Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes
September 10, 2025 7 PM
Remote Meeting
Pam, Nick, Jolene, Rhonda, Ann, Barb A, Lily and Karen.
Minutes With a motion by Lily and seconded by Ann the June 2025 minutes were approved.
Presentation by Rhonda James from UW Landscape Architecture regarding access to Physical Plant storage facility south of EHG.
With the construction of the new Frautschi Center for the Preserve, Grounds needs a new entrance to their storage facility. The only option is to create a second road parallel to the south road at EHG that goes to the weed/leaf piles. The new road would run parallel to the garden road and veer off to cut through the berm into the storage area. There are a variety of concerns, with safety being foremost. There would be a fence separating the roads for the entire length to protect people on foot from trucks. The entrance would be reworked. Currently there are a lot of issues with drainage and water runoff from EH drive. It would be nice to resolve this as a part of the project. Construction will likely begin in the spring of 2026. A construction fence will be up for the project.
Registrar Update
Lily suggests adding castor bean to the list of prohibited plants. The committee agreed.
Lily met with the Bee Hotel group. The project will be managed by a graduate student in entomology that will be at the UW for another 2.5 years. At that point the project will be evaluated by the garden and the University to see if it should be continued. The student will monitor and maintain the bee hotel quarterly. The suggested location for the bee hotel is in the daylily patch by the EH shed. The committee discussed other bee hotels in the gardens. It was decided that only bee hotels that are part of a Preserve-approved research project will be permitted in the gardens. Any other bee hotels must come down. Barb A pointed out that the daylily patch needs to be cleaned up. Lily is having a volunteer work on this.
The 600s row needs to be redrawn like the 500s row was last year. The committee agreed. Lily will draw up a proposed map.
A gardener wants to volunteer with a group of coworkers to do a workday in the gardens. The committee decided that this would not be allowed in common areas. The gardener can do this in her own plot however.
A trail camera in the 1300s row caught images of produce theft. Initially the gardener was asked to remove the camera to comply with Preserve rules. However, the new director of the Preserve said that trail cameras are permitted, and gardeners can have them. The UWPD is also ok with this. Theft has been a serious issue lately. The garden committee can decide on the garden's rules regarding this. The committee was undecided at this time and will revisit the issue.
Garden Worker Report
The 1300s water line has been replaced and is mostly done. There are a couple of small leaks but they will be fixed tomorrow. The committee was impressed by the work.
Motion by Lily and seconded by Pam to adjourn which passed.
Adjourned about 7:56 pm
Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee
