--------- [Music] [Applause] all right um with the time now being 6:30 I will now call a meeting of the appointments Committee of the Gardner city council Tuesday February 18th 2025 to order the record should reflect that
all members of the committee are present chair Heath counselor heglin and councel kinus um also president is Mayor Nicholson um announcement of open meeting recording is anyone recording today's meeting besides
staff there is none um reading of Prior minutes uh meeting minutes sorry January 29th 2025 Mr chair uh yes I would like to make a motion to wave the reading of the minutes and accept them as presented
second all right motion made by councelor kazinski seconded by councel heglin to approve the minutes of January 29th 2025 as presented is there any discussion all those in favor say I I I
those oppos say no motion pass interview of the following appointees all right we have a a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Robert Olivia how do you say Oliva Oliva
Oliva to a position of city engineer Mr chair yes I would like to make a motion on item 11472 to recommend to remove it from the calendar as I understand there was a miscommunication of the appoin te's availability for this
meeting and he will be available to attend a future meeting all right so you second all right so you want to make a motion to go ahead and remove this and we will go ahead and um put this to a future
meeting yes all right um discussion discussion no all right um next is we have to vote oh we do have to vote y all right um with that being said I have to say
each name right no you just say all those in here all right sorry that's okay for those uh in favor say I I those oppos say no motion passes to uh P us to the next meeting item number 11473 a meure
confirming the mayor's appointment of Christine Olivia Oliva Oliva Oliva Kumar to the possession of City Assessor hello uh report for the mayor thank you
very much Mr Mr chairman uh director Kumar has been such a delight to work with over the past 3 years in the city she's such a breath of fresh air in City Hall and just someone who just knows her job is passionate about her job is passionate about getting it done working
for the citizens here and doing well for the city um I've been nothing but happy nothing but impressed with the work that she's done um we wouldn't have been able to have new growth certified as early as we have to have our tax classification hearing as early as we have where last
year we broke the city's record with how early we could have it what that does for us in the end is make it so that rather than rushing to get the tax bills out at the last minute it gives our staff adequate time to prepare adequate time to make sure everything's double checked and makes it so that we have that cushion so that we're not making
mistakes last minute where if the tax classification hearing was done Clos towards its deadline of December 31st there's a lot more that needs to get done and a lot quicker of a time frame there she plans her workout in an adequate very thorough way
that gets the job done and gets it done in the best and most efficient and effective way possible um I've got not a bad thing to say I don't even have quite frankly any constructive stuff to say um she's truly been a delight to work with the reports I've gotten back from the
division of local services that the Massachusetts Department of Revenue of how they've interacted with her have all been glowing um and when we do have issues of people questioning their assessments whether it's an appeal filed here locally with our local Board of
assessors or a uh decision that's then appealed by our local board with the appet Tax Board in Boston um we rarely have anything that gets overturned because every all the homework's done and eyes are dotted and te's are crossed before even gets to that point um which just shows the
thoroughness that in which director Kumar does her job and I'm really happy to put her forward uh thank you for your report um I'm blushing uh that I know um would you like to ride around
and see yeah just thank you mayor for the kind words um you know I I'm old school I pride myself on getting my job done and doing it to the best of my ability uh very happy to be back in Gardener I can't believe it's been three
years already um and I would like to retire from Gardener so not there yet but but I I appreciate everybody and as you all know working with the public isn't always easy um but I I do pride
myself on you know just handling people and and being relatable so I'm a taxpayer too I get it so yeah thank you thank you um no particular questions this evening I think in my experience with you you've always been yeah
incredibly diligent and very thorough and I appreciate all the hard work you've done uh in this role for us for the city for the constituents so thank you thank you for everything thank you awesome coun question I Echo counselor hegland excellent experience with you
and uh all of the work that you do and I have to say to the mayor's point about breaking our record this year Jack classification it might not mean mean a lot to a lot of people but it means a lot to us and we have to do it I remember a few years ago when the mayor brought to my attention the amount of work it takes for the city staff to
print the bills and like how important it is for the um tax rate to get set as really as possible um and the information that we need to be able to do that and seeing all the Departments work hard together to get that information so that we could have the hearing earlier this year to get it done
it actually is really exciting knowing we're we're good we're good to go into December and then when you see on the council side of it we can do our job and then it can go over to uh the city staff to be able to do their job jobs and make it a roll out then to the community for them to get their bills on time with
correct information uh and having that be kind of the end of the road that's the full circle of how all of this is supposed to work and that's uh you know that is directly comes from a huge piece of your office so um that is my one of
my big expen council president um at the time I have to say it was certainly something that um the mayor would bring to me and say I think we can do it earlier this year we we know we're the only two people excited about now I'm excited too but but then but I really do
share it with you and the staff and then again it goes out to the community and they get what they need on time I mean that's the epitome of um the types of things you do within City Hall to um deliver good spe services so I certainly appreciate it and again your demeanor and being so relatable and just you know
you get a call from a constituent and they have an issue with um an assessment or a bill or something like that and you know you can send them to your office and they're going to be treated the way that um you know is going to help them get to the resolution is um is very helpful as
um being a city counselor being that Ling zone between the city and our our constituents and citizens so thank you again and I your support this thank you thank you um I don't really have much to say um I just you know obviously it's
been you said 3 years but you were at three cities before you came to um so youve you know you've definitely been around and had a year you know around other cities and got vibes from everywhere else out of here and obviously you got a lot of love here oh
thank you appreciation um you know I got to be honest every time I walk by the office I wave at you and you always got to smile like you do right now and it's you know it relatable um it's a term that they went ahe and use and that's exactly how I feel when I see you when I talk to you you know those that have
talked about you so just want to say uh thank you much appreciated she's also a gardener resident feel like that's good for this type of too just awesome awesome um thank you awesome thank you very much good job thank
you item 11483 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Eric maabin to the position of PE Chief good evening [Music]
there thank you Mr chair um I I have a hard time believing it's already been three years since uh Chief Maven was appointed um the time flew and it didn't at the same time
um and I I I couldn't be happier the when Chief Maven was first appointed to the position we were going through a um rough time with the police department um having gone through previous votes no confidence with the previous administration of the police department trying to find someone who would not
only stabilize but strengthen uh and that's exactly what I've seen through the work that Chief mine has done in his time at the department uh it I can swear up and down it has been easy for him um but he's done it and he's done it well
um he's not afraid to stick up for the men and women who serve underneath him um in our department had meetings he always puts their needs and their concerns first while having that firm but fair attitude with knowing what we can do and what we can't do but it's always with the goal of making things
better for the Department in the end um the police chief position is one of the largest department head oversight positions that we have in the city uh having the police officers both the supervisors and the patrol officers the dispatchers
the Animal Control Officers and the civil defense division all under fall underneath um his purview uh it puts him right underneath the superintendent of schools for the Department who oversees the most super uh Personnel uh in the city it's also the second or third
largest budget in the city's budget that we've had so when you're coming into a position where you're not just working to boost morale and stabilize a ship that needed steering in the right direction
again but also dealing with all of those aspects too at the same time in a newly um appointed position it's a lot and I don't think anyone would argue that it's not a lot but it's something that I couldn't be more proud honestly uh
there's there's appointments that I've made in the past that looking back seeing the Transitions and stuff like that you second guess at first and then you you realize that you made the right decision not once have I ever second guessed anything about Chief Maven and that he was the right person for the job and he was hug guardner needed uh at the
time and I still believe that to this day um through every turn and twist and surprise that came up along the way he he just gets it and he he's committed to the city I think you can see that from the uh quarter of a century that he
spent wearing a garden of police patch on his sleeve um he knows his residents he knows the people who live here he knows the areas of the city he knows the care that the city and his people need and I'm happy to have him on the team and we're lucky to have him on
team thank you mayor um I go apologize I I called by your full name but you're of the title so chief that works it all works it's fine um listen I'm I'm humbled I I'm appreciative of the support we received
from the community I'm I'm appreciative of all your support through the you know through the almost three years that we I've been in the position the truth of the matter is is I we couldn't do with the support and I couldn't do it without my the staff that that that I have um I'm very fortunate
um we have a phenomenal staff um who really truly care about this community um this is my home I'm not originally from here my wife is but um this has been my home for the last 25 years and and I'm not going anywhere this is I have a few more years left I'm a little
bit closer than Chris but um I I'm here for the Long Haul and this is this is where I plan to to retire but um I'm very privileged and honored to work with work in this community surrounded by wonderful people every day you know that's not just uh
window dressing it's the truth and I'm thankful and appreciative of all the uh support we get so uh thank you thank you um Council hin you have any questions thank you yeah uh two questions um one just and first of all thank you for all of your years of service and 25 years with gardeners a
lot it's clear you're a community cop and what that you know really embodies um any you talking about those exous times and it was it was not for you I don't think um but any initiatives or changes or or successes accomplishments that you want to highlight for us and the public who we be listening in the 3
years sure I think just getting back up to staff um and bringing in and and bringing in good people um you know to serve the community and serve it well um a lot of times when when departments go through massive turnover in an effort to
hire people quickly sometimes things kind of get lost in the shuffle and and you don't always bring in the highest quality of what you're looking for in terms of candidates um I'm happy to say my staff and and uh everybody we've brought in I I truly can't be more pleased um with the attitudes of the
officers um coming in they they just seem to get it almost right away um we have a great support structure both formal and informal formal I mean by by myself deputy chief the lieutenants the Sergeants but also amongst the patrol officers themselves
there's a a structure there too where they all hold each other accountable they understand what's what's necessary to get the job done and and and do it effectively and right so I'm truly most proud of that I think in terms of getting good people here and Staffing it the way it should be staffed we have
translat on every ship now um we currently have um four um Spanish speaking officers uh one officer that also speaks Portuguese and two officers that speak tree that's huge too cuz we do have a growing population of people
areas and that's really retive schools those are the the languages besides English that we see the most so that's good to hear too and the truth of the matter is is that I've seen it personally I I just relay the story at a meeting I was just a community meeting I was just at and seeing somebody I actually stopped to help a gentleman who
was stuck and it just happened I just happened to going by and I'm was wul unprepared but um he only spoke Spanish now I can try to communicate with him but I fortunately had one of my officers um he arrived and you could just see the
relief on the gentleman's face knowing that you know the officer could communicate with them and and it it realized my shortcomings that I probably should have picked up this a little bit sooner um but also I'm impressed with with seeing how how the officers
understand the officer just I didn't ask him to come he just showed up you know it wasn't like if I ask it's not really an ask he just came out his own so I was again most proud of that and just self-initiate and but but knowing that somebody can we have officers who can
communicate with a variety of different um you know citizens it's it's we're very fortunate very very fortunate so awesome no thank you no I think it is important when when our Force reflects our community so I think that's that's really good to hear and a really good
example of that um I guess to that end too and just and I think it is it kind of goes to accomplishments is there anything you want to say or can talk about just in terms of like crime in the city in general I know it's something people concern about or or think about whether that's valid or not or necessary or not so I think it'd be great to hear
sure um I don't have statistics in front of me I will tell you that majority of our Co was a kind of a drop things into the basement for call volume um but things have kind of come back if you will uh we respond to about 30,000 calls
a year for service so um crime is one of those things that it's an admin flow type of thing um I don't notice any huge like Trends or anything like that we're not seeing I mean we we have the same drug issues that every other community
has um homelessness we we have all the same issues um I think and maybe again being a little bit biased for this community um the holistic approach that the community takes to address these issues it doesn't happen everywhere having been and seen
other places how it works um it truly is you know it takes a Village and I think that that's what this community gets as opposed to other places um and I'm not again I'm not talking to anybody else but and I I obviously have bias this here because I've been here for 25 years and I love the I love the place and I
love the people um but as for Crime um we'll always do our best I mean I I wish I could sit here and have a crystal ball and tell you where the next you know horrible crime would be so you can stay away from it but I we just don't but I'm proud of the officers we have that investigate these crimes and take
appropriate action when they need to no thank you I think it is I think my experience you've always been responsive to the community needs and changing Trends and and so I appreciate you s into that a little bit and all of your guys' hard work that's it for me thank you so uh Council kazus thank you chair
uh I Echo I think uh councel head had some really good questions and I Echo everything that he said uh as well as you know the mayor it's you're a clear leader in the community we appreciate all the work that you do I think it's a huge reflection to the department as well you came in at a I don't think you
can say enough you came out a really tumultuous time and we just look forward everything just went the way that you kind of hope it goes when you find yourself in a situation like that I think it's pretty clear that it has I think it's incredibly important with the story that you shared that um the community does reflect who lives here
the police department reflects that and um before you said it I could just see the the the relief in in in the man's face like it's you can offer everything you want but when you have something that's relatable to you it's much help it's it's a lot of help and that's clearly been recognized by the police department and um I certainly appreciate
that uh all the work that you guys do is just incredible and it's around the clock um and it's incredibly important to the stability of our community so I certainly appreciate it and um thank you for your service especially sticking with Garder thank you
um thank you for everything you do um you know I've reached out to you on numerous occasions and just checking in with you and things as such and I I I I really find it I find that the city of Gardner is in well kept hands with you
um you know I I just want to go ahead and go say that but I wanted to ask a question um it was one of the previous meetings that we've had where you were speaking about the training that you gave it was it was like a mental health training can you just quickly sure of
course um my it's called critical incident training um it's a 40-hour class what we noticed obviously with a significant especially after Co um mental health became um the call the volume for mental health became
significantly uh more uh we realized that the officers were undertrained in certain areas they receive Academy training they receive on the job training they receive all these things but there were areas that we identified that we really really needed to kind of get a a better grip on and understanding
of and and one of those areas was developmental Mental Health issues things like that and and the critical incident training it was introduced to me um actually um deputy chief had first gone through it a couple years back with a couple other officers and they were the first officers who kind of
started the and as I looked more at the program I realized it it's something that we really needed here um I I attended it at um one of the first the second classes that came through one of the first classes in Garder and uh very eye
opening experience um how to communicate on different levels um if somebody's experiencing a crisis how to deal with the crisis the best way how to deescalate things how to move um redirect attention it was it was truly again I've said it before probably heard
me say it was like drinking from a fire hose at times like there's a lot of information coming in but truly important um and for the police department to to to truly address these issues we need to have an understanding of them and I think that this was our kind of our Avenue to kind of move in
that direction so the critical we're about half we have about half the department trained um obviously it is a significant I mean I have to take the officer out of the rotation put them into training for a week and then fill their back fill their shifts or whatever so it's been a significant investment
but I feel it's it's wholly worth it um for a number of reasons but um mostly for just the the genuine treatment of of our our citizens how they deserve to be treated awesome awesome um I remember when when you uh I forgot what meeting it was I don't remember if it was an
appointment meeting or if it was an update uh departments meeting but I just remember how much it you know that made me feel great knowing that that's what you have your officers going through um there is one thing about that you say it really fast what is that called again critical incident training incident
training CIT they call CIT but I I try to write it you say so quick sorry my my apologies my apologies so um but um that is all I have to say uh thanks again thank you all right thank you thank you thank
you um next up is uh item 11484 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Nicholas to position of Deputy Chief of Police minut thank you Mr chairman this one's fun for me I first met then
officer when I was a sophomore at Gardner High School uh and he had just started at the Garder Police Department um through the various works that then officer Lawrence was doing at the high school um and through his climbing through the ranks of police officer
sergeant lieutenant um I got to know him more when uh he hit the rank of Lieutenant uh when I was first elected as mayor um and he was in the community policing Department uh division
um and he really ran with that role he set massive shoes for lieutenant chowski to fill and while Lieutenant chowski has filled him quite well um he's at the bar pretty high um which says a lot about Lieutenant chowski too uh but I've been really proud of uh deputy chief um
when we had the transition in the police department 3 years ago they both Chief Maven and deputy chief then Lieutenant Maven and Lieutenant just stepped up to the plate and just did the job and did it
well and didn't ask for anything in return other than just making sure the department had the support that they needed and they with the support that the department needed um but probably the coolest thing I can say about deputy chief morone now that I didn't get to say three years ago is the
major accomplishment that he had by graduating the National Police Academy at quanico uh with the FBI there's only three in gardeners history yeah in the history of the Gardener Police Department only three of our uh officers have been able
to ATT uh gr attend and graduate this Academy and Deputy cheron is one of them that's a massive accomplishment this is an international academy where the FBI trains these officers the best way possible um and I could talk for days on
end about the great work he's doing in Garder but the fact that he was able to one be accepted to excel in the academy graduate and bring those skills skills back to Gardener is really the highlight of all of those things um you even took it a step further with the swimming test
right oh that was a just it was a workout thing but to swim 34 miles in the 10 weeks you were there cumulative that's huge I'm not a swimmer yeah um you are now I am but as someone who started with the Department 15 years
ago this year he worked up his way and he did it because he cared he did it because he does his job well he does because he knows Garder he knows the people here he knows the players he knows just how to get the job done and he just does the job when he needs to do it it doesn't matter what challenges come up along the way it doesn't matter
what pains arise complaints come up situations arise posts come up on Facebook emails come in and things like that but it's there's a job that has to get done and you're just got to do the job no matter what comes up and whether the job adapts because of those situations that arise that you don't know about when you walk into the office
that day he understands to just do it and deputy chief someone who you just walk in and you say hey I got to tell you about this and the response is just okay and you just get the job done there's the events in the community the making sure we have adequate coverage
where we need coverage the working with the officers that are there um and just working with the chief on the administration of the department he couldn't ask for a better team than these two who were up here and I the proudest mayor of the 48 of us in the Commonwealth to just be able to sit up here with these two um and work with
them for the city as a whole not just the police department but they who our citizens interact with daily and there's other departments that are you know interacting daily with the public but there's certain aspects that when you dial that 911 call and someone picks up the phone on the other line you want to
make sure you have the best quality service there for the most stressful situations that you're in and these two make sure about that every day and I'm really proud of both of them thank you um Chief I can
I left that part for the chief cuz I know he could do better than I have I know I I will Echo the sentiments to the mayor um I couldn't have picked a better partner if I wanted to
um to have in my position to have a sounding board like Nick in the position of the deputy chief um is extremely valuable because sometimes I get a little ahead of myself and we're all human you know we tend to it's nice to have somebody you can
communicate with back and forth to kind of go through the situations and the scenarios and kind of what's going on and to address things properly maybe looking at blind spots or not think because there's a lot of things that kind of come in hot and heavy to us sometimes so having that sounding board next to me um and we both talk each
other off the ledge sometimes um so but that happens and with you know High the high stress that sometimes that we deal with but um I can't be prouder of of the the police officer is but mostly the man he is um you know he's uh I he's somebody I trust without question um if
I'm not there I don't question the decisions that happen um he'll always keep me informed if for some reason I'm out of town or whatever else um um you know it's really a true unfortunate situation that it's seamless if I were to do something or then knowing Nick is
in charge is is extremely comforting for me and it should be for the community as well um he represents Community well and iel one couldn't be proud of him I mean hopefully if the powers of the be see it I hope that when my time is is concluded that we see him you know in that
position this position as well not too soon though C us have any questions thank you uh I don't have any questions I just want to thank you for your service and for stepping up and um it's great to have the team of the two of you together
um it's nice to hear the confidence you have in the partnership that you have because it is so important to the rest of the community as well and that confidence trickles down to every single person that you interact with your staff people from the community and um and we need that so I really really appreciate
it uh you know I we do get write ups ahead of time just for the public watching um from the mayor and it's just it's unbelievable the amount of accomplishments and things that you know that you've done in the time that you've been here and I think this is how this is supposed to work the chief should feel comfortable when he's not around
with his deputy chief in charge and he should he should be he should want to say it and he just did you know it's that kind of thing um and that's something that is comforting for everybody who works with you works for you and that you know you're here to Serve and Protect so I certainly appreciate um all the work that you've
done and also that you just kind of you keep going for it you know to get better and uh I know the May mayor's mentioned it a few times but um you know just kind of going the extra Mar and doing the FBI Academy like you didn't have to do that but you wanted to do it to make better and that's what you can bring back to
the community so I really appreciate that and want to thank you thank you thank you um thank you Chief and mayor for the really great recommendations um deputy chief thank you obviously too I'll Echo that for your years of service so far I know when
we would interact um sometimes for unfortunate reasons at the schools in the past um you always handled yourself very well uh and then now as a counselor I I continue to see that professionalism and Excellence you bring to the role um I I feel like every time professional
development comes up you are there um is there anything you want to add to that about the FBI training and Academy that you went to the other things you've done you just really Innovative I feel like when it comes to that uh I can touch upon the with the FBI Academy so that's for law enforcement Executives uh you
have to hold the rank of lieutenant or higher to apply uh so I was there with a lot of people similar rank um the international students that were there were a very high level ranking cuz they're a National Police Department and some of the ones that are just way
beyond what I do and listening to just the perspectives of other countries uh the real eye opening thing for me was my roommate was from Lebanon uh he stationed in beir in the capital and uh since we've been back home I've been in contact with him uh but just hearing
perspectives of his lifestyle over there and comparing it to here uh I realize I don't know a lot of stuff that goes on in the world and not necessarily with the news tells you is the truth and there are other human beings all over the world and uh just hearing what his
Norm is is not anywhere near what our Norms would be um in just taking it in stride where I think if that happened here we would all be in panic um for sure and it's just it's interesting to hear his his take on he thinks being a
cop in the United States is more dangerous than being a police officer in Lebanon um and he put that in perspective for me saying when they do traffic stops officers don't get shot at um when they go to certain things they don't just randomly get shot at if they're going somewhere they have an idea already that
they're going to be shot at or not and he said there's too many unknown variables here in the United States being a police officer and that was a little eye opening to me because we we don't really look at it that way um in just hearing from other countries as well cuz we had 26 countries in our
class uh that's I took a lot from just inter interacting with the international students no thank you that's awesome I think that's a pretty powerful statement just from the benefit of of getting these trainings done so thank you for taking those initiatives and trying to get into it and getting through it thank you thank you that's
it um so yeah so um you just brought up something that um just clicked home for me cuz there was a there was a time I was in a different country and I was in the Uber and I noticed he slowed down really really fast when that yellow light just went yellow I was like yeah
we could have went through that and he's like oh no it's it's a lot easier you know you don't want to deal with the LW out here and everything else and um it just made me think about how different it is like you said you know um so it it's crazy how sometimes you know you
get these these eye opening experiences when you don't expect it things like that it's always better when it's on a good sideway some letting you know rather than you just find out right um so you know like that's that's awesome that you um you know went through the FBI training all that I don't understand
the 34 miles of swimming um I don't think I swm 34 miles in my whole life and um you know I know it's black history month but I can't swim all right right but um you know I I don't understand that at all um but I I
applaud you you know what I mean um and I appreciate you and I and I'm I can you know every time I see you guys I just smile you know and it's just Gard is in such a good hands and it shows with who you guys are bringing in you know like
it's it's a really it's a good feeling and you know like you said you didn't have to make a phone call and you had someone pull up to go ahead and go translate and things and such like um you know the the future and Gardener is looking great and um you can't retire
too soon however when you go ahead and you do it will be in safe hands get all in and I'm I'm excited I'm excited for the city coming yeah I I enjoy working here um it's been my second home I spend more time here
than I do actually at my home my son plays Sports here in Garder uh my wife's here she she gets her hair done here so it's we're we're always in Gardener and I really enjoyed being here I think from day one when I came here in 2010 I've kind of felt at home been welcome it's a
great Community uh we have a great city council uh that's really what makes it work is everybody working together city council all the different agencies and departments working together the mayor um so it's really everybody I think that makes it such a great place not only to work but just an atmosphere to be in and
want want to be here that's awesome thank you again for everything that you guys so thank you all right um um resignations uh no resignations to report Mr chairman this evening um but to note that there is
actually excuse me I apologize uh the License Commission clerk uh has submitted her resignation so she is done at the end of next week uh but where my mind was going with that was um we did have a uh loss of an employee uh food
inspector in the health department Eddie Montgomery passed away unexpectedly earlier this month um so that position is currently vacant right now um and we're working with the health department on the best plan forward for both those positions but those are the only two to report this evening thank you for the
report um discussion on appointees um 11472 a measure confir of mayor's appointment of Robert Oliver to the position of Cindy city engineer um we have
we recommended um on a motion that was recommended to remove the item from the calendar and that was um voted on and passed all right so we can move on to 11473 11473 a measure confirming the
mayor's appointment of Christine Oliva to position of City Assessor move to recommend to the entire Council that the appointment be confirmed second a motion made by Council heglin seconded by councelor
keskus to recommend the mayor's appointment is there any discussion all all those in favor say I I those opposed say no motion passes 11483 a measure confirming the mayor's
appointment of Eric oh I'm sorry a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Chief Eric Maven to position of police chief uh chair I make a motion to recommend to the full Council confirmation of the
mayor's appointment seconded a motion made by councel consensus seconded by councel heglin to recommend the mayor's appointment is there any discussion all those in favor say I I those opposed say no motion
passes 11484 a measure confirming that mayor's appointment of deputy Chief Nicholas to the position of Deputy Chief of Police uh Mr chair yes like to make a motion to recommend confirmation of the
mayor's appointment to the full Council second motion made by Council kinus seconded by Council heglin to recommend um this appointment is there any discussion no all those in favor say
I I those say no motion passes item number 11488 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Tina SGA trustee to the position of Williams Rockwell educational gift
fund motion uh Mr chair I make a motion to recommend confirmation of the appointment to the full Council seconded motion made by councelor Kinski seconded by councelor heglin to
recommend the appointment of Tina agrega um to the full council is there any discussion um thank you Mr chairman um just to point out for the public the mayor did provide us with a write up on this reappointment to the Williams
Rockwell trustee uh spra Miss spra she's no longer um um you know work at C GFA but she was the president CEO for a number of years so I know a lot of us know her through that capacity um so I think that experience is really worthy and having on this committee um you know
she's not famili she's not unfamiliar with the schools either their needs through her work with the student advisory Council um where she get to hear and work with the students firsthand so I think um for this especially where it's an unpaid volunteer position we're lucky to have her um so yeah I fully support
this thank you Council consens thank you chair I also uh support this reappointment uh I've worked with Tina spra as a member of the GFA supervisory committee since 2018 uh when she when I
first began she was the president CEO of GFA um since then she's retired I'm still a member of the committee and she's on the board of GFA and I just think someone with the years of experience that she has also being from Gardener um and growing up here and
understanding the need full out of the community especially in her previous professional capacity we are very lucky to have her as a member of this um of this trustee board and I again fully support the reappointment of her to the
position awesome um thank you go to the next one right so no further discussion no further discussion all right all those in favor say I I those opposed say no motion
passes item number 11489 the mayor is confirming oh sorry a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of autumn Brown to the position of Animal control officer um with this item here we
actually do have this ground here so would you like go ahead and um hi um actually hold on one second mayor's report thank you very much Mr chairman um ACO Brown's been great in her first stint with the ACO Department
she can tell you all about it in a uh lot deeper detail but I haven't had a bad report yet um I'm really happy to have her on the team here I will note with the three Animal control officer appointments uh that you see before you with the change that was approved by the city council in the administrative legislation in December uh the acos has
moved from a one-year appointment to a three-year appointment uh so that's why you'll see this for a term expiring in 2028 rather than the former one-year appointments as we um made all mayoral appointments unless State statutes say definitely a three-year appointment awesome thank you now would
you like to go ahead and introduce yourself yes um I'm Autumn so I'm still relatively new as an ACO about a year and a couple months in now um but I've been really enjoying it um it's a challenging position but I think I
thrive in that that um it's given me an opportunity to grow personally and um in my work life so um and I'm from Gardener and winin in as well so um I live here and I work here and I love it so I'm in it for the long haul if you'll have
me awesome thank you Chief do you have anything to say um just to the complexities of the Animal Control job are significant um Autumn is definitely drinking from a firehouse um and I mean she's very fortunate to have season the
am Patrol officers who work with her um but she has embraced every bit of the training um always trying to Avail herself to anything to to learn more as quickly as possible to get up to speed I will tell you in a little over a year it's been it's been it's been fantastic
she's a phenomenal resource for this community um I can't be happier to have her on board and stay for another 3 years I hope it is the Long Haul so um our acos are one of our regional departments uh so they provide animal control services not just to Gardner but
also to asham Westminster at hubberston as well um so that's four different dispatches that you're calling into that's four different towns you're responding to and the people and the administration of those municipalities can also differ largely from each other too in the way that they interact so all of our acos do a great job in handling
all of that awesome awesome uho uh no questions this even thank you so much ph for being here and for your interest and commitment to Garder appreciate it coun cons any thank you Mr chair I um Echo counselor heglin and just wanted to thank you for being so
enthusiastic after a short time here in Garner and really embracing the position it's it's really important to do that I think in any new position but certainly in one that requires the amount of work that you have to do it's it's very refreshing to see someone be so enthusiastic about it so I certainly appreciate that and also the uh work
that you have to do with the regional program and going outside of the community um you know it's still represent Gardener to those communities and I really appreciate that as well because greater Gardener is just it's so important in this area you know we're kind of on an island here in North Central nass and so it's nice to have someone coming from Gardner doing a
great job for other people in other communities and also that Regional agreement is very very important to the city um it's something that's important to be a good neighbor to the other surrounding communities and so when we have someone who's capable to represent us to them uh you know that only helps everybody else here as well so I want to
thank you for your work thank you thank you so I'm just going to go and go repeat the item and then we'll go ahead and go with the vote everyone okay all right um so this is item number 11489 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of autumn Brown to the
position of Animal control officer move to recommend we uh move to recommend to the whole Council that we confirm the appointment second all right motion made by councel heglin second and by councelor kinz to recommend the mayor's appointment
is there any discussion all those in favor say I I those oppos say no motion passes thank you item number 11490 a measurement confirming the mayor's
appointment of Alena Reserve to the position of Animal control officer report from the mayor thank you Mr chairman Alana has been great to work with um she's just a great ACO she's really
passionate about what she does she loves animals she she came with an interest of selling me a puppy one time when she came to City Hall with one of the puppies from the animal shelter um but she she really cares she's uh she's the president of the aco's uh Union uh that they have uh she cares for
her fellow co-workers she works uh diligently at what her job is she keeps us up to date on the stuff that's going and couldn't be happier and know the chief can speak more on that well is a true specialist in her field um what she doesn't have in years
of experience as an ACO she makes up for tenfold in experience with animals um I know I've asked her opinion on certain things regarding animals and Animal Control issues and things like that on numerous occasions always prepared with responses always always very well
prepared to deal with any situation um we have some interesting conversations cuz Animal Control is certainly not my Val um but I'm I'm learning I do the best I can um but she's she's been great educating me um as I do need plenty of
that sometimes but um I'm truly we're truly fortunate again and I I I'm Haring on this in beating that dead horse but we we're truly fortunate to have the the professionals and you know the community commitment we have here with our with our Personnel Alana is no different um I
truly she's a a truly um incredible asset to this team and and um I'm thankful to have her here for another 3 years hopefully longer than that thank you um C you have any questions thank you um first most thank
you to all the appointees for being here for night but one of think one of the great things about this process is that we get to hear about these jobs that people might not know that much about um so is there anything just in introducing yourself or more about the role that you want to let us know um in your experience and Specialty and um well I
did actually see Dana in the grocery store the other day um and one of the things that we talked about um that he thought might be interesting is um annually um I report to the Chief and all the chiefs of every municipality that we work with and we do an annual report and it kind of just Tes up what
we do and it's um I think it's really really helpful because it gives them an idea of how many calls we're doing what types of calls and you can see Trends over throughout the year um and I did bring those I didn't know if that was interesting and that could speak for itself a little bit more and you get to kind of see what we do daytoday and um
and things like that um if that's helpful um one thing I think people Overlook too is that our acos are also Barn inspectors for the uh surrounding towns uh and where we might not have too many barns here in Garder that's a different story when it comes to harest
and asham and westmin um and those annually have to be inspected by state law um so it's not just dogs and cats and um you know you ran and wildli that you see here in Gardner it's actual like getting down into it with the farms and the surrounding communities too and they do a great job with it it's a dual
position that we hold with the state um Department of Agriculture so and that also handles the quarantines and the rabes exposure events um so we'll do that one if I can one thing I was remissed I forgot to mention um that we
talk about community outreach and everything else with our police officers but um we all also have it with our Animal Control Alana just gave a speech to the senior center um and and gave a lot of great information I um director
Ellis reached out to me and uh and mentioned how um impressed he was with Alana and her knowledge and what she empired to them and uh again I just think that that's important to mention because again from top to bottom in every every U group we have we we engage
in community outreach and and we hope that we're we're making those um connections and and it's not just unique to police it's it's it's everybody in our building thank you no that's it for me thank you so much thank
you yes um I just wanted to say thank you for all your work and special experience that you bring to Garder um I think as we saw with um our last appointee it's really helpful to have the experience and knowledge in the department so you can help the people learn to get better and you know Embrace
what they do and I think that probably speaks to us she likes her job so much um so I appreciate you for bringing that to her and the community um this being a reappointment can you just say how long you've been with the city so in March it'll be five years five years okay just
wanted to be sure we got that um for the public watching as well and uh you know I support the reappointment and thank you again for your work and service in the community I think it's super valuable and we're lucky to have you thank you very much um first I got to apologize usually goes the mayor then it
goes you then it goes to Chief the chief jumped in before you so I went to him so he he messed everything up so I want to been like that um but um I just want to go ahead and go say thank you for everything that
you do um you're you know get a president of a trio am I right it's a trio is it how many acos are there three acos yeah so I'm shop Stewart yeah so and um going off the conversation that we had you know about how you guys work
hand in hand and everybody's doing their part um and then this is conversation we had yesterday we just Happ a to each other in the store and um you know like it it's it's again it's great to hear it it's great to see it um and this goes
back to what I was saying earlier um with the deputy chief and the um and the chief himself that um you know that the way that this whole Police Department is all you know together you guys are amazing you know like it's the way that you guys all work together it's not like
that everywhere um I can tell you that right now so like it's it's great to see that you came tonight for one that you brought your um coworker and I know that um Cheryl was UN aable to go ahead and make it um but you know I I just want to go ahead and go say thank you for
everything that you do um one day I hope to be able to go maybe take a ride over there with you guys and see everything you guys have do anytime anytime and you know I can't do it alone we have a lot of support the police department um all the police departments are incredibly
supportive um Autumn is awesome and I'm so happy to have her but uh it's a team effort for sure and I feel very grateful to be part of it that's awesome and U for the record it's three towns right about three four three towns in the garden yes three towns in the garden y
all right awesome thank you for everything we do thank you thank you um I will go ahead and reread this item number 11490 a meic confirming the mayor's appointment of Al Reserve to the position of Animal control
officer move to recommend uh to the council as a whole that we confirm the appointment second motion made by councelor heglin second by councelor kinus to recommend the mayor's appointment is there any discussion no all all those in favor say I I those
opposed say no passes item number 11491 a measure confirming the May's appointment of Cheryl slack to position of Animal control officer um make a motion Mr Mr chair
okay motion to recommend confirmation of the mayor's appointment to the PO Council second do all right um motion made by Council kazinski seconded by councel heglin is there any discussion no all
those in favor say I I all those opposed no motion passes item number 11496 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Ann hearse to the position of disability commission member Mr chairman yes move to recommend
uh that we to the council's call that we confirm this appointment second all right motion made by councel hegan seconded by counselor kinus um to recommend the mayor's appointment is there any discussion no all those in
favor say I I all those opposed say [Music] no passes German um move to a Jour second you guys got me
real are we against the clock yet um all right no one's a PO all right motion passes we stand in J great thank you yeah good job Part: 2
how are you good how are you okay seeing as it is 5:30 the Tuesday February 18th 2025 meeting of the gardener city council economic and Community Development Committee will come to order the clerk will please call the rooll councelor
kazinski present councelor Heath present president KY present is there anyone here recording tonight's [Music] meeting we have a quum present we will begin
with item 11498 but um before we do that I did want to make a couple uh comments about this particular committee it being the first time of this committee meeting ever in the history of Garder as the city council formed this committee at um our previous city
council meeting I want to be clear especially for the public watching that the intent of this committee is to have a discussion about the objectives and processes of the Community Development and planning
department uh discuss um what is the part of the council which really is oversight uh we have no direct management we have um nothing Direct in that sense um but as we oversee most things in the city as is our role as City councilors uh that
is the objective of this committee for this particular department and uh director Stevens will give a uh one month update as is on the agenda for this meeting um and the intent moving forward at this point is
to meet monthly uh for these types of updates and um that would be at a minimum and of course Mor determined that we need to do that um but this is really where the council can provide support to the department in the role of the council within the council's purview
um to be sure you know in light of the um recent issues with the macki park um situation and the uh report that was uh provided to the council by President tyros um at the request of the council
at the time um again it's really exercising our oversight and to be sure that we can have a smooth Road moving forward uh and so I just wanted to be sure that that was clear for the public watching as they may have seen this committee pop up and I think it's
important for our best practice of full transparency for people to understand that uh the council has formed this Committee in the best interest of the city and on the city side of it uh you know was really to support the
department and all the efforts that are done in our department levels as well um as our our mayor as the administrative office as well so we can all work together and do what's best for our great City so moving on to item
11498 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 7 thereof entitled boards and commissions as amended by item 11289 as an acted on December 16th 2024 to add a new section six to be entitled Community Development Block Grant
steering committee um this is an item that the mayor submitted to the committee in an effort to remediate issues as a result of the macki park report and that project and um I just want to be clear that the Community
Development Block Grant steering committee is managed by the Community Development and planning department um and so the mayor had put this forward and it came to our committee as it is newly formed and falls under our perview uh Mr Mayor thank you very much Madam
chair uh this is something that's done uh actually in relation to the ordinance that was submitted earlier this year by the council president uh that was requesting that the committee meet monthly after you know discussions on yes the committee should be meeting monthly but what else needed to be changed what else needed to be looked at
uh so in talking with the executive office of Housing and livable communities and discussing what best practices were for these types of committees as the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development requires these types of oversight committees uh for what's called mini entitlement communities for this Community
Development block grant uh a mini entitlement Community is any Community that's under 45,000 in population but over 10,000 in population these are communities that get the cdbg funds as a pass through through the Commonwealth so
the federal government gives These funds to the state government who then divides them up to the many entitlement communities located within that State uh for the cities that are above $45,000 those cities get that funding directly from the federal government uh where we fall underneath that 45,000 population
uh we get that as a pass through through the state and then the lower bound anything under 10,000 does not qualify for Community Development block grant funds uh so how this process works is in the December time frame the initial application is reviewed by the members
of the committee uh as well as applications are received for all Social Services uh grant funding that should be issued up to 15% of our total Grant fund allotment is able to be given out in Social Services funds we cannot go over that 15% but we can go under that 15% so
if there's a big project that the city is going for maybe one year we give out $220,000 in social service programs if there's a year that we have more manageably priced smaller projects we could go up to $200,000 we just could go up to what uh up to 15% of our total
cdbg allotment for that year can go go towards Social Service organizations um those applications are received in the late December early January time frame with the uh application approved by the block Grant steering committee um being then sent to
the Commonwealth as an initial application sometime in February this year the city's deadline is February 28th uh the cdbg seering committee right now has a meeting scheduled for this Friday to review and approve the final initial I hate to say final and initial in the same sense sentence but that's just
using the hlc verbage um application this Friday to send that along after that it will come to the city council where they'll you will have the opportunity to review the projects and the budget submitted for those uh with your annual resolution either in support of or recommending amendments to uh that
application once that uh application is approved by the city council and signed by the mayor that is something that cannot have a veto overwritten on just like the charter just like several other things we do where it has to have consensus among the branches then that gets sent as the final application to the Commonwealth's executive office of
Housing and liberable communities that then uh Awards those around the October late September early October time frame um so that's the cdbg process as we have it here the purpose of a cdbg steering committee is to make sure that we as a
city are getting a full big picture look at the projects and the programs that are approved by for application that are then submitted to the Commonwealth uh currently the CD gbg steering committee is made up of the director assistant director and two staff members of the
Community Development uh Department one member at large that is self-appointed by the committee itself uh the Building Commissioner and the director of Health now the issues that you see in terms of contradiction with the best practices for these types of committees is that all but one of those members and then
the mayor I should have included that one because I am also a member of that through a design through Katie jablonsky who's my executive Aid um the contradiction with that is when you have all but one B City staff you really Silo your view and rather than getting that full community perspective that's
meant to be there through the steering committee process and not just one Department's priorities taking precedent while other departments may see something else or other members of the community may see something else in that broader view we're really pinholing ourselves into this one lens here so the
proposed ordinance before you uh keeps some aspects of our makeup while also suggesting some edits for moving forward uh the mayor and the council president remain members of the committee uh which is currently there excuse me the city council also gets a designate to the
steering committee um those would stay the same as the mayor and the or a design and the council president or a designate the mayor and the council president would each then get a member appointed uh to the committee at large uh and then the director of Community Development would service the
committee's uh chairperson overseeing that as the department who would be overseeing the funds that are there the staff that are now members of the committee would become advisory to the committee members itself that way they're getting that technical expertise and that technical ex uh the aspects of
the job that they deal with every day in what would be required for this project if we have a building demolition project what's the average cost of that demolition is this an accurate quote what does that process look like in terms of Permitting and next steps and things like that moving forward as the committee is also tasked with overseeing the projects from approval through to
completion if you don't have that technical expertise it's hard to find out what do we need as the next step for that building demolition and while we'll deal with that every day in City Hall that doesn't mean this oversight committee knows what is happening every day here in City Hall so those become technical advisers to the committee as
staff of the committee itself um so they'd still be in as very involved in the process itself uh just as a different non- voting role so that we can get that outside perspective and get that New View and new life into the uh committee itself and also just cre
oversight here so it's not just City Hall doing everything here but it's actually Community block grants and rather than just a city hall block grant so all of those are included in this and then also included in here is the requirement to meet monthly unless uh sign off and written approval is
received by both the mayor and the council president uh which is similar to the ordinance that was submitted by the council president uh for the monthly meetings um that's the gist of the ordinance that you see before you uh it is a longer title than what we'd normally see for the ordinances that are there as it references the Amendments previously made to the administrative
legislation uh that's because ecode has yet to update the city's code website so if someone went to go reference it I wanted to make sure they had the proper reference to go back uh and find which section because if you go to chapter six right now I think you're going to find airport commission um we right now we're referring to just boards and commissions
in general because of the ordinance package that was passed by the council in late December uh so those are the uh items in this ordinance amendment I happen to answer any questions that you have good Mr Mayor are there any questions or comments from the committee
coun councelor I I like this coordinance I like that you've Incorporated best practices from hlc uh in here and it's uh certainly in align with what I see the need to changes to be made from the ma Park investigation so uh very pleased to have this report committee today
thank you counselor um I also think this is a great idea I think it addresses all of the concerns obviously addresses needs because we're adopting some best practices um and uh I think it's it's very thorough
it's very straightforward and I have no suggestions for amendments or changes at this time thank you madam chair um one of the things that doesn't normally fall into ordinances but just regulations and practices on uh the administrations end
of things um following the covid-19 pandemic uh myself as well as the at the time time council president and at the time school committee chair did sign a directive to all boards and commissions of the city that all meetings had to be filmed for later publication on the city's uh YouTube channel that is something that had not been
traditionally done with this committee that is something that's going to be changing moving forward uh so those will be uh recorded meetings uh that way if anyone of the public anyone of the council anyone uh involved in that wants to see what those proceedings are that will be starting to be done as a matter of we're cleaning up the meetings right
now anyway we're fixing everything that all at once with it thank you um at the time she was also acting mayor too I just let put that up sure um well thank you for that I think that that's also a best practice you know
something we've already done so I think it makes sense to do it moving forward is there motion i' like to move to recommend uh passage and to send us ordinance to first printing to the full Council second motion made by councelor Ty uh president Tyro seconded by
councelor Heath to represent to the Council that the item be sent to first printing is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I those oppose no motion passes thank you Mr Mayor thank you okay item
11500 a request from counselor Elizabeth kazinski for a one- month update from the director of Community Development and planning so we have our director here director Jason Stevens um I spoke a little bit to this item earlier in my
introduction to this Committee in this meeting um and again uh these updates seem like they um will be monthly and um that's what I expect on the agenda could anything else that pops up that's relevant like the item that we had
before us this evening and with that uh I will give the floor to director Stephens thank you madam chair so I'm glad that we've already started this conversation off discussing cdbg uh because that is one of the two items I'm kind of presenting uh to the committee
this evening um the first item that I have in the pack ad presented to you all uh labeled Garder FY uh 21 PSS monitor findings was prepared by our cdbt representative from
our audit uh last year um some uh people in the public May uh think that fy21 might be not reflective of the current standings with cdbg but we are still actively using and utilizing um funds
from previous years um you know as I'm stepping into this role and actually hitting 30 days I think in a couple of days um so um but just wanted to cover um specifically the findings of of that
audit um of the kind of practices used in my department um for cdbg of the observations found in that in those findings um and how we going to address that
moving forward um so starting off you know they have the overall observations listed uh not having adequate staff uh files not adequately organized um perod reports to the grantee that are
required to adequately monitor compliance with uh National objectives not being met so there was a large um kind of Burden especially on the assistant director uh Evan Cudmore um coming into this being the one who leads
the projects and I applaud him for kind of taking this list both sides of it in fact uh by the horns and doing his best to make sure that we are in compliance with with State findings um upon my
arrival in into my role um I had found out that the auditor and treasurer for City Hall were in discussions of reviewing the findings and reportings for cdbg the cdbg
programs um as well as reports uh therein um and we found that there was um I want to I want to start off saying that specifically all the funds for cdbg
were properly allocated and spent though reports for cdbg um were not uh properly reported um between munice and the state intell grants and
intell grants um so as we move forward that is absolutely something that we want to make sure that our team and our department is um taking adequate notice of and making sure that
as we're moving forward that all these items are balancing out in the end uh so we're not um say leave leaving money on the table um because like I said there were errors both to the state and uh Housing and Urban Development as well um
in previous years um fy21 was just really the Crux of us delving into um the past years and how it was reported and how those funds are being allocated to projects um and so you know
to give background you know a little bit on how cdbg programs work we get our annual allotment for funds each year from the state um they're approved by city council for specific projects social Services um and then you know we
uh do quarterly reports to present to the state where those funds are going um and then get reimbursed by the state on a a quarterly basis um we got the the findings from the fy21 was because we were randomly audited and um these were
their findings from from our practices so as I said our team is doing the best we can um and doing everything we can to as we move forward um keep these failings in mind and you
know move past them and make sure that we are um meeting the the recommended guidelines by both uh the executive office of housing liable communities and um the guidelines for cdbg in general
and making sure that you know now as I present to you as the Director uh with full transparency and full communication that the these were the findings um so that we can have that cooperation especially with with given this this new
committee um moving on from there I I'll also touch on the rear main project those are kind of the back end of the packets I've given you starting off with the field report I believe from fuss and O'Neal so this was the Field Report presented back in November 8th of 24
where um the findings from the subsurface conditions on the site were that the previous um previously laid uh Factory buildings back there when they were demoed were actually used as fill
for the site um this made the subsurface conditions back there unsuitable for building um especially given uh the parking lots that we had presented to to the as part of the project um given the
shifting weight of cars vehicles um everything like that it's liable to you know potholes and and and M A lot of Maintenance as we move forward from there um so these were the findings in
November um the next page I presented um you can look through and see the the full report from Fen O'Neal um you know moving forward as as I think it was it was day one we had a conversation with
the uh lead engineer at fuss and O'Neal to just talk about potential solutions for this as we as I move into the role um and they presented with us a geotextile fabric which I have the data
sheet um for everyone uh labeled tensar interax uh NX 85 geogrid um this is a solution that can properly um distribute and evenly the weight amongst anything that's placed on
top of it so due to the kind of large debris like subsurface conditions from the demolition of the of the site um this will be a way for us to kind of build on that without the risk of um the
subservice conditions coming into coming into play um moving on from that I've presented the reports from the previous
director of community of uh Community Development and the first two line items are the rear main revitalization project North and South with you know as you get down you get project bench mark 1 to desired date giving us October
24 um and then finally permitting um October 25 desired date um or sorry excuse me of the first line item for North so Benchmark one March 24 complete construction plans specs bid start
construction June of 24 project Benchmark 3 complete Construction in December 25 um as we are in February of 25 we would like to think that construction is well underway that um
these these plans were still on that timeline but due to these subsurface conditions that we're now having to deal with um that's just not that's it's it's not likely to to continue on that
timeline um because we have to present now a solution for for these unforeseen uh subsurface conditions um so excuse me I just want to be clear those these they were unforeseen now but they could have been
foreseen before this a question that I've had through this process from when it was first displayed to me was why borings weren't done originally because that is standard practice um to do
subsurface borings on um a job site to see whether or not the subsurface conditions are are um suitable to be built upon um these were not done prior to the project going out for bid um so
it was only when U the contractors for the bid uh discovered the subsurface conditions where fuss and O'Neal brought in to do the findings and then do the full report in November that you see before you the Field Report the one
dated November 8 202 that you have so so that's when they they did this so it was it was sorry um it was originally discovered in September I believe but the Field Report was was distributed to us in in
November thank you madam president may I ask a question um well oh sorry I'm not Madam president you the president have it chair thank you thank
um director Stevens um just so clear the chair's question so the pictures we have in front of us add to the this meeting show tunnels under the re Street and that those tunnels and the foundation uh debris from the previous
Factory buildings and looks like various materials like the bricks um wood material organic material were just discovered this past fall essentially to a project that should have started in 2022 yes okay and I want to make clear
that the initial demo of these buildings was in 2015 with the intent to um build upon the site of it in 2015 in 2015 um this is one way to go about demoing a
site and using the existing debris as fill um but it is not suitable for construction in the future um so that's so to the to the president's question as well so this could have been
done as early as 2015 as it was demoed and them knowing that they were going to build on it we would have thought that this could have been discovered at that time yes but it was discovered in November of 2024 yes with this whole
plan already in place yes okay and then a just a a followup to that because I just wanted to be clear that when you said earlier and this is what triggered my first question is that the
anticipated completed completion date from the previous director's timeline of the project was December 2025 you're saying moving forward we can't do that but that's only from things that were discovered in November of 2024 yes thank
you councelor uh just one more thing um what what date was this uh is this a project like update uh dashboard or is that that is uh those are the six-month reports are required from every department head okay uh that are now going to become quarterly reports uh
but that was received by the previous director in late September of 24 after the original site visit was done for the report that was issued then on November 8th okay that's the information that yes okay thank you so this was part of the regular update that I get from the department at gotcha thank you yeah you
can you continue I have other questions about the other piece of it but I that I just wanted to be no clear um so even in the communication between the previous director and members of of Staff the mayor and
the city council um the other piece was the actual correspondence one of one of such between um Jor Bogard the the previous director and and K jablonsky the aid to the mayor um that um phase one no contract signed yet
waiting for recommendation from our engineer once that happens we can notify the contractor who then needs to provide the city with bid Bond Ducks Insurance certificates Etc prior to the contract being executed the mayor is a signatory phase two design will need to be tweaked
if and when funding is approved not sure when construction has started erosion control is approved once installed being installed in sections as site gets cleared hm and then on from there um there was no mention made to the mayor
or this Council about the subsurface conditions being an issue until today um and you know I'm here presenting it with uh potential solution um but it
does give pause into why this wasn't presented as a potential obstacle towards meeting these expected constructions and completion dates um knowing full well the subsurface conditions on
site thank you and just on that too so this this this is the solution um and maybe you were going to get to this uh is there an idea of cost or how much time that this would add to this project at this point I'm I'm sure
again you've been been here 30 days but this is this is very an eye opening and I whatever else you have on it you know would be um obviously you're going to present it to us but I just um I I I don't know anything about this so I want
to be I and there's no price tag on it yeah like right it's just one of those things where um this is a great information sheet and I'm glad that we have it knowing that you know this is the solution and that's being presented so I know it's part of the update but I just um if you didn't have it today that would be fine I just um that will be a
question that we'll get you'll get moving forward I'm sure that you're on your way to it I would assume I just um this is just pretty ey opening we're also still waiting on a stamp letter from the uh project engineer for the uh
full design for the full design of the fixed yes okay but we have gotten the approve the approval that it it is forthcoming okay um thank you uh chair
cuz um the question I had was is this for the whole area in the rare Main Street because it was broken down to where there was a 52 you know um potentially 52
Residential Building going there and then you had you know separated over there with the um food trucks and all the other amenities towards the um towards the uh Library this is for the whole area back there as a whole or uh I can answer that if you like Madam chair
so just as where director Stevens has only been here just about 30 days we my office has been helping him just the people who were working with this project before looking at the specs of the demolitions that were done before it looks like the demo fill material was largely on what will be the parking lot
area where the food trucks are but if you drive by the site you'll see a substantial drop in grade that's because the material that was demolished then is used to fill the upper lot to build up the said parking lot the reason for that dip there is because that fill isn't there so that shouldn't be part of that
this would be just for the area in which phase one which is the parking lot Plaza Park that area would be there the housing development side of it uh for phase two that we received the recent Housing Works grant for that would be something completely different because the fill isn't as substantial over there
okay but we will confirm that with the borings when that goes out to bid uh as is normal practice there um I have some stuff just to add to the report from the director after but I want to make sure that if there's any questions and Madam chairman at you uh well to go from the counselor's question uh so Mr Mayor you
mentioned like because your office has previous experience with this project but from what the director also just read this email uh you know you do regular updates with departments especially particular on these projects as being you know part of c cdbg and all
of the things that go on with the Department that are kind of construction based here um but you were getting these types of updates that um Katy in your office received and this looked like everything was good yeah okay I just
wanted to confirm that that's that's the communication you do that's the check-in that you do as you said you're going to be getting quarterly information and this will clearly be different moving forward but in the previous that was the best practice and that was in projects got done and I mean that was my perspective as a city counselor so
um you you didn't so you you had that information is really what it looks like to me in this case um as is in this emails any other questions comments um thank you um J the um
question I have is is not necessarily this project here but what about other projects that may have been done so like Stewart Street yeah are these going to be relooked at to make sure the proper so because like you know like I I
I watched the place get taken down I know that it's not flat land I've seen you know things as such um so now I'm just wondering if this is going to be ongoing yeah while Madam chair uh while I have been mayor we have not used
debris to fill any of the demolitions that we have done so on Stewart Street for example or even 177 West Street all of the uh demoed material was trucked out away to a landfill um in this case
rather than Trucking the bricks out the bricks were thrown into the holes of the foundation to level out the foundation so that you didn't have to put as much dirt and sand material in to fill it you used the what you knocked down to basically build the foundation up to make a level foundation and then put the
dirt on top of that um so for the demolitions that have been done while I've been here we have not used that method um however this is why there have been some delays on the Greenwood pool the Rome building is to make sure we don't recreate those mistakes in the
past and make sure the proper plans are in place for the um hazardous material surveys that has to be done that way if there is as bestus in the properties that's all pre- removed prior to the demo what that does is uh specialized Crews go into these buildings first
remove all of the uh asbestos materials that that's what's called removing the hot materials it's anything that's potentially contaminated that is trucked out separate and then the Wrecking Balls come in and knock everything else in that way you know that you're not AC accidentally or as a result of practice contaminating
everything else because you're knocking down the contaminated material with the regular material then all of that gets trucked off site the ground is filled with either dirt sand Crush Stone whatever the engineers come up with for the final design of that and then we don't we're not reusing the materials
that we knocked into the site um so coming up with those plans is you know it's it's longer to plan that way CU you have to have these special site surveys done and environmental reports and everything else but you get a better product in the end um so that is not something that we have to worry for any of the buildings that we've recently
demoed here in the city awesome thank you good continue thank you um so aside from I don't have any ite any items aside from the items prepared for cdbg and rear M those were the two
main portions I was going to uh cover this evening but if you have any questions related to the cdbg findings that I presented as well in terms of the um misreporting of of such
um then then I'd be glad to answer those as well thank you uh mror thank you mam president do you want me to add some items on the administration's side of these um I think we'll pause there for a second is there any
questions of the director in update I do have a question CH cus about um the February 28th cdbg date um for the how did you put it Mr the the draft final the initi the final initial final initial director stev how you feeling
about making that sort of deadline or fresh on the job and we've met with eohc um just to check in with them and and make sure that the projects that we are presenting to them are ones that meet the required um pillars for cdbg
funding um and they seem confident that the ones that will be presenting to you all are ones that uh will meet those pillars um and would be accepted by by eohc so I'm looking forward to you all reading about them the social services
that will be funding as well throughout the city um and kind of seeing how these projects will help improve Gardner moving forward thank you direct Stevens because I I looking at the um
fy21 monitoring that the state did somewhere um you know the issues that were identified didn't seem like oneoff issues in terms of like a box not being checked they were systematic you know processes that either weren't followed or weren't executed um properly so even
though you're just 30 days almost into your your new r um have you implemented any sort of U Provisions to fix those those findings or are you still well underway so I really see this
as a mix of poor management lack of oversight or or like teachings the department specifically has had a lot of turnover in in recent years and a lack of transitions
available to existing staff previous staff um myself included um and it has led to the processes kind of falling through and in cases like
this I don't even think that the existing staff were given directive of how to follow um these guidelines by the existing director at the time uh previous to myself um
so I I don't think any fault lies with how they were um how they were taught in ter in terms of completing their jobs um and
that now I provide them with the ability to do weekly reports to myself that in the past it's it was a uh day-by-day report I told them myself day by
day I don't I don't want to see day by day but week by week I want to see what grants you're working on what programs you're working on uh what updates you have for me what deadlines are you dealing with and then a section specifically for them to ask me of of
where I can help um them continue to meet their their deadlines um this just being an example of of the the guidelines that we want the standards that Gardener at needs of our of our department and we we are striving to
constantly meet and exceed um so I hope with with my guidance in the department that we meet those uh like I said we exceed those and that we continue to be uh transparent in terms of how the department operates and how we're
continuing to uh how I'm providing them oversight and uh guidance um even though just 30 days in but in the future months we are really looking forward to um my management style in the
department kind of reaching them in in a way that I think the previous director didn't thank you just a final comment I I I look forward to that I certainly already look forward to our March meeting um yet to be scheduled but I looked down the project status report
kind of a cursory check and a lot of 2022 2023 2024 start dates so I'm looking forward to you know what else you discover things that we can do better things we can catch up on get ahead of them because this department is critical to our objectives as the city so uh keep up the work thank you uh
counc I would anything I have a couple of questions yes thank you um Madam chair um I just want to say thank you um I mean we open our lives and I mean the public needs to go ahead and know that you know we're going these steps to go
ahead and make sure that we get it right and you know I'm I'm happy that you're here that is all thank you appreciate it thank you uh I appreciate the progress fa you know facing March that you put out kind of in front of us here and I really appreciate the work that you've
done so far um you know I don't know what I expected from not even 30 days later from this first update but this is certainly very refreshing to just get an overall idea of what your management style is and what you expect from your staff and the position that they were put in and you know where you're going
moving forward I think that's really helpful for for us to know um and I think the point of this first initial meeting too is to give you some feedback so for your next update you kind of know like where we're coming from and you know what the um what the idea is moving forward and that will be opened up to the full Council as well to reach you
know out to you or to us um to make sure that uh that information is is making it our way and I'm confident that it will um I think you're very aware of the role of this Committee in the oversight piece of of everything but that you know you're the department head and it's your
job to do your job and that's what people are hired to do and um I do have a couple of questions kind of from the beginning of your update so just going back to the the fact that we're still utilizing fy21 funds um do you have an idea of how
long it would take to like reconcile or close out any of the of those funds and it is it just based on the life of the projects or like how does that work just for the public watching I Believe by fy21 they should be closed out by the end of the year um
and then in future years then 26 22 would be closed out um they're given a life of of four years to to be to be wrapped up okay and then um the Cil consensus do you might I clarify
so for Fore lifespan meaning the fy21 projects need to be wrapped up yes year or else we lose that reimbursement you wrap up once your audit is done okay thank you and you provided that them so that's really helpful thank you uh and
then the funds that were properly reported and spent as you said cuz you had spoken with the um the auditor I believe and the treasurer yes but but they weren't done correctly through the state what's the
repercussion of that so we're we're dealing with um potentially funds not getting distributed in a timely manner uh as they were in previous years now that that has come to light
um it also provides kind of a a challenge to track the um payments of pro of projects um between what we have here at the city and what we then uh present to the state
um just reconciling those is a challenge with with the uh reporting errors that that were discovered through their work our quarterly reimbursements get withheld until everything gets cleaned up so since this has all been cleaned up we're are now able to submit for those
reimbursements and get the funding to send out to the different various projects but that's the repercussion of that thank you so in general the funds are withheld until you're reconciled yes thank you uh and then I don't have any other questions on that if anyone else
doesn't I would like to give and do you have anything else for that you like to add director stens I I've had the wonderful chance of meeting with a couple of the members of city council lot many members of the public um truly many of them and and a like
they've been they've been wonderful and welcoming um in terms of seeing someone who wants to grow Gardener um and develop it in a way that is good for everyone in the in the community um so
you know being from not from around here and being from Boston previously um I've gotten a proper Gardener welcome and you know 30 days in and looking forward to the next 30 and beyond that so thank you all great thank you uh Mr Mayor I did
want to give you an opportunity and I do appreciate your commentary on the history of the situation before the new was hired on anything that we do need to go do need to know because I personally believe that is really valuable to moving forward with this department uh
and the progress that we hope to achieve in regularly meeting and getting reports um is there anything else that you wanted to add to the director's comments being that um and his update being that you um directly oversee all the department heads is there anything that
you would like to add uh just a couple stuff uh Madam chair first of all uh in his first 30 days I I refreshing I think was the word you used Madam chair it's tremendous how refreshing having director Stevens in the role is uh just getting that New Perspective from outside and just cleaning things up um
starting when you're dealing with not only the items that he's mentioned here today but the new parking meters going into the downtown and working with the businesses on making sure that the public and their customers who come in and ask how to use them understand what to do um the snowstorms that have come issues of uh businesses trying to get to
their dumpsters when they're plowed in uh everything like that has been something that's come up um for director Stevens and I'm truly happy to have him on the team he was really a great pick uh for the job um and I'm really happy to have him here um in terms of the Community Development block grant and
talking with director Stevens about the issues he has seen it really seems like the biggest Crux of the problem was that the staff hadn't really been adequately trained for the roles in which they were hired to do um with documented public record emails that say
I never did that job I'm not the one who can teach you how to do it and I think the cycle that perpetuated as a result was you had staff members trying to learn the job on the job without the proper training and then moving on either to a different role here or
elsewhere leaving a to-do list based off of what they had learned by themselves on how to do and so the training model then became the incorrect model because it was a handed down manual that was handed down handed down handed down without the proper training received to the front uh the administration is going to be working with the central Massachusetts Regional Planning
Commission uh particularly with the cdb Jeep reporting to make sure that the staff gets adequately trained the reason for the central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission instead of the montachusett regional Planning Commission is the montachusett regional Planning Commission has discontinued all work with the Community Development block grant uh they say that that's too
timec consuming for their staff so they've just contined to all work with that as such we're going to cmrpc which is our neighbor and Regional Planning Commission who has offered their services to help train their staff and if we need help with any administration of the program they've also been uh off offered uh to help with anything we need at least until we get everything wrapped
up here um at least that's how we're uh looking at getting things done the pillars just for the uh the benefit of the counselors and for anyone who's watching this if you hear that certain cdbg projects have to fit into certain pillars uh the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development requires that all Community Development block
grant projects either work towards the elimination of summon blight the uh Services provided to low and moderate income communities that's set by the census tracks in the city uh the Improvement of local infrastructure or social services so those are the four
buckets if you will that cdbg funds can fall into so the applications actually have to break down which project fits into what category um and then the report timing there too as everything locally is reported fine our mun system balances with the bank account uh it's really just the bank
accounts reconciliation reports weren't uploaded to the federal portal in time so therefore our um reimbursements uh weren't getting done on a timely basis that has since been fixed that is something that the auditor and the treasur and I were working on right when director Steven started so we're now being able to implement that work going
forward there in terms of the rear main project the Geotech fabric uh that was being requested um is very similar to when we had to pave Eaton Street is how I describe it to People based off how it
was described to me the bricks that you see in the pictures there under the ground are loose brick because it was from the demolition material there's no concern that the area is going to collapse there's no concern that there's going to be this big sinkhole in the area there's no concern of anything like that what it is is just like the roots
in eaten Street while they were growing would shift the soil underneath the road that would make the road susceptible to a ton of Pooles if the bricks were to shift underground from the weight of the cars and the materials on top of them it would be susceptible to PES uh so what this Geotech fabric does is it evenly
distributes that weight across the site as a whole so the um data sheet that you see in front of you here uh verifies the uh warranty of it you'll see the durability properties uh you want to look at the resistance to chemical degradation line item because this would
be a subsurface uh item meaning that would put either dirt or pavement on top of it so there wouldn't be uh access to UV light um that's where the 100% is so meaning it's permanently available underneath uh the ground subsurface material so that's what I sent uh over there you'll see the uh
appropriation for that as part of the bond reappropriation vote that's currently pending before the council that's how that was able to clear Bond Council was through that warranty item that was there uh the uh costs that were associated the reason why it took some time to get that final number uh was
because our Engineers fuss and O'Neil were looking at doing a uh cost per unit agreement rather than an overall cost uh I didn't agree to be doing a cost per unit agreement because we want to know how many units we're actually going to need before we're committ committing funding to something rather than just
saying we'll approve up to $25 per textile Square to only find out in the end we need 100 squares right why not get the $250 approval UPF front now it's going to be closer to about um $450 to $500,000 for the purchase of the material and then some extra for the
installation of that that's why you'll notice the bond appropriation is around $800,000 um the previous director had built in a uh 5% contingency into the project good practice is between 15 and 20% that 5% contingency has actually
already been eaten up by the uh designs of the initial material uh that was there so that's why we have to go for the extra appropriation that's why that's included in your uh budget there one of the reasons also why this was able to slip through the cracks with the different information that my office was
receiving versus what was being received by the engineers is uh the rear main street project while it is a city partnered project and City adjacent project and the end will be a full city project as the owner of the eventual site uh it's considered a garden
Redevelopment Authority property and project that's overseen by the gr uh the gr has also been instructed to start filming their meetings um and putting them up right now because right now it's very hard to find their minutes very hard to the videos the meetings aren't filmed so you can't watch those um while they are technically considered a quasi
agency separate of the city that is something that does come back in the city in the end because we're trying to be the ones to fix it right now um so that's going to be some steps that are taking to make sure that these projects that were traditionally overseen by the grra are also now um being fixed in terms of process to make sure that we
don't run into these issues in the future uh other than that that's um what I have for my items that I've had here other than like just to reiterate director Stevens has been a great asset to the team um as always uh
the administration and the executive branch through either myself director Stevens any of the department heads are always willing to collaborate with the city council uh so if there's any questions that this committee has over the course of the coming months and years and however long this committee May either be here or permanently be here uh we're always happy to continue to work and collaborate with each other
thank you thank you Mr anything further from the director and the mayor okay uh one thing I did want to add just while we're in discussion of this item is uh the makeup of the committee uh and so I had um
wanted to add counselor HEI uh he's also going to be our is our design by the president to the um cdbg committee uh and previously uh the president was uh my design when I was president to the
capital Improvement plan committee and now I am his designate to that committee uh so I felt like this was a good uh group to be able to look at this further um considering all of the uh experience
behind and and what we expect moving forward and also obviously president tyros had um put together the uh Mackie Park um report for the council and did extensive work on that um which helped
lead us up to the point to um doing what's best for the city and being sure that this department is supported and going in the direction that it needs to and um so I just wanted to clarify for the public watching and also just for the group that's in this room who will be uh meeting
uh regularly at least monthly on all of these matters that that was what's behind it and you know just to help us all understand kind of what our our roles are bringing to this to this these meetings uh so with that I'm going to
make a motion uh to recommend to the full Council that this item be placed on file and that the director um brief the C on his one month update um at this city
council meeting this evening if you're available to do so and I think we I wouldn't suggest to make this a regular practice again if need be we'll see what happens but I think for this evening it would be best for it to come from you as
again a newly formed committee um we just met you a month ago and this has just been there's a lot of items that we have referenced this evening that absolutely have to do with Council and City business um and so I think that it would be helpful to have you there to brief the
Council on um what you just gave us cuz it's a lot of information I will certainly report out but my thought is that um is that it's with a lot of the detail and all the information that you've given us it's probably going to be best
this time around to come directly from you just to see the jump off point for the council and so that they can see too um what we've done you know form of this committee and kind of the point is there so the the motion again is to recommend to the full Council that the item be
placed on file and that the director of community Planning and Development brief the Council on his one- month update second motion made by councelor kazinski seconded by President tyros all those in favor oh no is there a discussion on
motion any discussion all those in favor say I I those oppose no motion passes if anything further I'll IND a motion to adjourn second motion made by councelor Heath seconded by councelor tyros all those in favor to adjourn all those in
favor say I I say no motion passes meeting stand thank you thank you everyone thank you