Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Food Forest Composting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Havre de Grace renews Green Team food forest and composting programs; ordinances adopted on first reading
Summary
Council voted 6–0 on first reading to renew agreements with the Havre de Grace Green Team for the Todd Park Food Forest (Ordinance 11-63) and composting collection (Ordinance 11-64) after public testimony from green-team volunteers who cited community benefits and diverted waste.
The Havre de Grace City Council on Sept. 16 introduced and approved on first reading two ordinances renewing the city’s agreements with the Havre de Grace Green Team: Ordinance 11-63 for a food forest at Todd Park and Ordinance 11-64 for composting collection (including an agreement with Garrity Renewables LLC).
Danielle Wolf, a green-team volunteer, told the council the programs promote environmental sustainability and community resilience. "Together, the citizens of the city have now diverted over 96 tons of food waste from our local landfill since mid-2020," she said, urging continuation of the programs. Carol Zimmerman, who spoke for the food forest volunteers, described volunteer adoption of trees and the park’s educational and food-provisioning role and encouraged the council to pass the ordinance.
Council member Boyer explained that the memorandums of understanding for both programs date from earlier years and these ordinances renew the agreements for a two-year period. The council introduced both ordinances and adopted them on first reading by roll-call votes of 6–0. The clerk said the public hearings for both ordinances will be held at the next council meeting on Oct. 7 at 7:00 p.m.
The ordinances formalize a longstanding community-run program in which volunteers maintain plantings at Todd Park and manage residential food-waste collection and composting; city officials noted the program has low cost to the city and may be expanded if demand grows.
