Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Food Access topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Toledo staff propose $15,000 city match for urban-ag microgrant pilot; Lucas County Land Bank to match
Summary
Mara Momoni, the city—s new food policy manager, asked the Finance Committee to fund a $15,000 pilot microgrant program (matched by the Lucas County Land Bank) to support urban growers with grants of $1,500—3,000 for infrastructure, soil testing, distribution and related needs.
Mara Momoni, Toledo—s newly hired food policy manager, presented a proposal to create an Urban Agriculture Microgrant Program and requested $15,000 from the city to seed a $30,000 pilot (the Lucas County Land Bank has committed to match the city contribution).
Momoni said the pilot would award grants of $1,500 to $3,000 to small-scale growers, community groups, farmer collectives and qualifying for-profit or nonprofit operators. The program—s goals are to transform underutilized land into food-producing sites, increase access to fresh produce in neighborhoods with limited grocery access, and support processing, cooling and distribution capacity for small operators.
"The number 1 barrier to starting a farm is land access," Momoni said, summarizing findings from more than 60 interviews with local growers and food-system stakeholders. She identified practical needs the grants would cover: soil testing, hoop houses and high tunnels, irrigation and water access, tools and equipment, compost and farm inputs, site remediation or raised beds where contamination is a concern, washing/processing infrastructure, and modest support for labor, insurance and bookkeeping.
The draft program favors projects located in areas with documented food-access barriers and operations under five acres; it also proposes simplified reporting and a committee to evaluate applications that would include land bank representation. Momoni proposed a timeline to refine program criteria this fall, review applications in winter and begin implementation in the spring growing season.
Council members broadly supported the pilot. Councilmember Driscoll framed the idea as similar to the city—s facade and white-box grants and said it could put vacant lots to productive use. Councilwoman Williams and others urged that local growers who already operate in Toledo be engaged; Williams specifically named several established local growers and said the city should leverage existing local expertise. Several members requested referral information about other city or county programs and longer-term budget implications before committing ongoing funding.
Ending: Staff said they would provide comparative examples and future-year cost estimates by referral and seek stakeholder feedback if the pilot is funded.
