Stevensville council tables Dickerson Park community garden proposal until February

The Stevensville Town Council voted on Oct. 9, 2025, to table a proposal to create a community garden at Dickerson Park (Sixth Street Park) until the council’s first meeting in February 2026 to allow further community outreach and planning.

Council member Brown made the motion to table and a second was recorded; council members agreed to defer formal action while proponents and staff addressed logistical concerns. Council discussion and public testimony identified several outstanding issues the council asked proponents and staff to address before returning with a formal plan.

Residents and proponents spoke at length about the project during the meeting. Jeremy (surname not provided), who read a prepared statement to the council, urged the council to deny the proposal at Dickerson Park and suggested school property be considered instead, writing that “a meter should be installed to bill the users of the park for the personal usage of the garden” and that the town should not fund private use of the park’s automatic sprinkler system. Jeremy listed several practical concerns previously experienced in an earlier community garden: neglect of plots, theft, disputes over encroachment and differing water needs, and recommended an 8-foot fence and that the town not pay for private water use.

Other residents described access constraints to the park. One speaker measured the right-of-way access between 13 and 15 feet and warned that adjacent personal yards could be trampled if garden traffic increased. Proponents of the garden said raised beds, labor and materials would be provided by volunteers and community groups, and they identified potential partners including the local FFA, 4-H and a homeschool co-op. A proponent suggested using a vacant school plot that already has a meter and water access as an alternative site.

Council members and staff raised operational questions, including whether the park’s irrigation had a meter, who would manage and supervise plots, parking and traffic on the adjacent one-way street, fencing and deer control, and how the water would be paid for. Council members agreed more outreach with neighbors and a refined plan addressing water metering, access, and governance was necessary.

The council directed proponents and staff to continue public engagement and return with a detailed plan at the first council meeting in February so the community could review water arrangements, site access, governance/management, fencing and maintenance plans. No binding authorization to install fences, meters, or to appropriate town funds was made on Oct. 9; the item was tabled for further work.

Ending

Proponents and neighbors were encouraged to meet with town staff and neighborhood residents and to explore alternate locations, including school property with existing water service. The council’s tabled status preserves the option to return to the topic with a complete proposal in February 2026.