembly agreed on scoring criteria for judging responses to a request for proposals for a community garden at the end of Jarvis Street.

The request was issued the next day, calling for responses by August 22.

The idea for the community garden came from the Sitka Local Foods Network and another nonprofit, Transition Sitka, with the project intended to serve “the overlapping interests of the two organizations to promote local food security and sustainable food systems.”

The land lease application submitted by the network and Transition Sitka more than a year ago prompted a town hall meeting and discussions at the Assembly and Planning Commission levels. The city identified two possible sites for the garden project, one near the Blatchley Middle School ball field, and the other a more remote site off the end of Jarvis Street. The discussions settled on the Jarvis Street site as the preferred location.

“With a lease we wanted to tailor proposals towards horticulture uses, and particularly those that had a wider spread community benefit towards our strategic plan goals around food security,” City Planning Director Amy Ainslie said.

At the Tuesday Assembly meeting, Ainslie said the opportunity to lease the half-acre parcel at 101 Jarvis Street will be open to everyone through a competitive response process. The city attorney said the project did not meet criteria for an exemption from competitive bidding, which is the usual process for the lease or purchase of land owned by the city.

Assembly members last week said they liked the criteria and the equal weight given to each: experience and qualifications, development plan, operating plan, financial viability and community benefit, with 20 points for each.

The lease structure is for:

• an initial term of three years to lay the ground work and complete prep work and planning (e.g. permitting, storm water prevention plan, site remediation.)
• first renewal term of two years for building and construction, site preparation, operations.
• successive renewal terms of five years, for up to five terms, “if the lessee has remained compliant with all lease requirements.”

Some Assembly members said they wanted to make sure the successful lessee meets goals and milestones, which are built into each of the terms.

Thor Christianson asked whether the lessee could continue moving forward with subsequent phases of development if they reached milestones under the first or second stages of the lease.

Ainslie responded, “I don’t think it would be the intent of the Assembly or the city to hold someone back from construction if they’re ready for it. So I’m confident the language of the lease could accommodate that.”

“I’m happy with this, and hope we get this moving soon,” said Assembly member Kevin Mosher, speaking in favor of the project in general, and point scoring system with equal weight for five criteria.

Christianson said he liked that the RFP would require the responders to show “the totality of the plan and not any one aspect of it, and I think this accomplishes that.”

JJ Carlson acknowledged the challenges of the project, including fundraising and land development. She said she liked the “qualitative” aspect with scoring criteria, instead of a “pass-fail” approach.

Tim Pike said he was in favor of the first two criteria for rating the responses, but wanted to make sure the site would continue to be productive, “just to make sure we’re continuing to meet the mission we say we’re interested in.”

That could include continued access to the site or milestones for food production, Assembly members said. 

There was some discussion about whether more requirements were needed but in the end Pike noted, “This is five years away at the earliest. Hopefully they’ll be up and running but we want to make sure they continue.”

Ainslie said that the standard lease terms for city land say lessees are expected to keep the property in good condition, and current with all requirements such as lease payments and insurance. She said the Assembly has provided direction about reporting requirements for upkeep of the site, community benefit and production from the site. With the Assembly’s go-ahead, she said she would add a reporting requirement during the five year renewals.

There was no vote on the lease, but the Assembly approved the minor change that will require a report before the Assembly approves five-year renewals.

Joel Hanson, representing the nonprofits interested in leasing the land, told the Assembly he was concerned about the cost of the infrastructure required in the proposed lease. Hanson is the project manager for Sitka Community Gardens, a project of SLFN and Transition Sitka.

“This would be a reasonable expectation for, say, an apartment complex or some substantial construction project, but we prefer to read it something more like ‘To the extent necessary for project development and operations the proposers will need to install utility service connections,’” he said. “This gives a certain amount of flexibility because at various times with discussions of staff we’ve heard a little bit different take on exactly what will be required.”

In an interview Monday, Hanson said the work is progressing on the community garden, in order to begin development if his group is selected through the RFP process. No other group has expressed interest in starting a community horticulture site on the Jarvis Street property, city staff said. An ordinance for a land lease will require two or more readings at the Assembly table.

The organizing group has been using Juneau Community Garden as a model for the Sitka project. As in Juneau, the Sitka garden will be run as a cooperative association with low-cost seasonal memberships, work obligations for those renting plots, and events for the community. Juneau’s community garden has 170 10-by-20-foot plots and Sitka is planning for 45.

“We already have about 30 percent of the plots spoken for,” although the garden is not expected to open for another two years, Hanson said. “There’s already considerable interest for the project, considering we haven’t even gotten the lease yet.”

Hanson said work is continuing apace, with the assumption that SLFN and Transition Sitka will be the successful responder. In addition to attending meetings at the board and commission levels, Assembly meetings and a town hall, the group has completed a land survey at the site, and received wetlands authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will be required under the RFP.

He anticipates that the required comprehensive drainage plan will take some time, and will require a stamp from a civil engineer. 

“There is really nothing substantive to delay actual work on the ground, so hopefully as soon as we’ve got the land lease and the drainage plan approved we can start working on the property,” Hanson said.

The city is expecting the first phase will include plans for operations, site security, and a site layout, among other tasks on the request for proposals list.

Hanson and others in the group are continuing with fundraising plans and grant applications. They have already received grants from Sitka Community Foundation and Sitka Alaska Permanent Charitable Trust.

In citing the need for the community garden, Hanson said there were a number of active gardeners at the last community garden, behind Blatchley Middle School, when it when it closed in 2016. He noted that a community garden is a priority in the last revision of the Sitka Comprehensive Plan.

“Nothing much happened until the city started its Strategic Plan, and the Assembly adopted another goal of establishing a community garden site,” Hanson said. The strategic plan includes an “action” to “convene community partners to develop an action plan that will address food security.” There are a number of notes in the plan that address food security including “securing land for community gardens.”

The lease price is not among the criteria, since the Assembly in its reviews gave staff clear direction that their preference is for a low lease price.

Planning for the garden is continuing to take shape, Hanson said. It includes items such as work areas to stage soil, a storage shed for compost and garden tools, a three-sided shelter for workers to get out of the weather, a restroom, an electrified fence to keep out wildlife, and access to city water.