September 16, 2026 – West Bend, Wi – As you may know, the gardeners from the Washington County Community Garden (WCCG) are deeply saddened by the decision by the Washington County Board Executive Committee to move us from our current location on the corner of Water and Indians Streets. On behalf of the gardeners, I would like you and your fellow Board members to reconsider that choice.
We realize that the Next Generation Housing initiative will bring benefits to the surrounding area, including the financial benefit of adding houses to the tax rolls. That said, the potential move to another location would be very difficult, if not impossible for some members. They would lose the connections and friendships built up over 19 years, to say nothing of well-amended gardening soil. For some people, building relationships is difficult, and the loss of the WCCG in its present location would be life changing in a negative way.
If you are not familiar with the WCCG, here is some additional information:
· We typically harvest over 8,000 pounds of food annually with a current value of $3 per pound, a value of over $34,000.
· The work at the gardens is done 100% by volunteers. The industry standard for volunteer time is currently $34 per hour. We collectively volunteer around 300 hours, yielding an annual economic value of over $10,000.
· We donate to local food pantries and agencies both as individuals and through plots dedicated to that purpose. It is hard to accurately track those donations, but it our donations are probably in the 200-300 pound range.
· Over our 19 years, it is fair to say that the economic impact of the Washington County Community Garden has been around $500,000.
· Around 4,000 people have gardened at the WCCG during the past 19 years either directly as individuals or as members of family groups or organizations.
The most valuable aspect of the WCCG is not a measurable statistic. We are more than just “gardeners”, we have built a community. No matter who you are or what your beliefs are, we garden, share produce and garden frustrations, laugh, and—indeed—sometimes cry together.
We appreciate the plan to spend $100,000 to create a new garden. However, what if that ends up not being enough money after all? Financially, the County would still benefit from the taxes received because we would be gone. The gardeners, on the other hand, would lose out and be left holding their seed packets and trowels.
Deb Sielski and Aaron Zitelman from the County’s Community Development Office have been very generous with their time and helpful to the WCCG’s Transition Committee. They have answered endless questions with consideration and recognize that this is an emotionally difficult situation and, we look forward to working with them in the future.
I urge you and the Board to take another look at the plan and follow the initial recommendation to leave the WCCG in place as is, a long-standing asset to the Water Street neighborhood and to the community as a whole.
If you have not visited the WCCG, I am happy to arrange a tour for you at your convenience. I am also happy to answer any questions which you may have via email, phone call, or text.
Thanks for your time,
Mary Reilly-Kliss, Coordinatior, Washington County Community Garden
West Bend, Wi