Call to order the Monday, December 15th meeting of the Gardener City Council. The clerk will please call the role. >> Councelor Brooks, >> present. >> Councelor Cormier, >> present. >> Councelor Dalowitz. >> Councelor Hardurn. >> Councelor Heath, >> present.
>> Councelor Hegeland, >> present. >> Councelor Kazinskis, >> present. Councelor Mack >> present. >> Councelor Tone. >> Councelor Tibo Munoz >> present. >> President Tyrus >> present. Those who wish may now rise for the opening prayer and pledge of
allegiance. >> Almighty God, we thank thee together to inspire us to deeds and sound decisions and direct us towards the attainment of good city government. We pray to bless and protect all the people of the city and to inspire us that we may liberate
in unity and harmony. Amen. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
>> Announcement of open meeting recordings. Any person may make a video or audio recording of an open session of a meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium subject to reasonable requirements of the chair as to the number, placement, and operation of equipment used so as to not interfere with the conduct of the meeting. Any
person intending to make such recording shall notify the chair forth with all documents and exhibits used or reference at the meeting must be submitted in duplicate to the chair as it become part of the meeting minutes. Is anyone recording tonight's meeting? There are no prior meeting minutes.
There are no public hearings. There are no communications from the mayor. There are no petitions, applications, or communications. Reports of standing committees. Public service committee. Item 11750. November public service committee
update. Council Cormier. >> Uh thank you, Mr. President. Um the public service committee met Friday with department heads. Departments heads have provided their updates and they are available in the packets for review.
>> Uh I move to place those on file. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Cormier, second by councelor Kazinskus to place this item on file. Is there discussion? Councelor Hegel. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I want to thank, you know, and express appreciation both for the council
president and the the standing committees. We've been getting these updates, I think, more and more frequently and having department heads before us and I think they've been a good use of time and I appreciate the effort um and all the work that's gone into that to get that information. I do though think we still have some ironing out to do to improve the quality and the
digestibility of the information we receive from department heads. Uh for instance, if you had a chance to review uh in our packet, as um the chairman mentioned as well, one of the updates was essentially a bulleted list. And this is, you know, something the department had provided. It's not
necessarily on the committee or the council in general, but with little to no context. If you didn't get a chance to watch the meeting, it might be hard to understand. Um I think in many ways, these these updates are to inform the council of what's going on so that we can make better informed decisions when
things come before us. So, I also appreciate the template that the council president had made up and I think that'd be something that some, you know, department heads have been using. That's been great and I and I hope to see certainly more take advantage of that template as well. For example, when you looked at that DPW update, there was a
line that said James Street water pump station bids opened, no auditor. That jumped out to me in particular because it was highlighted in yellow in our packet. So, I'd watched the service committee meeting to see if there was more information provided for that, what the issue was, etc. I guess my question
is, and I don't expect an answer right now. I obviously realize we're without an auditor, but the master laws clearly state that in the absence of the auditor, the assistant may perform his duties, and when performing such duties, she'll have the powers and be subject to the requirements and penalties applicable to him. So, my hope is that
maybe in the future we can get some more of an explanation of the issue with the James Street pump. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councelor Hegman. Any further discussion? Motion's place on file. All those in favor I. >> I. All those against no. Motion passes.
>> Public safety committee. Item 11737, an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Gardner, chapter 600, entitled vehicles and traffic section 24 entitled parking prohibited on certain streets. Councelor Cormier. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. President. I move to
send the item to second and final printing. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Cormier, second by councelor Brooks to send this item to the second and final printing. Is there discussion? Council Cormier. >> Uh now it has been moved. I would like to offer an amendment just to uh clarify
the title uh and some of the language in the ordinance. Uh, I would like to offer an amendment to change the title of the ordinance to be read an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Gardner chapter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic section 23 entitled all night
parking and chapter 512 entitled parking section two entitled removal of city vehicle removal of vehicles by city and section 4 entitled schedule fines. Um, and the rest of the amendment is to remove the footnote that was provided by
the legal department and to add at the very end of the ordinance, "This ordinance shall be effective upon passage and publication as required by law as most of our ordinances read." >> Okay. >> Amendment seconded by councelor Brooks, made by councelor Cormier.
>> I'd like to take councelor Cormier. >> Uh, yes. This is just clarify the title of the ordinance as the ordinance actually uh touches uh three different spots of the city code uh to clarify what the parking ban would cover and to
differentiate the parking ban between a winter parking ban and a code red parking ban uh basically um and then the rest is just for cleanliness purposes. >> Thank you councel councelor Mac. >> Yes. Can I ask for clarification um on the amendment made by councelor Cormier?
He when he was reading it, he said section 23, but we're voting on section 24. >> Yeah, section 24 was incorrect. It should be section 23. >> Okay. And that's still that way on our on our agenda. So, okay. Um my other question through the chair to the
counselor is so your footnote of passage means that this will be would be in effect before January 1st possibly upon passage. >> Um the winter parking man would start January 1st the way we have this ordinance right now.
>> Thank you. >> I would like to suggest a brief recess to get the amendment in writing uh to distribute to the counselor so we can read it. Um, so we will uh resume once the assistant clerk is able to distribute copies of the amendment. Council
Cormier. >> Uh in light of the issues with this uh current ordinance, uh I am going to move to withdraw the amendment. >> Second. >> I agree.
Motion made by councelor Cormier, second by councelor Kazinskus. Is there discussion? >> All those in favor? I. >> I. >> I. All those opposed. No. >> Motion passes. >> And then I'm also going to move to withdraw the item itself uh the the
motion for the item and to remove from the calendar. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Cormier, second by councelor Kazinskus to withdraw and remove from the calendar this item. Any discussion? All those in favor? I. >> I.
>> All those against? No. Motion passes. >> Item 11741, applications for motor vehicle dealers, class 2. Item A, AC Auto Clinic, 411 Parker Street. B, Gardener Automart, Inc. 182
West Street. C. Gardener Motors LLC, 119 Pearson Boulevard. D. Mike's Auto, 251 East Broadway. E. Rick's Radiator Repair Used Car Sales, 800 West Broadway. F. J. Wood,
Inc., 361 West Street. G. Riverside Auto, 65 Riverside Road. H. TJ and Suns Auto Repair and Towing, Inc. I MTM Auto LLC 207 East Broadway
J FJ Drive Zone Corp 407 Chestnut Street. Council Cormier. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh the safety committee met on all of these applications. These are all businesses that are in good standing with the city. Uh and we were unanimously in favor and
therefore I move to approve all applications. >> Second. Motion made by councelor Cormier, second by councelor Brooks to approve all applications listed. Is there discussion? All those in favor? I. >> I. >> All those against? No.
>> Motion passes. Item 11742 application for motor vehicle dealers licenses class 3 a Riverside Auto 65 Riverside Road. Council Cormier. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh again, this was an application for renewal uh with a
company that's in good standing with the city. The safety committee was in unanimous approval and I therefore move to approve the application. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Cormier, second by councelor Brooks to approve the application. Is there discussion? All
those in favor? I. I. >> All those against? No. Motion passes. Item 11751, November public safety committee update. Council Cormier. >> Uh thank you, Mr. President. Uh there were three updates that were provided to
the safety committee by the uh fire, police, and uh health departments. Uh those items are in the packet. Some of the highlights were that the fire department is still fully staffed. Um they are moving forward with the grant for their new radios. Unfortunately, the
prices have increased. So, they're not going to be able to attain all of the radios. They were hoping to get, I think, 37 out of the 42 uh that they had originally um quoted out. Um they were still happy with that. That's still a
good amount that they're able to uh to handle emergencies with. Um the roof, the ceiling in the uh truck bay in the fire department is fixed. it is complete. So they can now uh keep
that room uh warm without uh dealing with any leaks. Um and that was from fire police. Uh there is a new officer graduating or actually actually just graduated this past Friday. Um and they have another graduate at the end of
January. Um there have three other candidates that they're looking at. So, they're hoping by next fall those two candidates will have gone through the academy and they would be back to full staff next fall. Um, there were obviously Mr. uh, Officer Smith just
retired. There are two more resignation, two more retirements coming up. Um, so they are still dealing with uh, understaffing at the moment, but they're hoping by the fall that they will be uh, back to full capacity. Uh the domestic violence advocates started December 3rd
and they're very happy. Uh they said that the um backlog is gone. Basically they're responding to calls sometimes within just a few hours. Um so that's been a great help to them. Um and then the kitchen for the emergency operations
center is being worked on by Monty Tech students. So, they expect that to be done by uh the spring and finally have that done, which has been an outstanding item since they basically built the the
station. Um the health department, the big news was that they filled the director's position and they are starting on the 5th of January. After that, they will fill the rest of the positions that are open in that department. Um they did a tabletop
emergency preparedness um exercise with the state. Um so they are finalizing new plan response plan networks as a result of that. Um there are no heat calls. Obviously if uh any families are dealing
with this with their uh landlords, they can contact the health department. Health department did say that most landlords have been very uh receptive um and have gotten things worked out uh very quickly. Uh the other big item was
the Lee Jade pump repairs are underway and they should be done by the spring. Uh I believe April was when they were expecting that to be done. Um we had voted on that. Um that was uh the crux of the three updates we had been given.
We did not have an update from the building department and so I move to place the item on file. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Cormier, second by councelor Brooks to place the update on file. Is there discussion? All those in favor? I.
>> All those against? No. Motion passes. Finance committee. Item 11743. An order transferring $10,867.80 from auditing department salary and wages to auditing auditor department
expenditure account- profofessional services. Councelor Hglin. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Through you to the council leading to a motion. The finance committee met on this item last week. Essentially, what this will do is take the $10,867.80 from the current um unused auditor
salary and ex and allow it to be used for professional services to hire up to six weeks of exter external contractor work. Uh the mayor, the council uh councelor journal who's chair of the finance committee and HR have been in separate meetings as well about this
issue. essentially would work the same as last time when we had um these same similar services prior to the previous auditor uh being hired. And so if unneeded of any amount um or all of it's ever unneeded, we can also revert this back to the line item with the vote of the council. The committee was
unanimously in favor and so I move the order be adopted. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Heglin, second by councelor Mack to move the order. Is there discussion? This be a roll call vote. The clerk will now please call the role. >> Councelor Brooks, >> yes.
>> Councelor Cormier, >> yes. >> Councelor Heath, >> yes. >> Councelor Heglin, >> yes. >> Councelor Kazinskus, >> yes. >> Councelor Mack, >> yes. >> Councelor Tiss or excuse me, Councelor Tel Munoz,
>> yes. >> President Tyrus, >> yes. >> Yes. Eight. Motion passes. Item 11745, an order transferring $1,622.79 cents from city council department salary and wages to city council
department expenditure account-off supplies. Councelor Mack. >> Thank you, uh, Council President. leading to a motion. You will find attached in your packet the um item uh in the quotes to transfer $1622.79
from the city council department salary and wages account to the city council expenditure account. This is for the purchase of a new owl for specific use in the city council chambers which was submitted by President Tyros. This purchase will allow for there to be no issue with recording meetings. It also
will allow for the current owl to be used in other meeting places or if one malfunctions it gives us a backup. The funds for this is being taken out of the city council department salary due to unused appropriations for councelor Hegeland's stipen. I make a motion to authorize the transfer.
>> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Max, second by councelor Heglin to authorize the transfer. Is there discussion? >> Councelor Kazinskus. Um I just wanted to just for clarification um councelor Hegeland's stipen is not awarded to him
because he is a employee of the school department. So I just wanted to make that clear for the public watching. Um and so he does not receive a stipen from being a city counselor and that's what councelor Mack did before she retired from the school department as well. Um, so I just wanted to make a point of
clarification to be clear on that just in in case there was any confusion on that statement because I know I might be if I didn't know the status. So um, thank you. >> Thank you councel because that's further discussion. >> Clerk will now please call the role.
>> Councelor Brooks, >> yes. >> Councelor Cormier, >> yes. >> Councelor Heath, yes. >> Councelor Hegler, >> yes. >> Councelor Kasinskus, >> yes. Councelor Mack, >> yes. >> Councelor Tel Munoz, >> yes.
>> President Tyres, >> yes. >> AAS, the motion passes. >> Economic and community development committee, item 11454, report on the investigation of the Mackie Park project. Councelor Kazinskus.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. I intend to request more time on this item and I have some context about that first if I can share that first. Um, thank you. So, the Economic and Community Development Committee has had Mackie Park on its agenda throughout this year and most
recently addressed it at our meeting this past Friday, December 12th, when Director Stevens provided an update. I want to commend Director Stevens not only on his diligence on the matter, but for his leadership overall, stepping
into his role. Just under a year ago, he stepped into the role and the Mackie report compiled by then councelor Tyrros was basically waiting for him. The report documented the serious problems at Mackie Park and how they came about
and it was clear that Director Stevens, having no part in creating the Mackie Park mess, was going to have to find a way to effectively clean it up. Director Stevens took that challenge head on. He maintained transparency throughout the process and moved the project forward in
a timely and efficient manner. So earlier today, I was made aware that Mayor Nicholson was not going to be able to attend tonight's meeting. So, as a result of that, I then informed Director Stevens that it would be my intention to delay this item tonight at tonight's
meeting. Um, and so he the intention was for him to come here and present on it and I didn't want him to waste his time coming here when um I was going to um ask for more time on the item since I knew the mayor wasn't going to be able
to be here. So in particular, I think it's important that the mayor be here for this item. And also um I don't think the council should recognize a department head during our meeting um who is overseen by the mayor without the mayor present and without any other
extenduating circumstance. So that's just my personal feeling. So with that being said, thank you. I would like to please ask for more time on this item. >> There's not any objection. The council will be given more time. More time. >> Thank you.
Item 11747, November economic and community development update. Councelor Kazinsitz. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Leading up to a motion. Um, so as I just stated, the economic and community development committee met this past Friday, December
12th, and Director Stevens gave us an update on the following items. Uh, Mackie Park, as we've now taken more time on the Mackie Park item 11454, which is on our agenda. Director Stevens will give a full report on this project at either our next meeting or a future
meeting. Um but in very short uh railings and accessible um the railings and accessible table need to be installed but that has been delayed by the weather. The site is the site is still fenced off and the park is not open as it is not yet complete. Uh
and again he will elaborate much more on that when he gives his full report. 205 to 213 Main Street and the Garbos properties both have the same review process. 205 to 213 Main Street is moving along. The Garbos appraisal is done except it's waiting on the
environmental premium cost estimate and then it will be able to move forward with the land disclosure agreement with the executive office of housing livable communities from the state because it falls under urban renewal unlike 205 and 213 Main Street to 213 Main Street 827
Green Street. There was a public hearing that was held regarding their storm water plan. Uh there were no public comments or comments from the planning board there and that matter does remain open as it's still in the process. Rear Main Street, there are no further scheduling delays. The completion date
does remain at May 31st. National Grid will review the site for further construction to begin where they have to move poles and wires etc and do some electrical work. Masonry and concrete work is weather dependent. So they will continue to work on the project where
they can and when they can and where they can working around that with the weather restrictions but again the completion date does remain at the same uh time at this time. The city's master plan there was an open house open to the
public held on October 30th and office hours held on December 9th for feedback about the master plan. There are postings around city hall and posts on the city's website to inform the public about that process and for feedback. Greenwood Pool phase one, which was the
full demolition, is complete. It came in under budget by about $148,000 where $38,000 of that project was awarded to uh MVOCK right here in downtown Gardner. And $110,000 was awarded to the Gardener
CAC. um those being CDBG funds from a prior award year and they needed to be distributed by the end of this year and so um ENVOK and the CAC had applied for them and um I'm the designate to the
CDBG steering committee and at our last November meeting we discussed that item in length and what all those all of those funds will be going to. Um but it it is fitting that they were distributed to those two organizations given the economic state and um what they're going
to be using them for for the veterans and for people in gardener who need who need their services. Phase two is next for Greenwood Pool and it will be the Greenwood Memorial Pavilion. Um and it is one of the economic development department's
upcoming projects and they do plan to apply CDBG funding. Uh and if all goes as they plan, they will go out to bid this winter and hope for um construction next year um ideally in the spring, but this is dependent on a lot of things right now. So it is ongoing.
The hazard mitigation plan, there was an open house on action item prioritization that was held on December 3rd. recording of which is on the city's gu the city of gardener's YouTube channel and physical surveys are available in the city clerks and city treasurers's offices for anyone who comes into city hall and would like
to participate in those surveys regarding the plan. There's also links available to the digital survey by contacting Director Stevens directly. Um you can email him and or call the department and he will um be able to send out that to anyone interested.
Chapters one through five of the hazard mitigation plan have been completed and reviewed with chapters six, seven, and eight before its full presentation to the planning board and city council. And then um another update was on it. This
is new to the department. They're not necessarily new to Gardner, but there's um Sentryway and the Pearl plan they call it. Um these are two proposed housing developments which um residents of these areas are probably aware of but they have now been submitted for preliminary site plan review and um so
that process will begin and start to take place and with that I move to place this item on file. >> Motion made by councelor Kazinski second by councelor hegland to place the update on file. Is there discussion? Councelor Mack. >> Uh thank you council president. I just have a question for council Kazinskus on
the design of the Greenwood Pool Pavilion. Is has a design been approved? And if not, when it is approved, will it be posted um somewhere so people can see what the new pavilion is going to look like? >> Kazinsk. >> Thank you, Mr. President. We didn't get
that level of detail with it. Um but it is um basically the funding source needs to be nailed down. That's really the stage that they're in right now. Um, and so anything further we I'd have to direct towards Director Stevens. I'm sure he'd have more information on that, but what we discussed was just securing
getting the next step and what the funding source is. Um, so that's Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any further discussion? >> All those in favor? I >> All those against no motion passes. There's no unfinished business.
New business. And to clarify uh using the section of the agenda, new business refers to these items having not been through subcommittee review but being presented to full counsel. So item 11 1748 you sender the December report. Councelor Mac. >> Uh thank you council president. Leading
to a motion. Um I just want to encourage uh my fellow counselors to read the two-page report in your packet if you haven't done so already. It highlights how successful the Gardener Youth Comm Gardner Community Youth Center has been since its inception this fall. With 60 registered members and about 20 students
attending daily, I think we can say that this is a muchneeded program for our teens. Uh they're always in need of donations, especially after school snacks and drinks. So, if anybody's interested um in helping with this, please reach out to Director Huey. Thank you to the staff and the youth change
makers that are helping to make an impact by contributing to the center by offering programs and activities. This program is going to continue to grow throughout the school year with the continued support of this city council in new community partnerships. And I
make a motion to place this report on file. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Mack, second by councelor Kazinskus to place the report on file. Is there discussion? Councelor Kazinskus. >> Thank you, President Tyrros. Uh, I support what councelor Max said. It definitely, um, would encourage the
public to read through the report. Um, and it begins on page 119 of our packet. Uh, I've checked in with Director Huey pretty often on this as um, I was part of the um, the uh, separation from the
previous organization of the Boys and Girls Club and it's kind of helped us move forward. Um, I do check in with him pretty often and he is doing a fantastic job. He was the director of the of the previous Gardener Boys and Girls Club and so this was such a great fit for him
to be in this new position here. Uh, he wanted to stay in Gardener and he's glad to serve a lot of the students he had previously and to welcome the new ones. Um the report is a great example of the work that he's doing but also the the pride that the students have in the in
the center and he's making great utilization of the space. There's been an excellent number of partnerships. He's reached out to the community community. Um organizations have reached out to him to do tons of program. Again, it's all in the report. But I just want to thank him for it was a really quick
turnaround from the Boys and Girls Club to the youth center and for this kind of being the first, you know, from basically September to now the first half of the school year. He's just done an outstanding job um developing programming, maintaining membership
daily. Um with the age group he has, which is 7 through 12, students are going to have other things going on. They're not going to need an after school thing every day. So when you have 60 registered members, but you get an average of 20 um to 25 a day, uh that's that's just the nature of kind of the age group, especially with something
that's starting out. But he is just really knocking out of the park and with everything he has planned kind of moving forward. Um and he you know getting new staff member in there as well. But he's had an excellent attitude. He works really hard and he's so proud of his students in the program. Um so I'm
really looking forward to see what's next. But I have to say with just the turnaround in the amount of work that's had to go into it, um he's just been he's very happy with everything and um he's really been um gives great feedback and reaches out and is very appreciative of all the donations um as well that
people are getting. So um I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Brandon because he really is the heart and soul of that program. Thank you. >> Thank you, counselor. Any further discussion? Motion to place report on file. Uh, is there further discussion? All those in favor? I
>> I. All those against? No. Motion passes. >> Item 11749, code of the city of Gardener, chapter 3, subsection 3-6, job descriptions. Approval for the city auditor job description. Councelor Heglin. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I move the city code be updated with approval of
the new job description. >> Second. Councelor Heglin made the motion to approve the job description change and update the ordinance. Uh, sorry, the city code. Uh, councelor Mack seconded the motion. Is there discussion? Councelor Hegel. >> Thank you, Mr. President, and through
you to the council. The special committee met twice to remove the auditor's job to review the auditor's job description to make any necessary changes prior to hiring a new auditor. The description was thoroughly reviewed line by line in order to ensure it truly reflected the needs, duties, and
responsibilities of this role. Our first meeting, I think, was an hour and a half or more. Uh, and no word or punctuation mark was left unscrutinized. Uh, and those changes are before us tonight. If you haven't, I would encourage you to watch those meetings as I feel there was good and thorough discussion. However,
during this process, it came to our attention that unauthorized changes were made to this job description earlier in the year. Uh we have also heard other job descriptions have been recently changed outside the prescribed process. So just as a reminder, chapter 3, section six requires that when a job is
created that the job description be approved by the mayor and council. After that, future changes to any and all job descriptions need to be approved by the city council by a majority vote. Because these changes have been made to job descriptions recently without our approval. And again, since this situation has now come to our attention,
aside from this vote tonight, we should strongly consider a comprehensive review of all job descriptions. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councelor Hegel. Any further discussion? >> Motions to approve the job description change as per code. >> All those in favor? I
>> I. All those against? No. Motion passes. Counselor comments and remarks. Are there any counselor comments or remarks this evening? I'll take the floor for the remarks. Uh my first item is a happy birthday to councelor Heglin whose birthday is later this week. The second remark I'd like to
make is to thank my fellow counselors uh for this past year. It's been an honor to serve as president during the session. I think we had a very productive session and tackled a lot of big issues and I have a lot of pride in what we accomplished. Um, I hope everyone has a happy and safe holidays.
And with that, I'll change motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Kazinska, second by councelor Cormier. All those in favor? I. I. All those against no. >> We stand.