Sumner’s Community Garden became the subject of no small amount of consternation in November, as the city council debated its place in the 2013-2014 budget.

The community garden was founded in 2008 to allow community members to lease plots of land, growing produce for themselves and for donation to the Sumner food bank. To date, it has been funded by a combination of grants, city funds and a small membership fee.

The Community Garden is split across a 1.5-acre tract of Shepherds Field, owned by Christ the King Lutheran Church, and the 7.6-acre Sumner Community Farm on Valley Avenue East.

Councilman Randy Hynek, who started the garden, was alarmed when it was not earmarked for additional funding in the next biennium. He sent out an email to select community members sometime before the Nov. 5 city council meeting.

The Courier-Herald contacted Hynek Friday requesting a copy of the email, but had not received a response by press time. Based on discussion in the Nov. 5 meeting, concerns outlined in the email included the lack of additional funding and a lack of accessibility to city equipment, such as a backhoe.

Mayor Dave Enslow countered that “additional” was the key word, as the garden retained a funding balance of $9,000.

A “Funding/Future” section was added to the Community Garden page on the city website to refute or clarify points in Hynek’s email.

“City Administrator John Galle did not deny all use of city equipment at the Garden,” the page reads on one bullet point. “For example, in May 2012, five city employees spent 32 hours working at the Garden, using the City’s boom truck, backhoe and flatbed. Also, the city recently paid a fuel bill for 99 gallons of the City’s diesel fuel used by the Garden.”

In the subsequent bullet point: “Former City Administrator Diane Supler greatly limited use of city equipment by non-city employees, based on the strong recommendation by the City’s insurance provider.”

A presentation by farm coordinator Ed Smith, overviewing the functions and status of the garden, was placed on the Nov. 5 agenda at the request of councillors Hynek and Nancy Dumas.

The placement of the presentation led to debate, heated at moments, over whether the presentation was more appropriate for a regular council meeting or a council study session. Disagreement was split between Hynek and Dumas on the side of a regular meeting presentation, and the remaining members of the council.

Councilman Steve Allsop expressed concern that the council at large did not know the content of the presentation, and thus did not know if it made a biased or misinformed argument.

Hynek maintained it was important for the public to know about the garden. Councilman Mike LeMaster countered that study sessions were just as open to the public as regular council meetings.

A motion to reschedule the meeting to the Nov. 12 study session was passed 5-2, Hynek and Dumas voting against. The presentation was eventually given at the Nov. 19 regular council meeting.