Terrace City Council approved a request from the Green Thumb Garden Society to cover their liability insurance expenses of $700 annually. The vote subsequently defeated a second recommendation by City Planner Tara Irwin that prohibited the sale of horticultural items, including produce, value added or related items.
Councillor Stacey Tyers, who managed the community gardens for 10-years while it was under the responsibility of the Terrace Anti-Poverty Society, said the purpose of the gardens is to provide a resource to benefit individuals and families, not to use as a means of fundraising or financial gain.
“Instinctively they will want to sell more instead of donating the surplus,” she said.
Tyers also noted that the society decided to not register as a charity organization, which narrowed the number of grant options available to them.
Councillor James Cordeiro voiced his concerns about restricting the society’s ability to fundraise with the recommendation, which prohibited the sale of produce, value-added or related items from individual and collective plots.
The message was echoed by Councillors Brian Downie, Lynn Christensen and Sean Bujtas.
Cordeiro proposed the society be able to raise funds through garden-related activities in conjunction with other fundraising efforts like calendar sales and barbeques.
The recommendation was defeated, and a motion brought forward by Christensen who asked that the Green Thumb Society be permitted to sell their inedible surplus, including raspberry canes, from the garden twice a year as means of fundraising. That motion was passed.
At press time, the Green Thumb Society was unavailable to comment.
brittany@terracestandard.com
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