A community garden project could be one step closer to sprouting after tonight’s (4-22-25) Sitka Assembly meeting. When the assembly meets, it will consider approving a lease for the garden on Jarvis Street for a dollar a year.
Last year, the assembly solicited bids to lease the half-acre lot after the Sitka Community Gardens Association expressed interest. The lot is north of the post office, next to vacant city land and land owned by the Raptor Center. The garden group was the only bidder, and after reviewing the proposal, the assembly in January directed staff to draw up a lease for them.
Sitka hasn’t had a community garden in nearly 10 years, following the closure of the Blatchley Middle School garden. The group, which hopes to address one facet of food insecurity in Sitka, plans to divide the lot into a mix of larger and smaller plots to rent out to local gardeners.
In other business, the assembly will consider the city’s general and enterprise fund budgets on final reading. And it will discuss whether to outsource the management of its nonprofit grant program to a third party.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
