##VIDEO ID:7qaf9BEIm0w## it being time I now call the Tuesday January 21st 2025 Gardener city council meeting to order the cler will please call the rooll council Brooks present Council Craig forier present Council darwitz present Council harder pres Council Heath present Council heglin pres Council kazinski present Council math present Council tibo MOS pres Council ton pres and president than Tyrus present now please rise for the opening prayer and pl Alle almighty God than you for bring us together this evening INSP Us toy deeds and sound decisions and direct us toward the attainment of good city government we pray the to bless and protect all the people of our city and to so guide and Inspire us that we may delate in unity and Harmony amen I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States America and to the repic for which it stand one nation under God indivisible with liy 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 here recording tonight's meeting there none reading of minutes of Prior meetings October 21st 2024 regular meeting November 4th 2024 regular meeting November 18th 2024 regular meeting November 18th 2024 inform formal meeting councelor Mack I uh move that we wave the reading of the minuts and accept them as presented second motion made by councelor Max second by councelor kazinski to wave the reading the minutes and accept them as presented uh Madam clerk will now please uh is there discussion Madam CL please call the room councilor Brooks yes councelor K Coria yes councel General lawitz yes councel harder yes councilor Heath yes councel heglin yes councelor kazinski yes Council yes Council TBO MOS yes Council ton yes and president yes motion passes we have no public hearings this evening uh we'll now take item 11470 out of order on our Council Agenda One 11470 a measure a communication regarding the fire chief's appointment of new firefighters Jame James angelopoulos John hilet Matthew at onio councilor Heath thank you uh president uh tyos I'm sorry um I'd like to go ahead and uh place this not this notification on file um but first I would like to go ahead and uh thank chief lejoy for the uh appointees thank you second the motion to place on file motion made by councelor he second by councelor allow us to place the communication on file is there a discussion madam please call the RO Council Brooks yes councel Craig Cormier yes Council General LTZ yes counc H yes Council Heath yes Council hegan yes Council kinus yes Council yes Council Tio Munos yes Council ton yes uh president tyros yes we now take a brief recess to allow the swearing in of the new appointees I I state your name I ER you doly swear do Solly swear that willfully and impartially that I will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of firefighter perform the duties of a firefighter according to the laws of the best of my abilities according to the laws of the best of my abilities [Applause] I state your name iew adnia do swear do Sol swear that will faithfully and impartially that will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of firefighter perform the duties of a firefighter according to the law and the best of my abilities according to the law to the best of my abilities con [Applause] [Music] thank thank you thank you ready I st I James anop to me swear to swear that I will faithfully and impartially that I will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of firefighter perform the duties of firefighter according to the laws and the best of my abilities according to the laws and the best of my abilities [Applause] spe Communications from the mayor item 11 1468 a communication from the mayor requesting an update to the council regarding the Community Development and planning department is there a motion councilor May I'll make a motion we place communication on pile motion made by councelor Max second my councel J allow to place the communication on file is there discussion are we going to hear from the mayor yes any discussion before I call the mayor you please address the council thank you very much Mr President and counselors uh during my state of the city address last week I outlined that we were going to be uh providing the administration was going to be providing the city council with a series of updates and Communications regarding the status of the Community Development Department and how we were going to improve things to make sure the department operated as optimal as possible with the amount of projects that we have with the uh amount of grant funding that we've received uh with the projects that are in the queue uh and just quite frankly the progress we've already made as a city together uh the what we're doing right now is simply to just strengthen how the department operates interacts with the public interacts with uh those of us uh both in my office to you all here at this Council our other department heads across City Hall to make sure that we're operating in quite honestly the most efficient and effective way possible uh coming up within the next few weeks I will be providing the city council with a ordinance to formalize the way that the Community Development Block Grant steering committee is formulated uh this committee is required by mass regulations under the executive office of Housing and livable communities to oversee how the proposal that eventually makes its way to the council's desk uh is built and constructed and how we divide up the funding that we receive from the executive office of housing livable communities uh into the various different development projects and Social Service assistant projects that we have uh that's going to be something that's still in the works right now uh but that'll be something that is coming soon uh the biggest questions that I get in my office are the status of the demolition of the Greenwood pool and the Rome Square rent development project uh the Rome Square Redevelopment project is slated to begin the sidewalks will be blocked off beginning on February 17th and that'll be a project that'll take us probably until miday and the reasoning for that is the asbestos removal is going to be about a monthlong process uh before that gets done and then the demolition crews will be in there too on the side of the Greenwood pool project the asbest survey is currently being done so they're seeing what in there uh can be taken out uh in terms of what's contaminated and what's not uh then again similar there'll be a month-long process whenever that uh initial survey of the work is done to get that material out and then the demolition project will be done our goal is to get the demolition done and the debris debris removed by the time that the pool opens and our outdoor pool always opens on the last day of school uh that's our schedule that we have because a lot of our lifeguards are our students uh so that's the way we uh set the schedule for the pool so those are the two biggest project right now that we know that that department deals with that our constituents are asking us a lot of questions on so I wanted to provide those General updates uh aside from that there'll be uh different updates that the council will be receiving letters from me on regarding the way that the department communicates both with all of us at this table uh with the public uh and really tailoring the way that make sure that it's one message that gets out and that's the correct message that's out there uh before there's been instances where you know two different people were asked the same question one answer was given by one and a similar answer but was not exactly the same was given by the other uh formalizing the ways that we make sure that uh the information that's getting out to the public is the most accurate information possible to make sure that it reduces the amount of confusion that comes out of the department as well um and one of the first ways that we're going to be doing that and if there's uh without objection and permission uh from you Mr President uh while normally my new appointees I uh introduced to uh the council through the appointments committee process and then here when the full confirmation vote comes for the appointment uh our new Community Development and planning director Jason Stevens is here with us this evening uh in the front row here uh I've asked him to come and just introduce himself to the city council this is one of the Departments that interacts with the members of the public the most uh and one of of the reasons for that is because the project that this department oversees is the most public facing when it comes to um the overseeing of all of the you know the demolition projects cdbg funds the um infrastructure Improvement projects that we had in the downtown area and stuff and other projects of that similar nature uh so I'd like uh to have him come up and introduce himself um I'd also like to say that um director Stevens and I have met on multiple occasions uh before today first full day will be tomorrow um I signed a 60-day temporary appointment for him earlier this morning uh after that 60-day probationary period uh he'll be serving a oneyear uh interim appointment for lack so we can stabilize the way the department currently is since it's been without a director for about a month now and after that we can re evaluate how best to have the department go forward um the grant funding that the Department's overseeing right now with the raise grant that was the Federal grant for a couple million dollars that we received uh for different plannings for the downtown area um the uh various other grants that we've received um and the Community Development block grant funding those are all sold in the pipeline and those are all still working right now we've been working in the interim with the uh different Regional planning commissions with the central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission and the M monachus Area Regional Planning Commission uh so those projects are still moving forward um I heard someone asked if we were at risk of losing grant funding that's not the case at all uh in fact we were seeing record number of grant funding come in um so that's just simply misinformation that I thought needed to be addressed and corrected here uh but uh with your permission uh councelor tyros if there's no objection of uh you like director Stevens to introduce himself I'd be happy to have him before that are there any counselors with questions for the mayor thank you Mr Mayor Mr Stevens would you like to introduce yourself thank you mayor I've just prepared a short introductory speech for you all um you know I'm excited to get into some of the opportunities they think Garder has and um you know I may be new to Gardner but I'm not new to the challenges and opportunities that cities like Garder have faced and will face over the course of my career much of which has been in the Greater Boston area uh I've had the privilege of working on projects and collaborating with professionals who have navigated complex challenges uh in economic and community development uh these experiences have equipped me with the tools ideas and a fresh perspective that I'm eager to bring here in Gardner with every opportunity comes room for improvement and as president tyros has outlined in his recent report for my department there are areas within uh the Community Development and planning uh department where we can do better I see this not as a setback but as a chance for us to strengthen the foundation of our work and I look forward to sitting down with president tyros to going over the report oneon-one and with many of you as well to discuss actionable ways where we can meet and exceed expectations for this department moving forward um I look forward to engaging with the council working with you all closely with the mayor's office and most importantly serving the residents of Gardner together I believe we can make meaningful strides toward a stronger more prosperous City again thank you all for this opportunity to speak I'm excited to get started and I welcome your ideas your feedback and most importantly your partnership as we move forward thank you Mr Stevens thank you Mr May than motion was made by councilor ma second by councelor General I to place a communication on file Madam clerk please call the RO councelor Brooks yes councelor Craig cor yes councilor D lawitz yes councilor harder yes councilor Heath yes Council heglin yes Council kinus yes Council lat yes Council tunos yes Council ton and president tyros yes 11 11 y the motion carries petitions applications Communications number 11 1469 a proposal relative to the rules of the city council to add a committee on economic and Community Development to rule 13 as well as amend the order of business in rule 15 Council thank you Mr President uh this proposal came out of discussions during the most recent finance committee meeting uh and is related to the macki park investigation that was uh just mentioned um the investigation was undertaken by uh president tyros finance committee was in favor of this proposal as this change falls under rule 20 of the city council it must appear on our calendar for two consecutive meetings before vote I therefore make a motion to place the item on the next regular city council meeting second motion made by councel Alex by councel kinus to place this measure on our next city council meeting is there discussion Council thank you Mr President uh to go further on the economic development department currently falls under the purview of the finance committee with the upcoming change of leadership that was just discussed the department uh as well as the highlighted areas where uh improvements and processes need to be U made I think it's best we have a dedicated committee uh where economic development is their only focus uh we have done this with the appointment committee with um with great success investment in Gardener economy is essential to increase our tax base U be able and be able to keep taxes down while still providing uh the current Uh current consistent Services I believe this committee will ensure uh that the new department head starts off on the right track and allows the council to have consistent insight to the progress and improvements U being made uh to its functioning that were just discussed thank you thank you councelor DNS any further discussion councelor Brooks thank you thank you thank you Mr President uh I I understand the the why of this committee that uh we we've had a situation in a department and we're looking to uh make sure that that that department improves and and begins to work for the for the in the best way possible for the city uh my question is whether this creating another standing committee would be the correct approach I like the idea that uh city council historically has had four standing committees all each councilor servs on one committee except one that serves on two committees usually the second committee being public welfare and I think as we if we begin to create more standing committees we begin to dilute that uh Dedication that councilors would have to a particular committee I guess if I were approaching it I would approach it more on this being a special committee rather than a standing committee excuse me and looking at the uh rules there there is no procedure or process for special committees and my suggestion would be that we create a some part a rule that would allow the creation of special committees uh to meet a particular need or purpose I would look at a special committee as being uh have some kind of time limit on it because it it's for a particular need or purpose and uh that would give the city flexibil the city council flexibility to create committees uh when when the need arises but that long-term matters would would be referred back to the committee uh the standing committee which would which would historically have held that uh responsibility um I I'm not at this point suggest I'm not going to propose a change at to tonight's meeting I think that would be for the next meeting but I do want to just throw that out there that it's just it's getting to the same place but in a different direction and uh I think we should consider I just would like us to consider it that's all thank you thank you councelor Brooks councilman um I'm in support of establishing a new standing committee on economic and Community Development we are growing fast as outlined in the mayor's state of the city address over the past several years there have been many instances of Department errors that have resulted in unnecessary delays and excessive costs including the macki park project we added an appointments committee a few years ago that has been very successful and helpful to expedite and improve the process of appointments to commissions and Boards we should be open to continually finding new ways to improve oversight and financial compliance to assure assure that the city's best practices a met no department or department head is exempt from oversight and accountability to the mayor in the city council this measure is ensuring that we are willing to make changes to how we do business from past mistakes and by adding this sub committee we are ensuring the best possible outcomes are being achieved for our community having a new standing subcommittee addressing economic and Community Development is a positive one with the Department having new leadership it is the right time to make um to create such a subcommittee there in my opinion is a need for more transparency and collaboration with the Departments involved in the ongoing process of Community Development within the city thank you thank you Council Mack any further discussion Council hman thank you Mr President um you know I appreciate that I think the you know appointments committee is a great example I think it's been really successful in taking some of the I'll say burden or load off of the finance committee and so when things were backing up as that was sort of the case when President kazinski saw that backlog of appointments and created this new committee it really helped I think allow the finance committee to do their core objectives and to meet their core objectives and for allow these other important jobs and tasks to be done you know I agree to I don't think that we should be afraid of oversight um you know as a teacher obviously I work in a system that's filled with layers of oversight uh and if applied correctly and receive correctly it really can be beneficial for all parties involved um and it's not the council's a job or role to protect any City Department or department heads that doesn't mean we should be withholding with our but we shouldn't be sparing on our criticisms either again if done well it should be mutually beneficial so I think with this new committee and a new standing committee better oversight would mean that we're better informed and in a better position to offer feedback and make better decisions when it's time for us to vote you know I appreciate the steps the mayor is taking I look forward to seeing what the new director will be able to do um but I don't think that means it's okay for us to just take a step back the work that the department does is too important to just let it slide and hope for the best uh and just because something has always been done a certain way I don't think that means we should always keep doing it that way uh the council's done its due diligence right last year we held a meeting to discuss a certain area of this department that we've mentioned about the macki project led to more questions and more issues um and president tyrus's investigation at the end of last year really got to the bottom I think of what was going on there but it also showed us that there are structural problems in the department and again they need to be addressed so I think in partnership with the executive right that oversight can be beneficial to everybody involved um you know the finance committee which is currently the standing committee with jurisdiction met and discussed this and uh we're unanimous in our opinion that this should be done and so I look forward to eventually voting in favor of this thank you thank you councelor hin any further discussion councelor kazinski thank you president tyros I agree with uh councelor heglin and councelor Mack and their recommendation from the finance committee um you know establishing the appointments committee um in just about a little over two years ago in 2022 was something as as they have mentioned as well we found to be very beneficial uh to the different appointments that needed to be filled um it was for you know the mayor had uh let us know that there was going to be two to 300 appointments coming up um that would have been on the finance committee finance committee meets regularly sees multiple departments uh sees all of the different Financial transactions that we have here in the city and that is a lot on that committee as it is now the economic development department has always been under the finance committee and now there is something new that is going into that piece um of of the um of their oversight and so just as with the appointments committee there was a new piece to it there's now going to be a new piece to another part and that is going to be the economic development department um I think it helps show that we can support um the new role for Mr Stevens and what the department with department needs to go and and obviously where it's been with um the macki report um but we can support those changes moving forward that need to happen I also think it allows for new conversations oversight more conversations um regarding all of the new things that need to happen in that department um if there's a committee that meets on it there isn't necessarily a beginning and an end to this um so I wouldn't support doing a special committee because those usually are reserved for things as Council Brooks had said said that do have a beginning and an end um this committee and this rule change um it can certainly have an end but we can decide when that happens right now it kind of seems like it's kind of the outlook for the future here to see where the department goes um whereas typically special committees are assigned to things um like for example the um Stone field um or um um the renaming of the chamber and so I think this is more appropriate because while it doesn't necessarily have an end it can we can move things around and in terms of um it kind of diluting what we do here on the council I think it actually helps it focus a little bit more uh because all of the Committees don't meet regularly unless they have something to meet on and so it gives really the opportunity to focus on um a particular area that needs more attention at that time and the council president has the um authority to assign the appropriate person to do that to be sure that our Duties are um are assigned uh with good balance and good Focus so um I I will will be supporting this new committee I think it's a great idea and I think it's really exciting for the city to um have the opportunity to uh support that department and to see where it can go from here um because you know things that we do as we've always done them experience is really important but moving on in the future new experience is going to be important as well and we have a really good opportunity right now with this department moving forward thank you Mr President thank you Council kinus any further discussion Council Brooks y if I if I may um the the word oversight's been used a few times on this committee which makes me a little nervous uh because I remember how how carefully they city council was parsing the words used in its rules which they have oversight of legislative matters associated with and I think we have to be careful that as a council we're not overstepping our responsibilities in what we expect this committee work to be uh the Community Development Department is the Department of the city under the mayor's uh executive Authority and while I think it's good for us to know what's going on and um follow follow what's going on and and and having an so we could talk to our constituents about what's going on so we can provide our insight as to how things can be improved we also have to be careful that in that discussion we're not putting people on the spot and overstepping our responsibilities and stepping into the executive piece of it uh speaking of someone who has been a department head in this city and in another city when a department head gets called before a city council committee and gets grilled it not only is torture for that Council it's also noticed by every other department head in the city and not in a good way because they look at it and say if they do it to if they going to do it to this department head and it's in public because we're all public meetings they can do it to me and so I don't have a problem with what with what we're trying to accomplish with this I have a different way of approaching it that's fine but I do think we have to be careful that we don't overstep what we're trying to do uh and and muddy the water with with oversight of a city Department Thank You Is there further discussion councilor ma um for the second time and I I just want to um in in response to councelor Brooks's statement um maybe oversight wasn't the proper term but on the other hand um unfortunately uh my experience since I've been on the council for six years is there are some department heads that feel that one CE they're appointed and approved by the city council feel that they're they're not um they don't answer to the council at all again until they're up for reappointment again and that's um and and I've been told that and that's not the way it goes with that's not how a city operates that's not how the legislative branch operates or the executive branch um and I think that's something that that got us into the position that occurred um within that department and I think in other departments and we have to get away that away from that mentality that you that once you're approved by the council that um other than for Budget purposes you don't answer to the council again other than that budget meeting once a year um that we do have a responsibility to overlook all aspects of the city um all year for all of our citizens and um you know they just don't come before us when they they need a um you know they need money they need free cash um you know so that so we do have a responsibility and we just I think it needs we need to be remind them and um you know we we have to learn from our past mistakes and we have to move forward um and we owe it to our citizens to protect our city and the development of the city is is is is so important thank you thank you any further discussion councilor Hegman thank you Mr President for the second time um no I think I appreciate absolutely that there is a separation of of you know branches and Powers um but I do agree with with councelor Mack I think anywhere that comes into a play where we've appropriated money I think it's important for us to see how that follows through and that it's being done responsibly and in a timely fashion that things are not going over budget and that we know if they do as does happen sometimes naturally for unavoidable reasons you know that we're again just part of that conversation so I think for me that's part of this and certainly when there's ordinances that we pass I think it is you know fair for us to look into into those those matters so thank you thank you councelor hgin is there further discussion councelor General allow thank you Mr President uh just speaking to Mr Council Brook's comments um I don't think creation or not creation of this committee would change the ability of a subcommittee grilling a department head it already falls under the finance committee it could be done there um I don't think that's the point of this committee either it's in order to get a focused as I said committee to look at Economic Development and planning in the city make sure things are on the right track as councilor kazin spoke to it may have an end it may not maybe it will come back to finance at some point maybe it won't but I do think this is the best route um and I will obviously be in support of this U next meeting thank you thank you is there any further discussion Council cinus thank you president tyes um you know I I just wanted to speak to um I agree with M hin and DN Alis um I do understand that um Council Brooks has a concern and I would say that as counselors we should be you know well aware of our position and what oversight is versus overstepping uh I don't have a concern that we're going to do that in this case uh because again we should know that this is not the intent um it's not the intent of this committee to overstep or anything it's just to oversee uh this department and uh I do also appreciate as councelor Hein had said um the separation of what our job is versus what the um the Executive offices uh uh role is and we weren't part of the conversation before and we had something like the Mackie Park project come up a project that we voted City money in for and there was other state funds and federal funds put in for and so we weren't part of that conversation this just allows us to be part of it and if things are running the way that they should and I'm confident that they will and we want them to moving forward then we're just going to be part of the conversation and that gives this opportunity for us to do that and to do it publicly um and so I think that's really for me that's a big part of supporting this committee is that we're going to be part of this and then we're not going to go back and have to vote to assign a counselor to then look into an apartment a department because voting to assign a city counselor to do an investigation of a department is basically like grilling a department in a different way and we don't want to be put in the situation to have to do that we don't want the department to have to do that and we certainly don't want the mayor to have to do that either we want to work together and we want to build up this department um as best we can and whatever our rules are to have it moving forward and I'm confident that that's something that this Council will be able to do thank you Mr President thank you councelor kazus any further discussion cler please call the rooll I ask what what's the motion the motion is uh to place item 11469 on our next Council agenda okay Council Brooks yes Council Craig gomier yes Council D lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council hegan yes Council kinus yes Council yes Council Tio Munos yes Council ton and president tyros yes 11 y 11 y the motion carries we've already taken 11470 out of order this evening reports of standing committee's finance committee item 11 1458 a communication from the mayor regarding the appointment of the Review Committee for the request for proposals for grant writing and lobbying Services councelor heglin thank you Mr President and leading to a motion the finance committee met on this item last week uh essentially the communication outlines that a threers committee including myself it was an jel of the executive director for growing places and Dr Stephanie marquetti the executive director for Mok was formed to independently review the request for proposals or rfps for grant writing services uh the finance committee had no issue with this and so I moved to place the communication on file second motion made by councelor Hegel and second by councelor J allow to place communication on file is there a discussion will it please follow the rooll council Brooks yes Council Craig Cormier yes Council D LTZ yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council hegan yes Council kazinski yes Council Mac yes Council tunos yes coun tone yes and president tyros yes 11 y 11 y motion passes item 11 1459 a communication from the mayor regarding the awarding of a contract for up to 5 years for grant writing services to Keller Partners company councelor heglin thank you Mr President um again leading to a motion the finance committee met on this item as well last week um this communication outlines that the RFP committee unanimously selected Keller partner company uh be Award of the contract um they've served us well thus far and so the finance committee had no issue with this I moved to place the communication on file second motion made by councel heglin second by councel journ allows to place the communication on file is there discussion councelor hegan thank you Mr President um just some quick background to a few meetings back it had come before us to appropriate $100,000 for this service um you know I raised sort of two quick questions one about the possibility of doing this in-house uh and one just that we be mindful of course with a changing federal government um you know opportunities may change as well however I think both things um are really still warranted for having this this organization or an organization serve us uh in this capacity I think there's still be plenty of of grants available um at the state and federal level I think so so far this particular company Keller Partners has done us a lot of good um we've received tens of million dollars in contracts uh and grants with them and um you know looking at having had the chance to review the rfps I think there's a lot of similar and comparable proposals made this one did come a little under I think around $90,000 under the $100,000 that we had put out with the RFP so um I think between that and our our history with them I really look forward to seeing what else they can do for us and and I'm excited to work with with them thank you thank you councelor heglin Council Brooks uh thank you Mr President on this matter I've several times we talked about orphan grants or grants that were you know money that comes in that no department has taken responsibility for and I just want to say I was pleased when the mayor spoke I believe it was the finance committee meeting if if not a state of the city address that this group has met with departments and is meeting with departments to uh work through the grants and I think that's very important so thank you thank you councelor Brooks any further discussion clerk may please now call the RO councilor Brooks yes councel Craig Cormier yes Council D lawitz yes councel harder yes Council Heath yes counc heglin yes Council kinus yes Council yes Council tibo MOS yes Council tone yes and president Tyrus yes 11 y 11 y the motion carries item 11460 a communication from there regarding the execution of the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the Teamsters Local 170 inspection inspector's Union councelor heglin thank you Mr President again um once more the finance committee met on this item last week the communication outlines that a contract agreement was reached uh this covers the assistant director of Public Health the food inspectors two local building inspectors electrical gas and plumbing inspectors as well having no issue with it the finance committee was in favor and so I moved to place the communication on file second motion made by councelor hegan second by councelor D allow to place a communication on file is there discussion the clerk may now please call the councelor Brooks yes councel Craig Kier yes councelor dtz yes Council hard yes councilor Heath yes Council heglin yes councel kinus yes Council yes Council Tio M yes Council ton yes and president Tyrus yes 11 11 y motion carries item 11 1461 a Comm ation from the mayor regarding the FY 2026 budget Council Jour lawitz thank you Mr President this communication from the mayor is stated from the is related to the beginning steps of the FY 2026 budget uh budget requests uh and narratives from each department head are du due to the mayor by January 202 uh 2025 um through January 31st of 2025 um part of this um in this communication was a discussion on um the salary stud study portion as chair um I do plan to have a new item uh on the finance committee agenda to continue discussions on it however um I felt or the finance committee felt this should get in front of the entire um Council to for their information I move to place the communication on file second motion made by councel JN all second by councelor hegan to place indication on file is there discussion councelor heglin thank you Mr President um you I want to thank you uh to Chairman d lawitz as well for adding that new item I think that we'll need more information on this working group that the um communication mentions who's on it what's their objective what are the parameters that they're working under uh is it leading to request for more raises uh I think now that we know about this we just need more information uh and I do want to say that you know if this is leading to raises you know I don't know that the city's in the financial situation to consider big raises at this time and so I at least will be I think skeptical of voting in favor of anything right now thank you thank you councelor heglin any further discussion councelor kinus I agree with councelor heglin uh looking at this item I had felt kind of the uh letter from the mayor was sort of a twart uh thing because I looking at the second piece of it where it had said that an internal working group was assigned through the budgetary process to review the results of the non-school Department salaries to provide a plan for this upcoming budget cycle I I had so many questions about that sentence I don't really understand um what might come of it um I think councelor heglin definitely uh seized it really well uh I do have concerns about that we know budgets are tight and um we want to be really mindful of what we are agreeing to um I want to know you know where this uh this uh plan is coming from who's going to be presenting it like all of the different details uh and so I am glad that the finance committee put forward to U making a different a new item on it because I do think it requires a lot more discussion thank you Mr President thank you councilor kinus Is there further discussion if not may clar please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council Craig Cormier yes counc deltz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council heglin yes Council kinus yes councilth yes Council tboos yes Council tone yes and president tyros yes 11 11 y the motion carries item 11462 a communication from the mayor regarding the receipt of prison mitigation funds for from the Commonwealth for FY 2025 councelor General Al thank you Mr President uh this is related to as you said the prison mitigation funds which are came in at a total of $149,500 32 this money is from the state's uh budget because we host a prison here in the city of Garder um while the city has received this funding fairly consistently over the past um number of years that was not always the case so I do want to thank our State Legislative delegation for ensuring this continues to be part of the budget and and I move to place this communication on file second motion made by councelor DN out second by councelor Heath to place communication on file is there discussion councelor I uh would just um like to on this particular item uh just make sure that we mention um I know the counselor D had mentioned the uh State delegation but um This was um based off an amendment that had been filed by uh State Rep John znik and you know again it just further shows the support that we get um having a good relationship with our uh state legislators and the work that they do for us so I just wanted to mention that thank you Mr President Thank You councelor kinus Is there further discussion if not the clerk may please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Craig Kier yes Council darl LTZ yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council hegan yes Council kazinski yes Council LC yes Council TBO Munos yes Council tone yes and president tyros yes 11 y 11 y a motion carries item 11 1463 a communication from the mayor regarding the snow and ice expense account as of January 7th 20125 councelor General lawitz thank you Mr President uh finance committee met on this item at that time um the January 7th the letter said we still had about $90,000 left the time of our meeting um last week we were about um we had I believe the mayor stated we were going to expend all the funds at that point we just had a snow event um here the other day um so we are in the deficit for that we are allowed to spend into the deficit um spend in a deficit in this account over the course of the winter season due to the um volatility and expenses for snow and ice uh a normal practice is to cover that deficit with free cash expenditure at the end of the um end of the season um so this is this is normal we do this every year in City Gardner I'm happy uh the mayor is keeping us updated on where we are in this account uh and I move to place the communication on file second motion made by councelor J laow second by councelor heglin to place Comm on file is there discussion the clerk may now please call the RO Council Brooks yes Council Craig Cormier yes counc Del yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes councel heglin yes Council kinus yes Council Mac yes Council tboos yes Council tone yes and president tyros yes 11 y 11 y the motion carries item 11464 an order authorizing the creation of a new human resource manager position for the city human resource department councelor Hegman thank you Mr President um leading to a motion this also came before the finance committee last week uh our HR department under our current director is looking to combine about one and a half positions it's really two positions one is a part-time one one is a full-time one uh into this HR manager role so it would' be taking uh the financial Financial Manager and the admin coordinator and merging that into one position it is at no extra cost to the city um it's really just title and duties uh the the other half of that secondary Duty shared um responsibilities with the golf course and golf commission however they'll be able to hire a part-time employee so there's no interruption anyone Services um so seeing it being in the best interest of the department uh the finance committee had no concerns and was unanimously in favor of this so I move to authorize the order second motion made by councelor heglin second by councelor D allows to authorize the order uh is there discussion I collect me now please call the rooll councilor Brooks yes councelor Craig Cormier yes councelor darwitz yes councel Harden yes Council Heath yes councel heglin yes councelor kinus yes Council ma yes Council Tio Munos yes Council tone yes and president tyros yes 11 y the motion carries item 11 1465 a measure accepting a donation of land from this Gardener school committee for Elm Street surface uh sorry for Elm Street resurfacing and repaving as part of the safe roots to school project Mr President Council Brooks uh Mr President my property is part of the larger project concerning safe roots to school Grant and so I will be recusing myself from this matter you can all read a s of relief councils is recusing entertain a motion Council Jal uh the finance committee did meet on this um as stated it's a donation of land from school department uh to the city land required for the safe roads to the school project the mayor provided details in the packet um that were asked for during the finance committee so I do thank him for that U for those who have want to look at home the school donations page 179 me 157 through 59 of our packet um it's really just the edges by the sidewalks in order to complete the project appropriately finance committee was in favor and I move to place the communication on file second motion excuse me I I move to adopt the measure accepting thank you councelor generals motion made by councel General out second by councel heglin uh to uh approve the measure is there discussion the clerk may now please call the rooll council CRA cor yes Council counc sorry Council harder yes Council Heath yes yes Council heglin yes Council kinus yes Council yes Council T BOS yes Council tone yes and president tyros yes 10 10 motion carries welcome back councilor Brooks than there is no unfinished business or matters for reconsideration there's no new business counselor com comments and remarks are their councelor comments and remarks Council Brooks thank you Mr President leading up to a motion I would like to note the passing of two people who had a great impact on this community the first is Ed lebkowski the Garder news reported that Ed was deeply committed to his community and his Civic engagement extended far beyond his personal interest he gathered his networks of Tradesmen to help complete numerous projects for Garder including the Monument Park Bandstand Gardener chair and Riverside Bridge which is down by uh Valley Florest and served over 25 years on the garden Redevelopment Authority I also believe he was instrumental in the completion of the interior of the first floor of the city hall Annex he will be greatly missed in ex extremely difficult to replace the second person I would like to remember is Kathleen lesneski if you knew her more closely she was cookie who worked in the city clerk's office for 42 years starting right out of high school she spent the last 26 years as City Clerk and tax collector and is pictured in 13 of the council portraits hanging on these walls think about it not only did she manage the City Council meetings elections and official City Records but she also handled the semiannual tax collections not until after she retired did the tax collection responsibilities move from the city clerk to the city treasurer where it stands today through it all there was no doubt about her honesty and her Integrity the city was extremely fortunate to have such a dedicated civil servant and she will be greatly missed I therefore move that city council send a letter of condolence to each of their families second motion made by councelor Brook second by councelor Mack to send a letter of condolence to the families of Ed lowski and Kathleen lasneski uh is there a discussion the clerk will now please call the RO councilor Brooks yes councel Craig Cormier yes councel lawitz yes councel harder yes councilor Heath yes Council heglin yes Council kazinski yes Council ma yes Council tibo Munos yes yes counc tone and president tyros yes 11 y 11 y the motion carries are there any further councelor comments or remarks there being none I'll entertain motion to adjourn after the closing prayer so moved second motion made by councelor Mack second councelor cazinska second by councelor Mack to adjourn uh the clar will now please call the RO councilor Brooks yes councel Craig Cormier yes councel dtz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes councel heglin yes Council kazin yes Council yes Council tbos yes Council tone yes and pres Tyrus yes 11 y 11 y motion carries stand Almighty father as weour we thank thee for the opportunity of joint deliberation and action witness during the course of this meeting bless Lord all who are gaed here and the people whose Representatives we are and do th attend to our common until our next meeting amen