The cost of freedom: Missoula County drives local group up the wall – The Missoulian

If youve got an idea of how to use the Lalonde Ranch property, speak up. Its available.

Thats because the members of the last group to do so, Missoulas Freedom Gardens, grew so fed up with the county that they walked out of their last meeting, leaving a years worth of work behind.

Susan Estep, one of the gardens board members, doesnt think it was standard public process that stymied their attempt to lease the site.

Clearly, the intention was to stall us through another growing season and so we gave up. Were done, Estep said.

Freedom Gardens, which grows on a back lot on the fairgrounds, donates hundreds of pounds of food to the Missoula Food Bank and focuses on technology and education in year-round farming techniques.

The group wanted to lease the Lalonde Ranch, a seven-acre homestead site in the county-run industrial park west of town, to expand their garden to include a community education center complete with greenhouse, aquaponics system and kitchen.

But faced with murky and time-consuming government processes, along with a Board of County Commissioners they never felt was on their side, the group quit negotiations partway through the process in early February.

According to Commissioner Jean Curtiss, theres enough work required to make the site usable that the county wanted to slow down before handing off to the gardens.

The barns arent up to code for people, she said, and the houses electrical system is extremely out of date.

If it was just going to be used and someone was going to plant an orchard and park their tractor in the barn, it wouldnt need to be fixed, Curtiss said. If were going to put money in it, we have to give others a chance. Thats what the law requires.

The county asked for public proposals back in 2014 and drew zero requests. That effort, put forth as a request for ideas, offered the site as-is.

Since their inception, the gardens have been located on a back lot of the Missoula County Fairgrounds, a spot obtained with a handshake deal with then-director Steve Earle in 2013.

Freedom Gardens obtained a 3,200-square-foot greenhouse and a 4,800-gallon aquaponics system a little over a year ago, Estep said.

The aquaponics system grows produce in water thats recycled from fish tanks, which raise edible fish. The gardens website boasts that the system would allow them to grow on a commercial scale using significantly less water than usual farming methods and would also take up less space.

The greenhouse and aquaponics system have yet to see the light of day: Both remain in storage while the gardens' future sits in limbo, Estep said.

Its not just the gardens expansion thats stalled, either according to a Feb. 16 Facebook post by Freedom Gardens Board Chair Heath Carey, the gardens didnt produce any crops over the last year due to shifting conditions at the fairgrounds and their gardens fate.

Missoula is home to a handful of community gardens grow spaces defined by their volunteer-led planting and harvesting, and their commitment to local, sustainable food production including ones run by the Associated Students of the University of Montana and four farms and six gardens run by Garden City Harvest.

Freedom Gardens was committed to the idea of a public partnership, after the 2014 request for ideas from the county on ways to use the Lalonde Ranch site went unanswered for over a year.

Estep and her group figured the ranch would be the perfect spot for them to put down roots, with enough land to actually use their greenhouse and aquaponics system. So they put in their suggested use in early 2016.

The park was overseen by former commissioner Stacy Rye who, Estep said, along with commissioner Cola Rowley, liked the gardens idea to move onto the property.

The project inched along during 2016 and a deal seemed to be ready in early 2017; a meeting was set to sew up the last details and draft a lease for approval at a commissioners public meeting.

County Chief Operating Officer Chris Lounsbury said the county knew the ranch wasnt in perfect shape the 2014 request for ideas specified the site was as-is" but hadnt quite realized the extent of repairs, legal research and work that needed to be done at the ranch to facilitate a long-term lease for Freedom Gardens.

The county has two other long-term leases, both land-only, with the YMCA and Missoula Correctional Services.

Laws allowing government entities to lease land are restrictive, Lounsbury said, as the state thinks local governments should either sell land or use it for a government purpose.

It is a different lease than weve ever looked at, he said. We want to be slow, deliberate and thoughtful.

Its not meant to cause frustration.

But, as Lounsbury acknowledged, it did just that and in spades with the Freedom Gardens representatives.

Estep provided minutes and notes taken by her husband Mark on meetings and interactions with the county. The documents are dotted with vexed asides, noting county staff members who were in a huff, the countys reluctance around a July site visit, and characterizing comments from Jean Curtiss as her tirade.

Group members walked out of their Feb. 7 meeting with the county, fed up with what they saw as constant roadblocks and next steps.

At the meeting, Commissioner Dave Strohmaier suggested doing a request for proposals, essentially seeking more ideas for the site that might cost less money, as well as looking into historical designations. A homestead at the ranch is thought to be the oldest original building in Missoula County.

The day after that meeting, Estep sent out an email blast expressing her disappointment and anger with the county and their process.

Jean and her tag along Dave Strohmaier yesterday proved how little they care about preserving the history of agriculture in the Missoula Valley and the Freedom Gardens has abandoned the hope of bringing the Lalonde Ranch back to life, she wrote.

So at the start of 2017, the Freedom Gardens is officially on the market for a new home; officially done dealing with the Board of County Commissioners, frustrated by what they see as a lack of respect and reliability, stonewalling and government sludgery.

Were just going to go find some other way to make our project happen, Estep said.

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The cost of freedom: Missoula County drives local group up the wall - The Missoulian