##VIDEO ID:S## the Monday August 5th 2024 regular meeting of the Gardner city council will come to order the clerk will please call the role councel Brooks present councelor Craig Cormier pres councelor Brad councelor heglin present councel D lawitz present councel harder pres councelor Heath pres councelor Mack present councelor tone Pres councelor munes present councilor tyos present president kinus present councilor Brooks I'm sorry please rise to recite the opening prayer and say the Pledge of Allegiance almighty God we thank you for bringing us together this evening Inspire us tothy deeds and sound decisions and direct us toward the attainment of good city government we pray to and protect all the people of our city you so guide and Inspire us that we may delate in unity and Harmony amen I Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands na indivisible andice allice 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 not to 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 referenced at the meeting must be submitted in duplicate to the chair as they become part of the meeting minutes pursuant to General Law chapter 30A subsection 20 is anyone here recoring tonight's meeting I am come on up you just have to the two people are recording if you can just state your name and your address for the record please my thank youy street thank you PA a registered voter at 9 Willis Road and the environmental justice community of garden is anyone else here according tonight's meeting thank you if you are in per Auditorium and are recording tonight's meeting please tell the staff member at the exit door on the right of the stage your name and address for the record thank you there are two counselors on the phone this evening counselor heglin and councel Cormier and so there will be a roll call call vote on all motions this evening we will begin with the reading and approval of the minutes of Prior meetings April 1st 2024 regular meeting April 16th 2024 regular meeting May 6th 202 24 regular meeting May 6th 2024 informal meeting May 20th 2024 informal meeting May 20th 2024 regular meeting June 3rd 2024 informal meeting and July 1st 2024 regular meeting is there a councelor General lawit thank you madam president I make a motion to wave the reading of those minutes and accept them as presented second motion made by councelor General Al and seconded by councelor tyros to wave the reading of the minutes and accept them as presented is there a discussion on the motion councelor Mac on page eight under under the April 1st minutes um there's an error on the line starting with the open meeting law announcement um president kazinski was absent during that meeting so it should read uh Council Journal LTZ as he filled in as president protemp for that meeting thank you counselor for the discussion the clerk will please call the role councel Brooks yes councelor Craig Cormier yes councelor Brad hegan yes councel D LTZ yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel yes councelor T munis yes councelor tyro yes president kazinski yes 11 y the motion passes there are no public hearings at this time item 11317 found on page four of tonight's meeting agenda will be taken out of order and taken up at this time item 11317 a vote to determine if a track of land located at 827 Green Street be approved as the location of a running course racing track where race meetings laid out and conducted by licenses under Mass General Law chapter 128a will be held or conducted submitted by base State racing LLC is there a motion councelor General lawitz thank you madam president leading to a motion and so to be clear to everyone in the audience here and at home I will be making the motion in the affirmative so that a yes vote approves the racetrack and a no vote um uh denies horse racing on the site uh the motion is as follows I make a motion to approve tra land located at 827 Green Street as the location of A running horse racing track where race meetings are laid out and conducted by licenses under mgl chapter 128a uh where they will be held or conducted second a motion motion made by councelor General L was seconded by councelor tyros to approve a track of land located at 827 Green Street as the location of A running horse racing track where race meetings laid out and conducted by lenes under Mass General Law chapter 128a will be held or conducted is there discussion on the motion councelor Harden yes thank you madam president I I want to start by thanking everyone who took part in the in this process base State Racing for being interested in coming to Gardner and the mayor for helping to facilitate this proposal however this vote turns out tonight I appreciate the opportunity to consider this proposal I also want to thank the members of the public who have reached out to express their support or their opposition of this proposal on that I want to say a few things by and large those interactions were mutually respectful and productive for those that weren't I want to say that it was unfortunate I've been on the council for more than 10 years and while this isn't the issue that brought out the most public input I think it's fair to say it brought out the most passionate input which is fine but I hope next time we can respect the process more there's been several arguments put forward to argue against this proposal one the ills of gambling this is the one that held the least water gambling is legal it is readily accessible and I think we all know the history of gambling and Garder well I don't think we should ignore this and the potential downside we also shouldn't assign it more weight than it deserves the reality is that you can place better on horse racing from your phone legally at any time two the treatment of horses as I've said before I used to own horses that were actually stabled on that property it's a legitimate a legitimate thing for us to consider how these an animals will be treated as in a way we bear some responsibility for their welfare with our decision however Massachusetts has ample laws regulations and other controls in place to ensure they are not abused or mistreated in fact the animal legal defense fund ranks Massachusetts fourth in the nation on the strength of our Animal Welfare laws I recognize that reasonable people can disagree on the proper place and use of animals in our society that that's not the debate we are here for traffic this is not a new concern in development projects and I would say that of all the proposals I have seen as a counselor this is the most often cited concern in almost all cases we are able to find acceptable solutions that allow for growth and make reasonable accommodations to lessen the impact this would almost certainly be the case here again now I come to the water this is undoubtedly the most serious concern the risks and the potential downside are serious things and should not be brushed aside lightly quite frankly because of the tech technical nature of this aspect it makes it the most difficult for us to consider I don't think most of us or most of the people who have weighed in on this are really qualified to explain the risks and evaluate them in a way that doesn't rely on anxiousness born from infamiliar and unfamiliarity even if we can understand that reaction I think we should be careful placing too much on our decision on this Factor it also concerns me that this has become a common refrain of those looking to oppose just about anything I think if you went back and looked at past debates about development you would find the same people forcing the same argument into those discussions you would be forgiving for you would be forgiven for thinking Gardner wasn't so much a city but a 20 square mile fragile Wetland that was less a community and more of a new for water to pass through it actually serves to make the concern in general more difficult to accurately access this is a problem because the protection of our water supply is Paramount responsibility that we all take incredibly seriously but that concern needs to be grounded in scientific reality and not a weapon ized against the development in general our job here is to evaluate whether this possible is suitable location for horse racing that's what this P petition is and what state law requires of us the scope of what we need to consider in this case is different because this is not a hypothetical exercise but directly tied to a specific company with with a specific proposal this alone requires us to consider this difficulty this differently than we would ass similar zoning change or change of use which we do regularly the way this works we need to take this vote on whether or not to alow horse races on this parcel before the rest of the process can happen if this vote passes tonight it doesn't even automatically guarantee that a state gaming license would be forthcoming which I suspect would probably render the whole Project dead the fact is I think we can somewhat reasonably assume the traffic issues can be worked out we can reasonably rely on the department of Environmental Protection and their expertise in state law to safeguard the water supply the way I have been visualizing this is to compare it to the relay of Life held just up the street from this site that also attracts thousands of visitors to a mix of temporary and permanent infrastructure I think that's the closest analog that we can use to evaluate this as a whole I think it's reasonable to con to question the impact of that occurring not just once a year but most weekends during the non-winter months it's it's up to each counselor individually how much uncertainty they're willing to accept and whether with that uncertainty does the positive impacts and revenue outweigh the negatives within the frame of that uncertainty that is what I think our decision ultimately comes down to if I was to be generous I would say this proposal is incom incomplete if I was to be less so I would say it is inadequate it is not enough Revenue to cover the potential downside it is not complete enough to rely we say what the solutions to those current concerns are or how possible they might be complicating the further still the further still is that we don't have much of a track record to look at base dat is a new company without a long-standing operational history in this community or Community ties to put our minds at ease I think it's fair to say that I am not alone on this Council or in this community when I say that I have spent a lot of time over the last month thinking about this decision after that time and weighing those difficult factors the fairest and simplest way I can State my conclusion is that this isn't the right fix for us I will be voting no thank you counselor further discussion councelor Kei thank you madam president as a world counselor of the proposed property located at 827 Green Street I would like to say I come into this meeting with mixed emotions I feel like in today's modern day we have to adapt to the rise the cost of everything in which a majority of people have to work multiple jobs just to make ends me I use myself as an example I'm allergic to cats I breathe cats um I didn't want to but we have to make ends meet um I feel the city of garden needs to be more open to new opportunities to make ends meat that could help keep our taxes from going up I feel like bayate did a great job presenting and selling this we brought up the traffic concerns they explained the plan to address it we talked water quality they addressed their plans to make sure our water is not affected from my understanding the revenue that could the revenue that we could gain is equivalent to the taxes of 100 plus homes in which we would make them our number one taxpayer in the city which to me is a win-win that presentation had me wanting to build a horse stable in my back yard however I have taken an oath in which my job is to be the voice of my constituents I've talked to sattin Residence even help move a table BS in the mail all while having meaningful conversations with my constituents I appreciate their honesty and concerns for the city with that being said I'm Unapologetic no for this project thank you counselor further discussion councelor too Moos thank you Madame President I'll be voting no on this item as well over the past month I've talked to a heard from dozens of gardener and Ward one residents on this issue only hearing from two who were in favor the rest were against there is too much at risk here if we allow this to happen if we permit bayate to build a racetrack and Gardener they will have to Deforest 40 55 acres of land a minimum acreage for a one mile track and to fill in what is currently swamped according to the former conservation agent if we allow this base state is success and base state is successful in having 25 horses on site per race this would mean having to deal with up to 1,375 lbs of horse manure contained or not in 622 gallons of urine excreted daily at any given race this is not to mention the fertilizer that will be used on the track to prepare for this race for race weekends I personally don't see how keeping up with all the contain all of this contained and not leeching into service water groundwater Wells and pearly Brook would even be possible on a good day let alone during a storm or a heavy downpour even their own rendering shows a track surrounded by water on three sides and mostly within not outside of the required 30 60 and 100 ft buffer zones if a state isn't successful either the track will be abandoned entirely after 55 Acres were deforested is swamp filled permanently affecting our drinking water supply or another entity comes in and takes over the track and isn't required to sign the community agreement or give the city anything in any case there is no dollar amount that b State could offer in my opinion that is worth any of the risk that are proposed that this proposed track presents as I've stated before Bas State doesn't care about Garder or its residents only that it is able to obtain a license to maintain online manage man online betting where its investors stand to make upwards tens of millions of dollars annually further discussion any further discussion councelor Mack we have had much documentation input for the public including a hearing in which everyone had an opportunity to be heard or to provide written testimony I think it's important to be said that this is not a vote for or against gamma and the important work that they do for our community it's a vote whether to allow horse racing at 827 Green Street my vote on July 23rd was no and is still no a no vote against bate racing and for what is best for the city of Gardner there is no increase in money or promises or dog and pony show that will make me trust anything they are offering the city of Garder the risks are too great Bay State needs to respect the outcome of this vote and move on from Garder for once and for all thank you thank you Council further discussion from the council councilor Brooks thank you Madame President the the political climate in this country is getting nasty with more personal insults every day social media and the algorithms that drive it feed into the nastiness and lead us to the conclusion that anyone who doesn't agree with us must have an ulterior motive that is both Sinister and self-serving they are someone we can be little an insult if we disagree we are allowed to be disagreeable so let me say this we meaning this city council are not Capitol Hill Wheeler Dealers looking for personal gain whether political or monetary we are not Beacon Hill Pauls awaiting instructions from the leadership on how to vote we are guarding C counselors each trying to do what we feel is best for this community I look around the room and I see a group dedicated to doing just that what is best for the community councelor Harden who defeated longtime counselor Jimmy mins and has ay advocated for the residence of Ward 4 ever since councelor Cormier whose parents were and are dedicated civil servants whom I greatly respect councelor tone who joined city council when I was still working in City Hall councelor Mack whose parents grew up with my mother councelor DN lawitz whose grandfather was the City Rec director when I was a kid and whom I remember Manning the Rope toe during winters at the golf course councelor tyros whose mother works for the town of Templeton and who I would see at meetings of the mass Municipal Auditors and accountants Association councelor Heath who spends a lot of time volunteering with the various City football programs councelor tibo munes who I know from his work on the Abolitionist Park in pitchburg and whose wife was on the pitchburg city council that first confirmed me counselor heglin who was in school with my daughter Sher and whose father was a year behind me at the old Gardener high school and president kazinski who along with her sister Stacy was a counselor at Mrs Gilman's gymnastics camp at Elm Street School which my daughters attended when they were young the people sitting around this table are invested in this community some for many years some for Generations they are here advocating for and protecting our community that is why I was perplexed when after the last meeting and public hearing a couple of emails suggested that the straw vote was a ruse to make the opponents of the race track lower their guard and that six counselors would tonight switch to a yes really some people actually thought that I am disappointed that some outside this room think we would act that way it's not how I see my colleagues the people sitting around this table are invested in this community they do their homework and they are dedicated to doing what they believe is best for this community thank you thank you counselor further discussion from the council councelor tyros thank you madam president over the past two months I've had the opportunity to speak with residents both for and against this proposal hear their thoughts including their excitement and their concerns excitement about a developer wanting to invest in Gardener and create an attraction to bring visitors to town about increased Revenue to the city to ease their tax burdens and the creation of jobs about gamma's opportunity to have a new purpose-built facility in town that would expand their operations and Mission since this item's introduction I voed my concerns concerns that I share with residents that have already been mentioned by other counselors this evening I do think the proponent has made effort to provide reassurance that the site would be more strict and regulated environmentally than it is currently today and they did fulfill our request to meet with theep Representatives about the project with City officials present for traffic concerns I would have liked to have seen more effort put in to not just a study but a safety Improvement plan for that section of 140 especially for residents of Stone Street to understand their direct impact I'm also not convinced the revised HCA while a certainly increased compensation to the city does not and maybe cannot allow more City say and oversight into the operations that could have a massive impact on the on Garder multiple times a year for those reasons I do not believe this proposal is a good good fit for this location I appreciate the mayor's effort for this proposal and his effort to bring business to Gardener even in this case we don't disagree I also appreciate that even though he was supportive he gave the council room to go through the process without interference or pressure I want to briefly close with a thanks to residents who reached out and had respectful conversations about this proposal and the process it had to follow I know that there were some same loud voices making baseless allegations against the mayor against the councel and against individual counselors spreading speculation as fact but every phone conversation and personal interaction I had with residents was pleasant and enjoyable because through direct communication it was apparent that we both wanted the same thing what was best for Garder I think if you take a reasonable look at how this process went and how the process operates in general you'll see that we follow a process we follow rules and we try to do our best for Garder thank you madam president thank you counselor for the discussion councelor donon yes I first off I'd just like to say thank you to all the residents who reached out to me I have everything written down or scripted and I appreciate the effort that was put in by all my colleagues um but I took the time to listen to people over the past few months and from the GetGo I say racing does not belong in Gardener nor do I feel it belongs in Gardener right now I'll continue to stick with the no vote that I have been coming forth with people have built their lives and their livelihood in that area and for us to put racing uh at 827 Green Street would be would take away what everything that they've built their lives around building um so I'm adamantly against racing and Gardener I will never vote for racing and Gard Garder and um I appreciate it thank you further discussion is there any further discussion councelor General lawitz thank you madam president I want to thank all my fellow counselors for their words um I do agree with uh most of them like to thank councelor Brooks for his kind words about my grandfather as well um I will be a no vote on this um I'm not going to sit here and rehash everyone else's comments um but thank you for everyone who had productive conversations with me uh over the phone via email um it is appreciated when they are are cordial even if there's disagreements thank you thank you counselor F the discussion counselor Cormier on the phone do you have any discussion the phone we might want to check hello Craig there I am here councelor Cormier do you have any discussion I do not have any discussion for lack of clarity just so everyone can hear thanks thank you counselor counselor heglin thank you madam president and uh through you to our our fellow counselors and the public similar to what we've heard from others tonight there's been a lot said about the proposal to allow horse racing on the parcel at 827 Green Street which is the matter before us now I've heard from people for and against this issue since it first came up in June like our counselors and as has been said tonight we've had time to digest hundreds of pages of information from B State racing who's tied directly to this proposal and concerned citizens I've had time to ask questions raise concerns and get responses to these over the weeks leading up to tonight a lot of work has been completed around this issue among the various reasons one could be against horse racing on this parcel many of them are not insurmountable and could be mitigated so the question for me then became to what extent and what it comes down to for me like others is the proximity to the watershed area it is the location that primarily drives me to vote no tonight I trust in the local and state regulations to protect our water while simultaneously allowing development as they have before D very preliminar indicated this possibility however while I think Bay State would honor any contract including the implementation of safety measures there's always a potential for human error or other issues that no studies or regulations can prevent again because of the sensitivity of this particular location I feel it warrants stricter scrutiny based on this I do not feel the location is appropriate for horse racing and we be voting no this evening but I want to stress that we are a city with City needs and issues and therefore need new sources of revenue we must continue to be business friendly therefore it is important when proposals arise whatever their scale we as a community take a breath approach things objectively empathetically and focus on the facts we must let the process take place before reaching potentially hasty decisions made on a motion even this particular proposal could and would have gone through many more steps and reviews before any work began so to rate we must ask questions and raise concerns along the way but we must also be open to Solutions and then make informed decisions thank you thank thank you counselor any further discussion any further discussion seeing as there is no further discussion the motion on the floor is to approve a track of land located at 827 Green Street as the location of A running horse racing track where race meetings laid out and conducted by lenes under Mass General Law chapter 128a will be held or conducted for clarification a yes vote on this item will allow a running horse racing track at 827 Green Street a no vote on this item will not allow a running horse racing track at 827 Green Street this item needs a simple majority vote to pass which is six votes of the council the clerk will please call the role councelor Brooks no councelor Craig Cormier no councelor heglin no councelor dernal awit no councel harder no councelor Heath no councelor Mack no councelor tone no councelor tibo munz no councelor tyros no president kinus no is 11 NOS 11 NOS zero yeses the item does not pass [Applause] the meting nice joun reading of minutes of Prior meeting I'm sorry um Communications from the mayor item 11323 a vote to authorize the mayor to enter into a a host Community agreement between the city of Garder and Bas State racing LLC councelor journ lawitz thank you madam president as this item was dependent on the previous item and there's no action to take I'd like to make a motion to remove it from the calendar second second motion made by councelor General out seconded by councelor tyros to remove item 11323 from the calendar is there discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role councel Brooks yes councel Cormier yes councelor heglin yes councel D lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes Council ma yes councel tone yes councel T munes yes Council tyros yes president kinus yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes at this time we'll at this time we'll take a brief recess of the meeting e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e something meeting back to order there was one person in Perry Auditorium recording the meeting Brandon Huey of five Grace courton Gardner item 11351 a communication from the mayor regarding ovala case playground councilor tyros thank you madam president leading to a motion in our packet is this communication from the mayor that during a storm this past April a tree fell and sadly destroyed a large part of the newly revamped oala case playground the city's insurance provider has deemed this incident a total loss and the city's currently obtaining quotes to replace the equipment at a full coverage sometime uh in the fall I move to place this communication on file second motion made by councelor Tyra seconded by councelor General lwi to place the communication on file is there a discussion on the motion councelor ton yes Madam president uh during our Public Service meeting this was discussed as well um and um Dane Arnold assured us that the this work you know it had been vetted and uh should happen sometime in the fall and late fall potentially early spring thank you thank you counselor further discussion the clerk will please call the r Council Brooks yes councelor Craig Cormier yes councelor Brad heglin yes councel General lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councel Mack yes councel tone yes councel T munes yes councel tyros yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y motion passes item 11352 a communication from the mayor regarding the city's new disc golf course councelor tyros thank you madam president leading to a motion this communication from the mayor states that the DPW has completed work on the front nine holes of the newly installed dis golf course at Bailey Brook Park a special thanks to director Arnold Foreman gravel and firefighter Tucker for their work on this project I move to place this communication on file second motion made by councelor Tyro seconded by counselor dnis to place the communication on file is there discussion on the motion councelor yes uh one uh this also was discussed during the public service meeting uh Dane stated that his I think it was crew of two or three um worked on this project it was slow to start but have got that we've gotten a lot of compliments on this project thus far and their plan is he had to pull because of still being short staff he had to pull his team off but the plan is uh as we move forward um into the you know end of towards the end of the Fall beginning of Spring their plan is to finish the back nine as well so looking forward to seeing this up and up fully operational thank you councelor for the discussion the clerk will please call the rooll councel Brooks yes councelor cor mayor yes Council heglin yes Council D lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council Mack yes Council yes councel Tio munis yes Council tyus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11353 a communication from the mayor regarding gubernatorial appointments councelor tyros thank you madam president leading to a motion the mayor's informed us that Dr Stephanie marquetti executive director of Mok was recently appointed to the governor's advisory Council to end the homeless to end veteran homelessness uh this is a prestigious nomination and look forward to the work that Dr maretti will do on this advisory Council I move to place communication on file second motion made by councelor Tyra second by councelor D out to place the communication on file is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council corm yes Council heglin yes councel D lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel yes Council T munes yes Council tyus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11354 a communication from the mayor regarding upcoming Paving and infrastructure projects councelor tyros thank you madam president leading to a motion in this communication the mayor has notified us that chapter 90 funds have been released and are certain streets and sidewalks that will be worked on throughout the summer of course weather dependent especially with some of these storms in the and Lead move to place communication on file second motion made by councelor tyus seconded by councelor D to place a communication on file is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor I'm sorry the clerk will please call rooll Council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes Council hegan yes councel darl lawitz yes Council harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel yes councel T munes yes councelor tyros yes president kazin yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11355 a communication from the mayor regarding the Newton Street parking lot electric vehicle charging infrastructure project councelor tyros thank you madam president leading to a motion in this communication the mayor is telling us that the conal plans have been approved for electric vehicle Chargers in the Nolton street parking lot paid for by a 3/4 of million dollar Grant the city received from the Mass Department of Public Utilities it is now moving into the engineering stage I move to place this communication on file second motion made by councelor Tyra seconded by councelor Heath to place the communication on file is there a discussion on the motion Mr Mayor thank you very much mad president uh just because we are at the city council meeting I do want to say a special thank you to councelor Dana Heath who brought this Grant application forward to the city uh for us to apply to um through his advocacy we were able to get that $750,000 for that but I do want also want to point out that this also does get a brand new Transformer for Gardener City Hall if you remember on our Capital Improvement project list uh there's a $600,000 project to upgrade the electrical system here at Gardner City Hall by getting this Transformer as a part of this project for to get these new 10 electric vehicle Chargers in the Nolton street parking lot and having including that a new Transformer that can be used to upgrade City Hall's electrical service that actually saves us an additional cost Savings of about $250,000 to get the new Transformer for whenever we have the money to upgrade the city hall electrical service so this is really has a value of over a million dollars so I just just want to say a public thank you to councelor Heath for bringing us to our attention at the administration and our City's Grant writings for helping us write the grant thank you thank you Mr Mayor further discussion the Mr May to we're looking at a spring 2025 construction date for this project thank you thank you Mr Mayor further discussion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council corer yes Council hegan yes councel General lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel tone yes councel tbot munis yes councelor tyros yes president kazus yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11356 a communication from the mayor regarding the city's solar canopy initiative councelor tyros thank you madam president leading to a motion back in April this Council voted to declare several roofs of City owned buildings and the airspace above them uh or air rights as it's called above them as Surplus for the purpose of installing solar panels the mayor provided an update in this packet and the work on their larger solar canopy initiative the city is taking I move to place this communication on file second motion made by councelor Tyra seconded by councelor Heath to place the communication on file is there a discussion on the motion discussion from councelor corme councelor heglin discussion on the motion Mr Mayor thank you madam president uh as I have done since I've been elected the August meeting is really the update on things the council has voted on before that are still in either design process or still moving forward and haven't seen a shovel in the ground yet uh so that's why you'll see a lot of Communications on this month's uh Council agenda one of the things I want to point out with this is uh there's actually two different parts to this communication the first is what's already been approved by the council and the next is just heads up on stuff that's coming down the pike uh at the April 14th meeting as councelor Tyro said there were several projects that were previously approved by the city council for us to work with solar consultant uh those engineering reviews are currently being done um but we're also working with National Grid at the same time those panels can't get put on the buildings until National Grid gives the clearance to say that the grid has the capability of moving those onto the electrical system that we have here in the C in the city uh National Grid is launching a pilot program of which each of those parcels and uh buildings that were previously approved are currently being considered as part of that pilot program what that would mean is we're looking at a month timeline from now as to when those act those panels go on because that H the those would be connected before the meter not after the meter uh we still get the discounted electricity rate based on the number of Watts approved based on uh the the pilot payment that we received the lease payment that we'll receive but it's just when National Grid can handle taking the electricity off of those panels into the grid if we don't get approved for that pilot program we're looking at a 24mon uh period before we see those panels installed mainly because National Grid needs to do a full in-depth analysis as to what their process needs to be to upgrade their infrastructure around those buildings to be able to take that electricity so that's where we are on the items that were approved and if the uh later on in your agenda you'll see adding the uh water treatment plant to that project as well if that's approved that's also part of the pilot program if it gets approved tonight uh couple things coming down the pike and on the agenda tonight uh the uh Solid Waste landfill so the mound that used to be the dump uh the land across the street at the golf course that's behind the driving range that's not currently being used land at the wastewater treatment plant and land at the uh airport are all going to be coming uh to the city council for consideration uh for later on down the line uh the reason why those aren't included tonight and weren't included in April is mainly because there's a lot more engineering studies that need to be done uh mainly because of the size of those arrays that would be uh the site work that would need to just be checked first The General laws that are around those because there are general laws on the books right now that if a facility is associated with an Enterprise the landfill the golf course uh the funding produced at that site has to go to that Enterprise so the golf course would receive the funding for that in the golf Enterprise account and the landfill would receive that in the landfill Enterprise account this would help the golf course with their indirect cost that they pay to the city in terms of their shares of the insurance uh and the cost that they owe the city and this would also eliminate uh at least partially the annual fre cash appropriation that goes into the landfill closure appropriation account so we can pay for the monitoring of the cap landfill that that we're required to do for a 35-year period after the landf close that will be around 2040 uh from what we're seeing right now uh those will be part of that 2-year study that National Grid has to do uh there's all same thing with the wastewater treatment plant but the wastewater treatment plant and the airport have a couple things where that's Templeton Municipal light not National Grid so there's some other uh processes that need to go forward in that uh program and also the general laws also say that if solars solar panels are installed at an airport the airport is the beneficiary of those funds so that would go toward basically covering the cost that the airport places on the general funds budget so I just want you to know that that's where things have been since the previous vote that we had and these are some things we can expect in the future um again the August meeting is our update meeting in terms of what we provide to the city council and that's exactly what you're seeing here with this too thank you thank you Mr Mayor further discussion the clerk will please call the role Council Brook yes councilor Cormier yes councelor heglin Council heglin yes councel D lawitz yes Council harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel tone yes councelor T munes yes councelor Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11357 a communication from the mayor regarding the city's downtown and tiany Corridor vacant storefront revitalization districts councelor tyros thank you madam president leading to a motion this is an update from the mayor on the city's vacant storefront efforts uh just downtown alone the city has gone from 34 vacant storefronts from in 2022 to down to just 12 uh I think the Mara's um uh very done a very good job on this initiative and I thank him for his efforts and move to place communication on file second motion made by councelor Tyra second by councelor jtz to place the communication on file is there a discussion on the motion councelor Kei thank you madam president um I just want to thank the mayor for um defy Plaza I drove by uh yesterday going to Walmart and I looked over and it was probably at about an 80% capacity cars I haven't seen that in probably I don't know 15 years um you know so so for a pleas that was once dead is live it's alive and I can't wait to see Chipotle come in and um bring it even more to life so I just want to say thank you thank you that is all further discussion Mr Mayor thank you madam president um as councelor Tyro said uh the reason why certain things like this are on the agenda tonight is that the city council voted to endorse our application to participate in the program originally so that's one of the reasons why I wanted to update the council that a vote was taken before and this is the result that we have right now now uh the vacant storefront district downtown as uh was said earlier started with 34 um vacant properties that are there and again by the law that's defined as storefronts that were vacant for a period of 12 months or more uh what that does by entering into that program is that the state helps Market those storefronts on their end to help Revitalize the city and then in certain instances businesses that are going into those storefronts can apply for a grant from the state of $10,000 that then has to be matched at the local level we've done that on our arpa funds in years past in order to maintain our designation as those we do have to appropriate some funds later on so that's something that is coming down the pike and when free cash gets certified uh matching funds for that um only two of those stores have received those funds and that's Perry pools and Bria coffee um moving forward we'll see how we can uh highlight those as we move forward uh but in the Tony Boulevard area of the original eight uh soref fronts that were eligible for this there's only one left and the reason for that is that the new landlords of the tempy uh Plaza um area subdivided one of the the units uh so that's our one remaining storefront there so if they had subdivided it we'd have them all filled unfortunately but at the same time it brings in another business for us so I just wanted to again the council had some action on this before so make sure you had an update on this now that we're uh halfway through that program thank you thank you Mr Mayor further discussion the clerk will please call the rooll councel Brooks yes councel Cormier councelor heglin yes councelor General lwit yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor tassone yes councel CH munes yes councel tyros yes president kazinski yes 11 11 y the motion passes item 11359 a measure authorizing the mayor to enter into an intermunicipal agreement between the city of Garder and the town Princeton for Veterans Services for the period of July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2027 report from the finance committee councelor Mac yes this is to continue the current agreement with the um town of Princeton with a 2% increase to cover the staff needed to to continue to cover the provided Services um and to have adequate Staffing in the office thank you counselor is there a motion I make a motion that we move the order um for passage second motion made by councelor Max seconded by Counselor General owitz to authorize the mayor to enter into the agreement is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role councelor Brooks yes councelor Cormier yes councelor heglin yes councel D owt yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mac yes Council tone yes Council T munis yes Council Tyrus yes president consensus yes 11 years 11 years the motion passes item 11360 a measure authorizing the mayor to enter into an intermunicipal agreement between the city of Gardner and the town of Westminster for annual animal control services for the period of July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2027 report from the finance committee councelor Mac yes this is to continue the animal control services with the um town of West Minister as we do with other municipalities um with a 2 and a half% increase and I make a motion to move the order second motion made by councelor Ma seconded by counselor D lawitz to authorize the mayor to enter into the agreement is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes councel heglin yes councel General lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor tone yes councelor t munis yes councelor Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11361 a measure declaring Surplus for the purpose of disposal lease the building located at 62 Waterford Street report from the finance committee counselor D thank you madam president leading to a motion this will allow the city to lease the old Waterford Street Junior High School building out to um nonprofits it's the next step in the process that's been ongoing for quite some time now the home rule petition um was approved uh by the uh Governor um the finance committee was in favor and I moved to adopt the measure second motion made by councelor General seconded by councelor Mack to adopt the order is there a discussion on the motion not presid Council tyros thank you I just want to briefly thank representative znik for helping push this item through the state legislature quickly uh in our efforts to get Waterford uh Street School to turn into Waterford Community Center uh thank you very much thank you counselor further discussion the clerk will please call the rooll councel Brooks yes councelor corm yes councel heglin yes councel D lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel tone yes councel TBO munes yes councelor tyros yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11362 a measure declaring Surplus for the purpose of disposal sale the land and buildings at 94 pleasantry report from the finance committee councelor General thank you madam president leading to a motion this is the property across the street um we've discussed this property uh many times since was the um in the land court for some time um the mayor did State he is um going to put it up for sale for a dollar there are significant issues with the property it hasn't been taken care of in 30 40 plus years really Theus in the building that uh to mitigate or to demolish the building alone would be the estimates are $350 to $400,000 um so the finance committee was in favor and I move to adopt the measure second motion made by councelor General L second by councelor Heath to adopt the measure is there a discussion on the motion councelor Brooks yeah I just I just want to say that it was Mike Smith that did the tax title on this property in the early 90s uh when I started in ' 97 I was the one that it was in land court and I was the one that said okay to an advertise ing because they couldn't serve the owners and as soon as the advertisement hit the papers uh the owner sued everybody in the city except me uh for violation of his Federal rights and that was the start of 20 plus years of of trying to get this property out of land Court uh so I'm I'm it's I my office was uh where the city clerk is now and so I could look out my window and see the property sitting there so I very pleased that the city has it and this is a good Next Step thank you thank you councelor for the discussion Mr Mayor thank you very much Madam president uh this is something that I have traditionally strayed from doing during my time in office in terms of putting a a building or a property for sale for a dollar uh but if you see the uh certified appraisal that's in the packet as well as the estimate uh opinion of probable cost from the city's on Call engineering service about what it would be to demo the building uh you're looking at $350 to $400,000 to demo aone um and the appraisal came back at zero because you're looking at the value of the building versus how much you're going to put into the building the estimated cost of rehabbing the building is almost double the cost of the building itself um where the city hasn't received a single penny from this property since 1992 I think this serves as a uh outlier to our normal practice so that's why uh I put it up for a minute minimum price of a dollar uh just to reiterate the process from here if this gets approved is this would go through a request for proposal process just like we've done with every other property that the city has sold in recent years uh where we've made a more concerted effort to get these properties back on the tax rolls that means it'll be marketed for a minimum 30 days through the City's online real estate contractor that we the city council approved previously and then through the city's purchasing department through the state's combis uh system in the central register uh through a request for proposal process where someone has to give us both a price proposal and a detailed plan proposal saying this is what we want to do with the site uh this is how we plan on doing it this is where we're getting our financial backing from and you evaluate the full picture that's how we make sure that we don't end up back in the place where we are now where we're dealing with a situation with an absentee landlord dealing with a uh negligent Nuance property that we have here too a committee will be assigned to do the first round of review of those proposals just like we did with the previous properties that we've sold and then my office will receive the recommendations from that committee and then move forward with there from awarding the uh property to the uh awarding bidder at that time in which case I will send another notification to the city council just like we did before when we sold that properties as to where that process ended up at that time thank you thank you Mr Mayor further discussion the clerk will please call the role counc Brooks yes Council corer yes councelor heglin yes Council General lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes counc tone yes councel tiot munes yes councelor Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 Y is the motion passes item 11363 a measure declaring the roof of the water treatment plant located at 100 Haywood Street a surplus for the purpose of leasing to a solar photovoltaic array report from the finance committee councelor General lawitz uh leading to a motion the mayor alluded to this property already talking about how it's in addition to the um the other property that were looking to solar on the roof um and the finance committee was in favor and I move to adopt the measure second motion made by councelor General out seconded by councelor Mack to adopt the measures there discussion discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes Council heglin yes councel D lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor toone yes councelor T munes yes councelor tyos yes president kinus yes 11 years 11 y the motion passes item 11364 a measure declaring 21 acres of land at the gardener Solid Waste landfill located at 744 West Street as Surplus for the purpose of leasing to a solar photovoltaic array report from the finance committee counselor Journal awit thank you madam president uh this is very similar to the previous one except it's on top of the old landfall again the mayor has spoke to this already this evening the finance committee was in favor and I move to adopt the measure second motion made by councelor General out seconded by councelor Ma to adopt the measure is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role councilor Brooks yes Council corm yes say yes Council heglin yes councel Dar lawitz yes Council harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor tone yes councel T munis yes Council tyos yes president kazinski yes 11 11 y the motion passes item 11365 ACC communication from the mayor regarding Stonefield councelor General lawitz thank you madam president this Communications in regards to the appointment of an ad hoc committee um to determine what to do with stone field make a motion to place the communication on file second motion made by councelor General out second by counselor M to place the communication on file is there a discussion on the motion councelor m president councel hin I'm going to entertain councelor Mac and then I will call on you I just want to say um I I really like the makeup of the committee and I'm looking forward to hearing what recommendations they have for Stonefield um because it the it's overdue to have something um considered for that beautiful piece of property thank you thank you counselor councelor heglin thank you madam president and through you to the council uh for anyone who did not get to read this particular Communication in our 700 page packet and for the viewing public uh per my resolution that we previously passed uh and has been noted tonight the ad hoc committee to brainstorm options for Stonefield has been formed so I also just wanted to make sure to thank uh John's ladnik Pete gash Sally Johnson Jay Garen and W dzinski for taking on this task each of them have ties to the field and the neighborhood they also know its significance and history and it's my understanding that they have done to meet and are enthusiastic about their role in this process they have a plan for future meetings and I also look forward to hearing their proposals when ready thank you thank you counselor forther discussion the clerk will please call the role councel Brooks yes councelor corme yes Council heglin yes Council Dar lawitz yes Council harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor tone yes councel TBO munis yes Council tyros yes president kazinski yes 11 years 11 y the motion passes item 11366 a resolution from the city council in support of the city's application to the community change for environmental justice communities grant program by the US EPA report from the finance committee councelor General thank you madam president leading to a motion uh this is application for a significant amount of Grants um for environmental justice communities as you stated these areas in the city are my understand the entirety of self Garder also the Sherman Street and cross street area this would um include improvements to infrastruct infrastructure playgrounds um in renovations as well uh to some of the buildings in the areas uh the finance committee was in favor and I moved to pass the resolution second motion made by councel D second by councel m to pass the resolution is there a discussion on the motion councelor Brooks uh thank you madam president just just a comment these are grants that that I believe the mayor's office is applying for or through his office with with the people that he has contracted with I just want to make sure that as we move forward with these grants um and I'll probably bring this up repeatedly that there are departments within the city that will oversee the grant if it is awarded um I live on Elm Street there's the safer roots to school grant that has been orphaned for the over the years and I just want to make sure that as we move forward it's a great Grant to have and I and and I don't want to give any discredit to it but it's important to have somebody in the community that somebody within the city that is uh advocating for it and overseeing it thank you thank you counselor further discussion Mr Mayor thank you very much Madam president um just to give a brief rundown to the council as to uh what this is but I also want to make clear for the public watching at home this is a Grant application that we have in place right now the city does not have the money right now and we are going for the money and there's a chance that we may not get the money but if we don't try then we're not going to get there uh what this project goes towards would be complete streets reconstruction which is a te technical term meaning Street and sidewalks for Sherman Street since we're already Paving Washington Logan this year the entirety of cross street uh full renovation and rebuild of Jackson playground from the baseball diamond the fence and the playground equipment as well as a splash park um over in Bickford playground same thing full renovation of that playground uh over there uh we also have to uh as part of this project work towards uh a uh remediation for a pollutant uh we have the underground oil storage tanks at the DPW from when our and gasoline storage tanks that used to be there from when City vehicles used to fill up with gas at the DPW those are under EPA order to be removed by next year their removal is in this proposal that's here uh upgrading the roofs at the DPW garage so that they can bear the weight of solar panels but also insulating that building right now because because it's an uninsulated building so that we are losing money on our heating costs that's included with that um but we also are all required to partner with a certain number of private sector uh Partners on this what that goes towards is partnering with St Paul's Episcopal Church and the gardener CAC so that we can expand their Community Gardens that they have out there so that we can add fruit trees so that the CAC could have access to fresh fruit from those fruit trees and then with the gardener emergency housing Mission and chair City Church who recently purchased the old Caring Place on Central Street uh they're working to convert that into a beastro cafe on the first floor and gem for emergency housing uh and transitional housing for members who are experiencing homelessness on the upper floors and those that are living in the upper floors will be the employees of that coffee shop that's on the first floor so it's a job training skill while they're in that transitional period in housing uh so all of that the retrofit of the Caring Place all that work on the city side with the playgrounds is included in that Grant the Federal Environmental District uh environmental justice district is included in your packets it's the entirety of South south of route two and just a small Peak into the Sherman Street cross street up to the carrying place on Central Street so it's about 50 51% of the uh City for the environmental justice District uh I just wanted you to know what's actually included so you know what resolution you're voting on but this is one of those federal grants like cdbg that does require a City Council vote to uh support the application uh with it thank you thank you Mr Mayor further discussion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council corer yes Council heglin yes Council Dar allow yes councel harder yes councel Heath yes Council Mack yes councel tone yes councel TBO munis yes Council tyros yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11368 a measure accepting the donation of picnic tables to The Gardener farmers market by Mackie Building Supply report from the committee councelor Mac um leading to a motion this is to accept a donation of $600 from U Mackie Building Supplies to the new Farmers Market at Waterford street that takes place the third Saturday of the month this summer um so I make a motion to accept the donation motion made by councelor Max second to by councelor Tone to accept the donation is there a discussion on the motion councel there lot just for clarity sake it is for $600 worth of picnic tables I don't believe it uh oh picnic tables home knows so they nice picking tables down at Waterford Street school now for the picking tables further discussion thank you further discussion the clerk will please call the RO Council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes councelor heglin yes councel General lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor tone yes councel T munis yes coun Council tyros yes president kinus yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11369 a measure accepting the donation of Flyers to The Gardener farmers market by Staples number 1277 report from the finance committee councelor Mac yes this is a measure to accept um the donation of Flyers to the garders farmer Farmers Market um at Waterford Street School that takes place on the Saturdays um by Staples and um so this is to accept the donation of Flyers and I move the order second motion made by councelor Ma seconded by councelor General Arts to accept the donation is there discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes Council hegan yes councel D lawitz yes Council Harter yes councilor Heath yes councilor Mack yes councelor tone yes councel tbot munis yes councilor tyros yes president kinus yes 11 11 y motion passes item 11370 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 590 thereof entitled Solid Waste to change the fee for solid waste collections report from the finance committee councelor Dar lawit thank you madam president leading to a motion this item uh wasn't before was before us a few meetings ago it was passed both through first printing um and final printing uh there was a clerical error on the dates um the start dates uh so this is going to correct that error um um the finance committee was in favor I move to send the ordinance the first printing second motion made by councelor General out second by councelor Mac to send the ordinance to first printing is there discussion on the motion Al the uh the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes councel heglin yes councel Dar lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes counc tone yes councel TBO munis yes Council tyus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11371 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Gardner chapter 553 thereof entitled sewer rates report from the finance committee counselor joural lawitz thank you madam president U leading to a motion very similar to the previous one the same uh similar error to um on the dates for the rate increases over the um time period of the ordinance change the finance committee was in favor and I moved to send the the first printing second motion made by councelor General was second by councelor Heath to send the item to first printing is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes Council heglin yes councelor D owz yes councelor harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes Council tone yes councel tbot munis yes Council Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11372 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 171 thereof entitled Personnel to amend Schedule E non-union compensation schedule report from the finance committee councelor General L thank you madam president leading to a motion uh this is again uh something that we passed prior U there was a small um there was an error for a couple of the positions on there that didn't get the appropriate raises that were intended um this corrects that eror finance committee was in favor and I move to send the ordinance the first printing second motion make my Counselor General out second by councelor Tyrus to send the item to first printing is there discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council corme councilor Cormier councelor Cormier councelor heglin yes councel darl all yes councel heglin I'm sorry councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel tone yes councel TBO munis yes councel tyos yes councel Cormier president Kaz president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11373 a communication from the mayor regarding the FY 2024 rebuilding American infrastructure structure with sustainability and Equity raise Grant Awards report from the finance committee councelor ma uh I make a motion to place this communication on file second motion made by counselor Max seconded by Counselor General Al to place the communication on file is there discussion on the motion Mr Mayor thank you very much Madam president uh this is a very competitive grant that the city's very lucky to get and I want to thank our on call grant writing contractors for writing this successful uh Grant authorization this was uh author by the central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission when the contract was still with them uh this is uh $1 and A4 million for the city to undertake a full mobility and parking study at the downtown there's different planning aspects of this as well as the engineering and design of a uh four-story parking lot uh parking garage right now the plane is over the West Street parking lot but that could change part of the study is telling us if that's the best place to put that uh but the city council adopted this resolution uh in support of this application so this is another one that uh you know the city council adopted the resolution we wanted you to know how the money now that we know how much we got approved for is actually being spent and the full plan of that is included in your packet so you can see that there um only three communities across Massachusetts got this award and it's the city of Boston the City of Salem and ass here and Gardner uh so it's great to see uh Gardner being able to bring in not only just a million and a quarter but in a competitive Grant as competitive as that so just again where the council voted on this before wanted you to see now what's actually being done as a result of that vote thank you thank you Mr Mayor further discussion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council corm mayor yes councelor heglin yes councel D lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes Council Mack yes councel tone yes councel Tio munis yes councel tyros yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11374 a communication from the mayor regarding the FY 2024 Massachusetts electric vehicle incentive program Mass evip Grant Awards uh report from the finance committee councelor Mac I make a motion to place this communication on file second motion made by councelor Mac second by councelor General to place the communication on file is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes Council heglin yes Council dar owt yes Council harder yes councel Heath yes Council Mack yes Council tone yes councel T munes yes Council tyros yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11375 a communication from the mayor regarding the FY 2024 Mass Trails Grant Awards report from the finance committee councelor M I make a motion to place this communication on file second motion made by councelor Ma seconded by councelor General to place the communication on file is there discussion on on the motion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes councilor cor yes councilor heglin yes Council D lawitz yes Council harder yes councilor Heath yes councilor Mac yes councelor tone yes councel tiot munes yes councelor tyros yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11376 a communication from the mayor regarding the City's on call Grant rating Services report from the finance committee councelor Mack I make a motion to place this communication on file second motion made by councel Max second to by councelor DN lawitz to place the communication on file is there discussion on the motion councelor d lawitz uh this is obviously from the uh the unall grant writing services there's a lot of opportunities there that they're highlighting that we may be able to go after law enforcement Transportation water sewer uh Community Development um excited to see um how this um how they're having their services um here for the city help us out getting these grants thank you thank you counselor further discussion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes councel hegan yes councel D LTZ yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor tone yes councel tbot munis yes councelor tyros yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11377 a communication from the mayor regarding the city's Community Development block grant programs report from the finance committee councelor Mac I make a motion to place this communication on file second motion made by councelor Max I by counselor dtz to place the communication on file is there discussion on the motion councelor tyros thank you madam president just a brief comment I thank the mayor for the update as promised uh when we held our informal meeting on the cdbg program management back in March uh I just want to make a small correction in the letter it says that the steering committee meets annually uh we actually meet more often than that and I'm hoping we even even uh meet even more often uh to ensure that you know some of the uh findings and issues uh in this letter uh don't recur thank you madam president further discussion Mr Mayor thank you madam president uh yeah uh as Council Tyro said this is in response to uh not only the award that we recently received that the city council voted to approve the resolution for because again this is one of those Federal monies that does require city council approval for the resolution uh 750,000 of the 925 that was awarded is going to the demolition of School Street School uh and then funding is going to the elimination of user fees for athletics at Garden Public Schools Garden emergency housing Mission the voices of Truth domestic violence task force and um the cac's food Pantry Expansion Project um uh so that letter is included in here the letter releasing the funds from the previous Grant is also included in here so that uh certifies that the city is now receiving the money for the demolition of the Rome building at the corner of M and Willow the demolition of the Greenwood pool building and the construction of the Pavilion uh downtown phase 4 and the other projects that were included in that uh project for the boys and girls club and the uh Gardener emergency housing Mission as well so that funding is now released and that certification letters included in your packet as well as the city's response on how we're going to be moving forward with the management of this grant uh since as Council Tyra said uh that was promised when the informal meeting was had I just wanted to make sure that followup was as thorough as could be for the city council thank you thank you Mr Mayor further discussion on the item the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes councelor heglin yes councel Dar LTZ yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councilor Mack yes Council tone yes Council TBO munis yes councel Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11378 a communication from the mayor regarding the FY 2025 federal budget Congressional earmarks for garden report from the finance committee excuse me councelor mac uh Madame President I make a motion to place this item on file second motion made by councelor Max second by councelor General LS to place the communication on file is there discussion on the motion Council General allow uh the year marks are um is for the old Junior High School it's somewhere between $850,000 and a million doll depending on if you look at the Senate budget or the uh congress's the House Representatives budget uh my understanding is the vote on this is supposed to take place in early October um we'll see if that actually happens these things can be taken out or added to adjusted in that budget but um we are hopeful we're getting a um so ear Mark for the U for the project thank you thank you counselor further discussion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes councelor heglin yes councel D LTZ yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor ton yes Council chot munis yes councelor Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y the motion passes appointments item 11380 a measure confirming the mayor's appointments of election officers for 2024 councel tyros thank you madam president leading to a motion this item and the item following it come before the council every election cycle uh as is law for us to confirm the appointments and assignments um therefore I move to confirm the mayor's appointments of election officers for 2024 second motion made by councelor tyus seconded by councelor DN iwit to confirm the mayor's appointment is their discussion on the the motion the cler will please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council Cormier yeah councel heglin yes councel darl lawitz yes councelor harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor tone yes councelor TBO munes yes councelor Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11381 a measure confirming the police officer assignments polling locations Council Tyro thank you madam president same report as the previous item I move to confirm the police officer assignments to polling locations second motion made by councelor Tyra seconded by councelor DN lawitz to approve the mayor's appointments is there discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the rooll councelor Brooks yes councel carier yes councelor heglin yes Council D lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councel Mack yes councelor ton yes councel T munis yes Council tyros yes president kinus yes 11 years 11 y the motion passes I do want to say on that one I had announced the motion as to confirm the mayor's appointments the motion we're going to redo that vote on item 11381 the motion was to confirm the police officer assignments so I just didn't repeat it the way that councelor tyros had said it I apologize for that we're going to redo that one so item 11381 the motion was to confirm the police officer assignments to polling locations uh Maiden seconded uh second motion made by councelor tyus seconded by councelor General lawitz to confirm the police officer assignments polling locations is there discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the rooll councelor Brooks yes Council corer yes Council hegan yes councelor General yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel ton yes councel Cho munis yes Council tyros yes president kazinski yes 11 years 11 years the motion passes petitions applications Communications Etc item 11317 we already took up this item at the beginning of the meeting the the item did not pass item 11326 a petition by National Grid Elm Street and cross street locate pole ISO pole approximately 15 ft councelor ton Madam president I'd like to uh make a motion to refer this to Public Service committee for study and report I do that right Madam president I believe a public hearing must be scheduled and and schedule public hearing my apologies is there a second second motion made by councelor ton second by councelor tyros to uh schedule a uh to refer the item to the public service committee and schedule a public hearing on a petition by National Grid Elm Street and cross street to relocate poll One S O poll approximately 15 ft is there discussion on the motion councelor T Madam president I just was reminded by my watch that it's past my bedtime I apologize for yours and mine both further discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes Council heglin yes councel dur lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes Council Mack yes councel tone yes councel tbot munis yes Council Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11349 an application by Echo ATM LLC for a license to deal in secondhand articles at 677 Tiffany Boulevard inside Walmart councelor harder yes I'd like to um refer this to the Safety Committee for study and Report second motion made by councelor Harden seconded by councelor tyos to refer the item to the Public Safety Committee for further study and report is there discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes councelor heglin yes councel D LTZ yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes Council Mack yes councel tone yes councel T munes yes councel tyos yes president keskus yes Lan the motion passes item 11350 an application by Gardener tenpins Incorporated for bowling alley license at 560 West Broadway councel Harden yes I'd like to refer this to safety for study and Report second motion Me by councel hard Harden second to by councel General out to refer the item to the Public Safety Committee for a further study and report is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the rooll councilor Brooks yes councelor corer councelor corm yes councel heglin yes councel General lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor tone yes councel Tio munes yes councel Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y motion passes item 11379 measure relative to the September 3rd 2024 State primary election order report from the finance committee councelor General iwit thank you madam president leading to a motion this uh order is very similar to the ones Council Tyra spoke to appointing police officers and pole workers uh this is necessary in order to hold the election it um States what we're voting for and where the voting locations are um I move to adopt the order second motion made by councel DN out second by councelor Tyrus to adopt the order is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role councelor Brooks yes councel Cormier yes councel heglin yes councel General lawitz yes councelor harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor tone yes councelor TBO munis yes councelor Tyrus yes president kinus yes 11 l y the motion passes reports of standing committees finance committee item 11289 an ordinance to amend the the code of the city of Garder part one thereof entitled administrative legislation councelor General out thank you madam president uh the finance committee did meet on this the mayor and his office has sent us an updated version of the um administrative legislation U reorganizing it a little bit um so we humbly ask for more time to review the edits thank you if there is no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time item 11382 motion to amend item number 11256 a resolution to rename the city council chamber the Ronald F Cormier Council chamber as adopted by the city council on June 17th 2024 councel tyros I moveed to refer this item to finance committee for study and Report second motion made by councelor Tyro seconded by councelor dwit to refer the item to the finance committee for a further studying report report is there discussion on the motion councelor ma um this uh motion to amend has been made by councelor tyros to bring it to the finance committee to now take the next step and how the um the chambers will then uh whether it be plaque or how the uh commemoration will be done so I just want to it's not to change the resolution that has already been passed I just want to make that correct or clarification to anybody thank you thank you counselor further discussion the clerk will please call the RO Council Brooks yes councelor corm yes councel heglin yes councel General lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councelor tone yes councelor TBO munis yes councelor tyros yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes appointments committee item 11327 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Brandon Huey to the position of Youth commission member for term expiring August 1st 2027 coun tyros I move the appointment to be certified second motion made by councelor tyos second by councelor General lawitz to uh certify the mayor's appointment is there a discussion on the motion councelor Heath thank you madam president I have to um recuse myself from this vote as a member of the uh youth commission thank you councelor refusal further discussion councelor Brooks yeah just a question are we are we certifying or confirming um I apologize move to confirm the mayor's app it it it's late and it's been hot and humid and my crabby old man syndrome is acting up on I apologize so we want to amend corre M president I'd like to amend to move to confirm the mayor's appointment on Brandon Hue a vote to confirm so we are amending the motion to confirm the mayor's appointment of Brandon Huey to the position of Youth commissioner member of foror expiring August 1st 2027 second seconded by count made by councelor Tyro seconded by councelor General lawit is there a discussion on the amended motion councelor tyros thank you madam president thank you councelor Brooks uh the committee met with Mr huy and the mayor's office uh Mr fuy served as an elementary school teacher for a number of years in gner public schools he is currently the executive director of the Garder Boys and Girls Club he brings a key perspective on how to best engage with the city's youth population I'm very happy to see Mr huy step up for his community and the committee voted in favor uh to recommend the mayor's appointment thank you counselor further discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council corme yes councel heglin yes councelor D lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Mack yes councelor tone yes councelor tbot munes yes councelor Tyra yes president kinus yes 10 10 y the motion passes item 11328 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Cory hasselman to the position ofor of veteran services for term expiring August 1st 2025 councelor tyros thank you madam president leading to a motion the committee met with uh the appointee and the mayor's office uh director hasselman uh served as the assistant director for a year before his current new appointment he is a United States Marine Corps veteran he is heavily involved in daav mvoc BFW and has organized numerous veteran ceremonies the mayor was happy to put forward his appointment and the committee voted uh in favor to to confirm the mayor's appointment therefore I move the appointment be confirmed second motion made by councelor Tyra second by councelor uh tone to confirm the mayor's appointment is there discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role councilor Brooks yes Council Cormier yes Council Excuse me councel heglin yes councel JN lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel Jone yes Council tbot munes yes Council Tyas yes president kinus yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11329 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Amanda Morris to the position of Director of Human Resources for term expiring August 1st 2027 councelor tyros I move to confirm the mayor's appointment second motion made by councelor Tyra second by councelor J Allis to confirm the mayor's appointment appointment is there a discussion on the motion councelor tyros thank you madam president the committee met with director Morris in the mayor's office director Morris has been in this position two and a half months she has over 14 years experience in various HR IND uh in HR in various Industries including construction manufacturing Healthcare uh she is looking forward to developing new strategies and policies in the department help manage benefits uh she's working on uh even her own standard operating procedures so that when she has to perform a task in the future she has a document to refer to uh the committee was very impressed with her work and voted in favor to confirm uh her appointment further discussion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes Council heglin yes Council D LTZ yes Council harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel tone yes councel TBO mun yes Council Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11330 a measure conf confirming the mayor's appointment of Amanda Morse to the position of disability commission member for term expiring August 1st 2027 councel tyros thank you madam president I move to confirm the mayor's appointment second motion made by councel tyos second by councelor JN lawitz to confirm the mayor's appointment is there a discussion on the motion councelor tyros thank you madam president it's actually a city code that the disability commission member be the director of Human Resources the committee met with the appointee and the mayor's office uh she is actually has certifications with the mask Commission on disability uh and is very uh um uh it's gone she's she's very well prepared for this role uh the commit the committee voted unan me to confirm therefore I I already moved it so yeah we were we were for it and any further discussion thank you councelor tyos further discussion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes councelor Cormier yes Council heglin yes Council Dar lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes Council Mack yes councel tone yes councel tbot munis yes Council tyus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11 1331 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Richard Hanks to the position of Zoning Board member for term expiring August 1st 2027 councelor Heath thank you madam president I would like to go ahead and make a motion to certify this appointment M president point of order uh confirming the mayor's appoint I'm sorry thank you confirming the mayor's appointment second motion made by councelor Heath seconded by councelor General to confirm the mayor's appointment is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes councel Cormier yes councel heglin yes councel General lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes councel Mack yes councel tone yes Council T munes yes Council Tyrus yes president kazin yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11332 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Bert rice to the position of alternate zoning Board member for term expiring August 1st 2025 councelor Heath thank you madam presid I'd like to make a motion to confirm the mayor's appointment second motion made by councelor Heath second by councel Tyrus to confirm the mayor's appointment is there a discussion on the motion councelor Heath yes thank you madam president attorney ryce has been a very active member of the garden Community as a former attorney former director of the Levi Haywood Memorial Library for former State Rep for the area former member of the most recent City Charter Review Committee and member of the Williams Rockwell education gift fund he knows Gardner and his people and brings a tremendous perspective in this role thank you counselor for the discussion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes Council heglin yes Council Daryl lawitz yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel tone yes councel TBO munis yes councilor Tyrus yes president kinus yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11333 a measuring confirming the mayor's appointment of Chris Case the position of Bandstand Committee Member for term expiring June 25th 2027 councelor he thank you m president I'd like to go ahead and make a motion to confirm the mayor's appointment second motion made by councelor Heath second by councelor General L to confirm the mayor's appointment is there a discussion on the motion Council Heath thank you madam president uh this is a volunteer position um miss Mr Case has been uh recommended by his peers of the city's band stands committee he's been constant Presence at the city's annual summer concert series and has volunteered his help on occasion with the work of the committee further discussion Council Mac just want to make a correction um Chris Case is is Mrs case um and she's a former secretary at the high school so it's Mrs Christine case thank you thank you councelor m further discussion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes councilor Cormier yes Council heglin yes Council General lawitz yes councel harder yes councel Heath yes councel Mack yes councel Jone yes yes Council chibo munis yes councel Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11334 a measure confirming the mayor's reappointment of Raymond lefon to the position of Zoning Board member for term expiring August 1st 2020 separate report from appointments committee councelor Heath thank you madam president I'd like to make a motion to confirm the mayor's appointment second motion made by councelor Heath second by Counselor General to confirm the mayor's reappointment is there a discussion on the motion councelor Heath thank you madam president uh Mr leond currently serves as the chair of the City Zoning Board of Appeals and has been a member of the board for 44 years during his more than four Decades of service of dis position he has brought valuable experience and discussions forward to the board of to the board and the deliberations he has a very extensive knowledge of the Commonwealth and the city's zoning laws through the hours of training and experience es he has had during his time further discussion thank you counselor councelor tyros thank you madam president as this is the last appointment this evening and for the zoning board I just want to thank the mayor for working hard to fill this board the council took action to increase membership of this board from three members to five members the only member not listed uh this evening is the alternative member David Ana and uh you I appreciate the mayor quickly filling this important board thank you thank you counselor councelor ton I just wanted to speak on leond um what a great man and Serv in our city for as long as he has and he's a good friend of mine and serves on this legislative committee with the chamber as well and I just want to thank Ray and his continued service to Gardner thank you counselor further discussion the clerk will please call the RO Council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes Council heglin he said yes he did councilor Cormier yes okay sorry about that councel D owts yes councel harder yes councel Heath yes Council Mack yes councel tone yes councelor chimo munes yes councel Tyrus yes president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes Safety Committee item 11115 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 Douglas Road C harder yes um Madam president the Safety Committee is asking for more time please if there's no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time item 11204 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic section 24 entitled parking prohibited on certain streets edel street from Elm Street to orang Street coun hard yes um Safety Committee is asking for more time there if there is no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time welfare committee item 11211 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder to add a new chapter 15 to be entitled agricultural commission councelor ma um thank you Madame President uh we have a meeting on this item next week um to discuss this further and uh we will be coming back to the council with a recommendation for September thank you so we your requ more time thank you counselor if there is no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time there is no unfinished business in matters to reconsideration there's no new Business Council comments and remarks are there any Council comments and remarks councel hen yes um Madam president for all that you do it can't be an easy job sitting up there especially the last month and I just want to thank you very much you do a wonderful job thank you thank you thank you further discuss um any further Council comments and remarks I will entertain a motion on the floor to adjourn after the closing prayer second motion made by councelor ton seconded by councelor Keith the clerk will please call the RO Council Brooks I I don't know which way do I want to go on this yes Council cor you might not get an answer councilor corm Council heglin yes Council General allowance yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes councelor Mack yes councel tone yes councelor TBO munes yes councelor tyros yes councelor Cormier yes president kazinski yes L 11 the motion passes all father who over thank you for the opportunity joint delation and of this meeting bless Lord all who areed here and the people represent we are and do th attend to our common until our next meeting amen meeting stands aded thank you everyone