Council Hears Update on Garbage Fees and University Farm

by Leslie Lytle
Messenger Staff Writer

At the May 20 meeting, the Sewanee Community Council received an update on the scheduled garbage collection rate increase and confirmed meeting dates for next year. Farm manager Gina Raicovich gave an overview of the goals and methods of the University farm. 

Superintendent of Leases Barbara Schlichting announced a $1.25-per- month increase in the residential garbage collection fee. Contract negotiations in 2011 set the rate for the past two years at $22 and called for a 75-cent increase effective July 1, 2013 (a 50-cent increase in the contractor’s fee and a 25-cent increase for recycling pickup). The additional 50-cent increase is necessary because landfill fees will increase $1 per ton on July 1.

The council decided on a slightly different meeting date schedule from the dates proposed in April. For the 2013–14 academic year, the council will meet on the fourth Monday of each month, with the following exceptions. The council will meet on the third Monday in April and May; the council will not meet in December and July.

University farm manager Gina Raicovich said the mission of the University farm is educational, with an emphasis on connecting the coursework of students in all subject areas, from biology to political science, to the farm’s methods and activities. Raicovich assumed the role of farm manager a year ago. She remarked on the students’ “excitement” about learning practical things such as how to drive a tractor and about making the connection between the agricultural and natural world, a discipline she referred to as “ecological agriculture.”

The goal of the farm is “to increase diversity, not detract from it,” Raicovich said. She gave the example of goats that eat invasive species of weeds. She pointed out that different animals favored different plants and taking that into account, a field may harbor chickens one year, followed by vegetable crops, followed by pigs. The farm’s footprint encompasses the fields surrounding the old dairy and barn. The old dairy barn will be used for classroom and meetings space, as well as storing equipment.

Council representative Dennis Meeks expressed concerns about pigs, citing the odor and “hog lot” appearance of fields where pigs were pastured. Raicovich explained that the rotation system called for pigs occupying a field for two weeks to graze, root and fertilize; then the field would be planted in vegetable crops, and the pigs would be rotated to a different site. After several rotations, the pigs would be returned to the original field to forage again. 

“The focus is on sustainable livestock production, as opposed to feed lot operations,” she said. Martin Knoll, professor of forestry and geology, reviewed the areas earmarked for livestock and said the vegetation buffer was more than adequate to prevent waste from entering Lake Cheston.

Several council representatives pointed out that part of the Fourth of July fireworks viewing area was in a livestock-vegetable rotation site. Raicovich said it was only a small part of the viewing area, and she would probably move the pigs for the July 4 event.

Referring to an issue raised in February, Schlichting reported that the Lease Committee reviewed the lease policy related to dogs and concluded barking dogs qualified as a “nuisance.”

Laura E. Saxton of the University’s human resources department recorded the minutes for the meeting. 

The next Council meeting is Monday, June 24.