Ingalls hosts meeting to discuss garden issue

LYNN – Members of the School Committee’s Building and Grounds Subcommittee joined law enforcement officials and Food Project representatives at the Ingalls Elementary School Thursday to become more familiar with the garden project recently tied to gang and vandalism issues on Chatham Street.A great deal of attention has been paid to the elementary school, more specifically a community garden sponsored by the Food Project located on school grounds, since Chatham Street resident Marguerite Puleo appeared before the School Committee Jan. 31 to complain of gang activity in that area.Puleo fingered the garden’s presence as the primary cause of vandalism and violence that has cost her thousands of dollars in repairs to her home and car, but others dispute that notion, claiming the violence is a result of fewer police patrols and increased gang activity as a whole in that neighborhood.Whatever the case, Puleo and her neighbors have requested the School Department do away with the garden, a move that does not seem likely to take place given the Food Project’s good standing both at the school and throughout the community.Thursday, leaders met at Ingalls to discuss other options, such as heightened security, and grow more familiar with the area by looking at the garden in person.”This was an internal informational meeting to brainstorm ideas and for (members of the School Committee) to see the area and familiarize themselves with the garden,” said Ingalls Principal Kimberly Powers. “In the future we will have a forum that includes the community, but we have a lot of people with different levels of knowledge out there and this was a way to get them all together.”Subcommittee Chairman John E. Ford said the discussion was primarily exploratory, but after speaking with School Security and Emergency Planning Liaison Officer Robert Ferrari, the group was able to identify a host of possible safety improvements that would help keep gangs off of school grounds.The School Department now hopes to explore ways to erect an 8-foot fence, complete with locked gates, a video surveillance system and more effective lighting. All of these improvements are contingent on funding, and Ford said officials would immediately seek estimates and begin looking for grants.”Officer Ferrari made the point that you really can’t have a fence that is under 8 feet high and expect it to be effective,” said Ford. “I will take it upon myself to talk to (Inspectional Services Director) Mike Donovan about getting an estimate on fencing. Also, I think putting in a camera would be a great thing for the school to have anyway, even if they weren’t having this problem.”Ford said he would also speak with Food Project North Shore Director Melissa Diamond about additional grant funding.While school officials insist Thursday’s meeting was informal and that no decisions were made on what to do about the garden, Puleo says she is furious that she and her neighbors were not asked to attend.”We were supposed to be involved in any meeting they had,” she said. “They were right there, they couldn’t walk over and knock on my door?”Both Ford and Superintendent Nicholas Kostan called Puleo following the meeting, and assured her that she will be part of a future meeting with neighbors. Both men say she has nothing to worry about, and they are having these meetings to explore ways of solving her problem without having to close a garden that is helping the community at large.”She has a right as a citizen to express her concerns. If I was in her place I would be doing the same thing, if not more,” said Ford. “But I am getting a lot of phone calls and emails all in support of the garden. There is a lot of good that the garden brings that I would not want to get rid of.””We are trying to discuss the issue and look at a way to solve it,” Kostan added. “We certainly want to help Mrs. Puleo in any way we can. This was a meeting to talk about ideas, and right now they are just ideas, to try and resolve t