all right with the time being 6:00 pm. I now call the appointments Committee of Gardner city council um what's today's sorry March 12th March yeah Wednesday March 12th to order the record should reflect that all members
of the committee are present um chair Heath chair heglin and chair I mean councelor kinus also present as the mayor um mayor Nicholson and now going of open meeting recordings is anyone recording today's meeting
besides staff No No One recording reading of minutes prior meetings there sorry just had to move yes there is not motion there is no motion
all right interview of the following appointees 11472 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Rob Oliver to the position of city [Applause] engineer good evening report from the mayor thank you very much Mr chairman uh
as you may have seen in the write up I sent for the last meeting for uh engineer Oliva um um I'm very impressed with the work he's been doing for the city um this is his third year in this position for the city but he's no stranger to that as he served for
several years as the assistant director of public works for the city for quite some time uh he's a local Gardener resident uh he's brought a lot of expertise and helped out a lot with uh some updates that we've been looking at doing for the city uh not only within the water and sewer department but also overseeing our GIS division uh for the
city and the mappings that's been done um working with the water and sewer departments uh working on the properties that we've been selling uh to try to get those properties back on the tax rols um and just generally with different projects that's happening in the city he overtook the uh bike path bridge over
Route 140 uh for the city and has been working on that with the uh Mass Trails program um I don't think there's ever been a time that I've talked to Robert where I haven't had every answer to the questions that I've had answered and then questions that I didn't even think of before I walked in he already pre-answer and I was like oh I should
thought of that before too um and it's he just comes in with the dedication to do his job the right way and he just does it he's dedicated to the community that he's you know not only lives in but has served for several years uh and I'm really happy to have him here um with us and looking forward to continuing to work with him on the
team thank you Robert you like to introduce yourself sure um you know me is Robert Oliva I go by Rob um just to thank you Mr Mayor um to to kind of on what the mayor has already said I'm a resident of the city I grew up in the
area my family's from the from the city um so when I came here as an assistant DPW director it was great I loved it um but honestly city engineer always had my name on it because that's what I wanted um fortunately the stars all aligned for me um I love my job I love working for
the city that I live in I know some people wouldn't want to take that on but I feel like I have Deep Roots here and it works to my advantage um so I couldn't be happier here and um hopefully um the job I do is is noticed and appreciated I like to think
that um I'm helping the city and and I love that so simply put I love my job and I hope to keep it for a long time thank you thank you um Council canus any questions um I um I don't have any
questions based off on any of that um obviously this is um you know you've worked for the city for a long time you do great work I think you know the proof is in the pudding as they say um you know any interactions that we have had um we always get thorough timely
responses um and you know just with the time that I've been in the city and the capacity of a city counselor always been super helpful and um you know I appreciate the work that you've been doing so I don't really have any questions but I just want to um to just kind of just comment on the experience that you have and I think it's really
important to what we do here in the city because bar is a small City and that's no small ask for um an engineer in any uh you know City Town of any size but um I think it's as you said you live here you definitely are part of the work that you do as well as people that you know
and um have worked with for a long time so I think it shows um and I think you set a really really um High bar for for the position and I appreciate it thank you thank you I will I'll definitely Echo that I've heard a lot of good things I know
my interactions well always been positive so I appreciate that um I think just sort of maybe for the the kind of public is there anything you kind of say about your dayto day projects you've been excited about to be with just you know for everyone's edification sure I I mean my dayto day um I deal a lot with the public um I I enjoy those
interactions and and I always try to answer questions as quickly as possible um I I I've dealt with a lot of municipalities in my own career and that's not always the case so I I know how I would have liked to have been treated as a client to those
municipalities so I think I bring that to the table um I'm really excited about the rail trail project in the bridge um we had applied for and received U Mass Trails funding for the 75% design which is currently underway um we've uh
through my office applied for the next round of funding to hopefully get that design finished up which then kicks it into the state hopefully get the the plans done get it out to bid get it built so um I'm excited about that that I mean I I raised three kids in the city we've ridden the bike trail I mean so we
know it well and to have it connect you know that side of 140 to downtown eventually is is just I think huge for the city so for me it's that's huge and I can't wait to see that come to fruition thank you thank you very much that's it for me appreciate it well
um thank you I've had the pleasure of having multiple conversations with you uh we walked a little little bit of the bike trail together me you and uh uh been um deal with you know an issue and you brought a lot of light to a lot
of things to me that I had questions about so I appreciate that and um you know the one thing you know like where I'm from we use the term keeping it real and I always when I talk about you I always talk about how you keep it real you know what I mean which is you know
which is awesome you know um the question I have for you is if you had no budget as a city in jer what's one thing you would love to go ahead and go to the
city there's so much um boy um if if budget wasn't an option or or a a hindrance um I guess our infrastructure just updating everything I I know through the
DPW um you know they've been knocking knocking away at Water Ms and and in infrastructure um storm water um a lot could be done there and you know this will be mandates in the future with EPA so I think unlimited budget we could do
a lot um to address storm water so um but there's a tons of other things I mean the city could use so much so um that would be wonderful if you can make that happen I'd love it well thank you if I had no budget I I
put a uh a Subway in you know my son's about to get his license think such um but yeah um thank you thank you good job all right the next Appo d uh 11485 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Cory hasselman to
position of Veteran agent veterans Bureau agent uh sorry thank you Mr chairman sorry about that one that I have it uh director hasselman has been in the role for a year now this is one of the positions that he changing
with the new um ordinance change that was done through the administrative legislation in December of this past year uh prior to that change the Veteran's agent was for a one-year appointment and then when that uh ordinance said that appointments for department heads are now three-year appointments that did change that for
this position um so that's why you'll see a three-year appointment in front of you um I'm really happy with the work Work Director hasselman has been doing since director gabrilla left us to go to the state um his commitment to the city and its veterans population has been really outstanding um as a gardener
resident as well uh as a veteran himself um and someone who just genuinely cares um I have seen people walk into uh the Veterans office and not just his office but also the staff under his Direction
um and I it's rare that you'll see a veteran leave that office dissatisfied maybe not the answer that they'd want to hear at that time but that doesn't mean they didn't know that there was some care behind getting the answer that they ask for and they answer in a truthful noner coded way but in a way that also helps them find you may not this not
have worked out here but there's other resources for you out there and this is where you should find it um Cory and his team have really done a tremendous job not just for us and Garder but this is one of our few Regional department heads that we have with Garder going to have to help me out here asham w
Ash in Princeton thank you um and he does it well um his Department's one of the only departments that we have that has minimum Staffing levels set by state law um so overseeing the staff that he has but also seeing
the amount of clients that he has which is the reason why that state law is in place um really is outstanding um and he also just cares about his fellow City Hall co-workers it kind of walks around every now and then just to check in on people if it's been a day and um I don't think anyone's ever been dissatisfied
seeing him around the city um so uh I'm happy to put him forward happy to have him on the team uh really thankful for the work that he does thank you um would you like to introduce yourself sure uh Cory hman currently the director of veteran services for watusa
district city of Garder included um I think I mean thank you mayor very much for those those remarks um just like mayor said Rob mentioned during his um presentation is I'm I'm a president here I'm a veteran um so getting to care for
both at the same time is is just uh an unbelievable U privilege that I have right getting to care for my local residents um who happen to be veterans who have a fellow um a connection that I have right they
they walk in and we instantly um regardless of what service they what branch they served in um or any other deciding factors were instantly connecting and being able to provide them the services through chapter 115 State assistance um VA benefits whatever
it happens to be as the mayor mentioned you know sometimes they might come in and their vision is one thing um I never tell a veteran no I say here's an option right um even if it's not what they had originally intended we always find a resource for them my my team is tremendous and I was just at ashb
Council on Aging today doing a presentation for their local veterans and um I think I I said a really good thing there was every veteran that I'm working with when I'm working with that veteran they are the only person that matters at that point in time right um my my schedule might say the
appointment's an hour but there is no other barring you know uh Factor except for that individual and making sure they're taken care of and their family Mar yes no questions this evening um appreciate all your hard work I don't think it's an easy role but it's an important one and um for all your
service before and in this role just want to say thank you so much appreciate it thank you well first thank you for your service and I um just wanted to the one question I do have is can you just and this is for the public watching um as well can you just talk a little bit
about your staff that you do have those Staffing mandates can you just talk a little about who works here and what they do in your office certainly so I have an assistant director uh Nolan Buck he actually is leaving on Friday Friday is his last day uh we already have a job posting up and have a few applicants um
so we are in starting interviewing process if anyone watching is a veteran and would like to apply feel free um and is a requirement to be a veteran for that position yes for that position as the assistant director and as the the director it is a veteran requirement uh and then we also have our financial
administrators tab Adams uh she handles most of the warrants and everything making sure that veterans are paid on time on a monthly basis uh from chapter 115 thank you and then um I just wanted to speak a little bit I think do a great job um you know you certainly had um big shoes to fill you st into the position
but that also goes along with you know good training and good learning and that is on you to do that and I think you did that and really stepped up when it was a time to do it um certainly attribute to your service as a veteran as well that's what you trained to do and you're still doing it um in terms of the regional piece I think it's really important um
it's it's honestly what we do here in Garder and we vote on that as a council to be able to do that with those different um different municipalities but it's really important that we do a good job with that because these are our neighbors and they no matter whether you know what the umbrella is they know
that's coming out of the city of gardener and so I really appreciate the work that you do to make us look good quite honestly because um we want to be a good neighbor and those Regional programs are so incredibly important to those communities as well as the veterans who live in them um we wouldn't be able to offer that if we didn't have
such a strong office here in Gardener um and I think it's you know it's really a model for other cities and towns who might struggle with the same thing to say hey this is how we do it in Garder and it works because it really does um and we wouldn't be able to do that if we didn't have good leadership in the position that you hold so I just wanted to say thank you for that because I think that has worked out really well Mr
Mayor I'm sure that you know you could speak to that as well but that's a decision that we have to make on the council that's something that has to come forward to us um that we have to decide whether it's something that we want to take on and I think that it's been proven that it's been taken on and
it works out well and um it's something that wasn't done you know previously so um when you're out there in those other communities you're representing your position but also representing the city of Gardner and I think that we feel very comfortable having you do that so I want to say thank you for that and that's
pretty much all I have thank you um she definitely touched a lot of points that you in a different aspect that that I was going to go ahead and go with however um you know she did BR up a good point about you know he has some pretty big shoes to fill um and from what I see
and from what I've heard you're feeling it and um you know you should back yourself on the back um the term that was told to me is that you're down to earth you know and and you know that's great to know that you you know you're definitely reaching to people no one has
said anything bad to me as far as what you do which is always a good thing everyone that has dealt with you giving you praise and um you know and some of the people had concerned with the change of um you know Administration and everything else so like I just want to say thank you for everything that you do
um but do you have any um like mental health background um so like as a clinician yes um I I do not um I've done a lot of peer support uh so so that's where my kind of specialty from beforehand was um I
created a nonprofit or I helped create a nonprofit called Frost call our Sole for uh Focus for the last 6 years has been mental health and wellbeing for veterans uh so that's always where my passion was um I served in many different roles and that was where I found my my my true
calling right um was making sure if if someone's in a rough spot you know after we talk they're not um and I've done a lot of Suicide Prevention Task Force training uh I work with Mike Ellis on the on the task force I've done his uh Mental Health Training the QPR training
um but from like a degree standpoint no I get you um I don't have a degree in it either and you know the reason why I asked this because par spoke about the fact that sometimes you just go up and you go check on other people see how they're do and everything else that's what made me ask that question because
you know that's kind of like what I do I'll randomly go check on people see how they're doing just to check with the mental health things and such so thank you for doing that as well of course good thank you thank you apprciate um
May resonations uh we do have a couple of resignations that are new and a couple of uh things that will be coming before the committee to fill recent resignations that we've talked about uh as director hasselman just said assistant director Nolan Buck from the veteran service department uh has resigned uh he's going to be the new
director of veteran services for fitb State University that's a new position that they created over at the University so uh director Hassan's kind of trained him to replace him somewhere else um so which is just means he's a good boss um so he'll be moving over there uh also Megan Buro who was the License
Commission clerk in the health department uh has resigned as well to take a new position somewhere else um so she is leaving uh both positions are currently um the assistant director of veteran service position is posted uh we're working with the health director
right now on posting the um license position uh when that's an appropriate time to do so based on how he feels things should be moving forward uh with his Department CU he's also reviewing the way that the department is structured and how the setup is currently functioning over there uh because now that he's been here for his
full three-year uh term he's seen how it worked pre prior to him and is now trying to see how uh if there's any efficiencies that can be made and things like that in the structure of that department uh the director of Public Health and the positions in the health department are um the only position
that's not appointed by the mayor uh the mayor appoints uh subject to council confirmation the members of the Board of Health and then it's the Board of Health who appoints the uh director subject to their board's confirmation uh so the chair of the Board of Health makes the appointment and it's confirmed by the
other members of the Board of Health uh we do have some resignations that are being filled uh that have been there for some time uh Susan storm local Gardener resident is filling the um vacancy created by the retirement of Christine fusel as the new uh admin in the Department of Community Development and
planning uh she started last week uh Eric Babin uh who used to work for the city in the health department as a food and housing inspector is coming back as the food and housing inspector for the city uh having come back to the city filling the role that was recently made by the untimely passing of our previous
uh housing inspector uh Eddie Montgomery and Ronnie card is our new evening maintenance staff member here at City Hall uh filling the um vacancy created by the resignation of Thad Brown uh just about 6 months ago so we're able to F fill that position as well uh there are
some uh resignations being filled uh for uh past resignations that we've been having a hard time trying to get people for that thankfully now we have people who have stepped up and we're looking forward to filling those um in some boards and commissions where there was a need for Quorum issues or something like that uh I have filed
60-day appointments for those individuals uh also filing their uh full appointment that'll come before this committee as well uh when time is um deemed whenever the committee would like to do so um because of Quorum issues with those specific committees we had to
file those as a temporary 60-day just so they could meet to get some of the jobs and the work that was in front of them done uh this was with the Conservation Commission uh Nick summer Hayes and Brian Hall uh have been uh temporarily appointed with a full appointment subject to council confirmation coming
before us uh Nick sumr Hayes did uh move to the city about three years ago was looking to get involved has a background in conservation and Brian Hall was the former chair of the Conservation Commission in the town of athal um and athal has a residency requirement for their boards and commissions uh and he recently moved to Gardener so he's
looking to stay involved in conservation work um became highly recommended by the members of the AOL Administration but also by several people here who knew him on the garden of Conservation Commission uh Emma chaon uh was uh uh appointment was filed for her for the Board of Health uh has worked in several
different hospitals and Healthcare fields and recently moved to Garder three years ago so her appointment certificate was recently submitted uh and Eric Flint again for the planning board to fill a vacancy there by the uh retirement of Bob pz uh who had been on the commission for quite some time uh so those are all being
filled the cultural Council also had three vacancies created by the uh resignations of chis uh Chris singer Rachel Taylor and Cheryl bossy uh those have 60-day appointments that are currently being filled by Veronica Patty Katie jablonsky and Jason Stevens uh the reason for the internal group on that is
that one there's a lot of uh munus reporting that has to be done uh for the cultural Council so that the checks can be cut on time but also too we're running up against a state timeline for the money to be allocated to the grant programs that are out there uh so we're trying to do the 60-day on those not for a long-term appointment and they didn't
have a three-year appointment submitted with those but just so we can get this year's done and get that money out the door so that we can Pro uh help one of the local artists who receive funding from the cultural Council but also uh make sure that there's no issues with the state grant funding with the round um being subject to the end of April so
we just have to get that process moving so they'll temporarily fill that Gap while we continue to look for people uh we do have feelers out for the cultural Council uh for the longer term commitments um in which case those uh three temporary appointments would be done at those times when we get the full-time appointees filled into those
positions Mr Mayor how many members on the cultural Council uh think we can have up to seven we have uh five for the minimum up to seven and we typically have five yes thank you yeah thank you um the other members of the cultural Council that are already appointed are Francy lamier who's a art teacher at the
high school and Cat deal uh Who's involved in various other different organizations most recently with the garden of farmers market uh here in the City uh we know that we have three police retirements coming up in the new fiscal year uh so with the um way that the policey are set up we have to post
for those positions soon um because we're likely not going to be able to get people into those cies now until probably the July or August time frame with how quickly the policey fill up across the state so we do have those posted right now as well as uh for three firefighters who are currently at the
Academy um so those they'll get their appointment from Chief Lor once they graduate the academy um and that's the Personnel updates that we have that are happening it's been a little busy since the last meeting if you couldn't tell U but things are moving in a good direction at least I was going to take
notes but that was a big list but thank you so much for that update that's a lot no appreciate it seriously great recorded right out of my mou right out of my head I was I tried to start W that's a thank you Mr Mayor
um uh discuss session of appoes all right uh 11472 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Robert Oliver uh granted we had a write up on this previously and this was just a reschedule um and obviously hearing all the wonderful things leading to a motion
I move that we recommend to the full Council uh confirming this appointment second all right um motion made by Council second by councel consensus all those in favor say I good
point of our just discussion first time oh I'm sorry no it's okay yeah so a motion made in second and then you want to have discussion oh yeah I'm sorry a motion made by um councel Hegman seconded by
councelor um consensus to recommend the mayor's appointment is any discussion I have no disc no all right cool 114 vote got vote the motion made in second
have all those in favor say I I all those suppos say no motion passes a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Cory Hassman to a position of veterans agent veterans Bureau agent uh if there be no objection on
11485 11492 11493 and 11494 um and leading to em motion you know want to make sure obviously respectful of everyone's time really appreciate everyone coming out tonight um and I think I plan to support all of
these um however and I wouldn't expect anyone to have to come back but I I'm going to move for more time um we did not get writeups that we do require on these items uh in time for our meeting uh but we really didn't want to go ahead and cancel the meeting so with that and
it's sort of being I think sort of being difficult to get those write ups ahead of time it is part of our process we need those writeups to have our information in order um I'm going to move for more time and and hopefully we can reschedule these at a future time um but I certainly wouldn't expect again
anyone to show up for that um they came tonight we appreciate it I want to thank everyone but I'm going to make that motion for more time to Res scheduled second second all right so items 485 11492 11493 and
114 94 makeing a motion for more time uh yes if there's no objection I'm do have discussion um yeah um so I just want to say I agree with the counselor I think
just for um for process and and procedure I think we need to have those right UPS ahead of time I also agree I wouldn't expect someone to show up again to our next meeting just because I also do I plan to support these but we the process is important and having the information is important so um to follow
that best practice I agree with the counselor and I think we should do it for that reason um and we want to have I also am very respectful of everyone's time to thank everyone for coming out tonight but we have to have that provided to us ahead of time um to follow what we um what we do so I just
wanted to throw that there that I I support this and I I also um expect to support these as well but we have to follow our process procedure I think that's thank you that is all that is all for me all right so with that being said again we'll go ahead and go with more
time so we'll put on our next we do a vote cuz we made a motion okay um all right like I said um items 11485 11492 11493 11494 makeing the motion for more time from hin secondly by councelor consensus
all those those supp say no time is passed um I makeing motion to a j second I know it's fast oh man all right um motion made by councelor kinus um seconded by councelor Hegman
um um all those in favor I those opposed no I mean I'm not opposed I just said no we stay J time and I