Schools

Organic Teaching Farm Plows Ahead

But Town Attorney Re-examining Whether Spot Was Designated for Active Recreation in Bonding Resolution

Pamela Jones' and Jody Eisemann's plan to create an organic teaching farm on Hoyden's Lane picked up another endorsement tonight, but there's still a row to hoe ahead.

Town Attorney Richard Saxl is looking into whether a bonding resolution approved by the Board of Finance permitted only active recreation on the property, which the town bought for $1.8 million in 2007, and the Representative Town Meeting still needs to designate a use of the property.

Town Fiscal Officer Paul Hiller about two weeks ago looked up the bonding resolution at the request of Fairfield Patch and said it didn't restrict use of the property to active recreation. First Selectman Ken Flatto said about two weeks ago that farming, under state statutes, was considered both active and passive recreation.

Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The town's Conservation Commission tonight endorsed allowing Jones and Eisemann to create the organic teaching farm on an acre of land in the southwest corner of the 9.42-acre town-owned property at 520 Hoyden's Lane.  The commission's endorsement followed an endorsement Wednesday night from the town's Parks and Recreation Commission, which added that the town should lease the acre to Jones and Eisemann for two years, with two one-year renewal options.

"This effectively gives them two seasons for their growing seasons," Ellery Plotkin, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission, said tonight to the Conservation Commission at a meeting in Sullivan-Independence Hall.

Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The organic teaching farm isn't on the Representative Town Meeting's agenda Monday night, though the RTM could add it to the agenda with a two-thirds vote or consider it at its meeting in July or August.

Jones and Eisemann can't sign a lease with the town until they get non-profit status and insurance for their farm. Jones said Wednesday night that she thought she'd have non-profit status in about 60 days. They also have to test soil on the property before they can plant anything.

Because the lease would be for only two years, Flatto could enter into it without approval from town boards, according to town recreation officials.

Town Conservation Director Thomas Steinke said tonight that Saxl had asked the Conservation Commission to take no action on the organic teaching farm, but Stanton Lesser, the commission's chairman, said he thought the commission had the right to endorse the farm, regardless of who had jurisdiction over the town property.

Eileen Kennelly, an assistant town attorney, said several weeks ago that the Conservation Commission had jurisdiction over the property because the RTM, when it approved $1.8 million to buy the land, had said the land was to be used for town purposes, including active and passive recreation. That designation was so vague that jurisdiction went by default to the Conservation Commission, as a town ordinance from 1999 requires.

The Conservation Commission's endorsement tonight also included a request that jurisdiction of the property be given to the Parks and Recreation Commission.

Jones and Jennifer Cole, a graphic designer for the organic teaching farm, said they hoped to do some growing on the property this year, though it may be through "hoop houses," which are similar in concept to greenhouses, and "raised bed gardens," which wouldn't require them to plant in the soil on Hoyden's Lane. They said they likely would have to collect rainwater for the farm, though they also planned to investigate whether they could get access to water from a well on the property.

Jones said town rec officials offered to provide water and electricity for the organic teaching farm once a girls' Little League field is built on another section of the 9.42-acre property.

The Board of Finance is scheduled to vote July 6 on a $400,000 funding request for the girls' Little League field. The RTM would also have to approve the funding request.

Plotkin said Wednesday night that rec officials plan to build the girls' Little League field through volunteer efforts and donations if the $400,000 funding request is rejected by the Board of Finance or RTM. Plotkin added Wednesday night that he was not amenable to creating more Little League fields in town for boys - such a request is pending for Gould Manor Park - until the girls get a Little League field.

Jones said the potential late start for the organic teaching farm made it difficult to develop a cultivation plan, but it also presented an opportunity. "We could demonstrate four-season growing techniques," she said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here