Call the order of the Monday, December 1st meeting of the Gardener City Council. The clerk will now please call the role. >> Councelor Brooks, >> present. >> Councelor Cormier, >> present. >> Councelor Duralowitz, >> present. >> Councelor Hardurn, >> present. >> Councelor Heath, >> present. >> Councelor Hegland, >> present. >> Councelor Kazinskis,
>> present. >> Councelor Mack, >> present. >> Councelor Tone, >> present. Councelor T. Bul Munoz present. President Tyrus >> present. Those who wish may now rise for the opening prayer and pledge of allegiance. >> Almighty God, we thank thee for bringing
us together this evening. Inspire us to worthy deeds and sound decisions and direct us towards the attainment of good city government. We pray that you bless, protect all the people of our city and still guide inspire us to liberate in unity and harmony. Amen.
I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Announcement of open meeting recordings. Any person may make a video or audio
recording of an open session of a meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium subject to reasonable requirements of the chair as to the number, placement, and operation of the equipment used so as to not interfere with the conduct of the meeting. Any person intending to make such a recording shall notify the chair forth
with all documents and exhibits used or referenced at the meeting must be submitted in duplicate to the chair as it become part of the meeting minutes. Is anyone recording tonight's meeting? Reading of minutes of prior meetings. August 4th, 2025, regular meeting. August 18th, 2025, committee of the
whole. September 2nd, 2025, regular meeting. >> Council Hegel. >> Move to dispense with the reading of the minutes and accept them as presented. >> Second. >> Motion moved by councelor Hegeland. Second by councelor Tone to dispense the reading of the minutes and accept them as presented. Is there discussion?
Councelor Hegman. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, just wanted to point out quick, unfortunately, you know, looking through, there were numerous errors that I did find. They're really just misspellings or typos. So, I don't think they obstruct really the understanding or comprehension of the minutes. It's,
you know, spelling, formatting, grammatical errors. There was a counselor name spelled wrong. Mackie Park was spelled wrong. There was some transcription errors. So, again, I don't think this is something we shouldn't just, you know, we should hold up. They're just minutes. I think they've been there been, you know, they're months old at this point as well. Uh
however, I I don't you know think it's acceptable for us to not acknowledge these errors and let them go by. So I'm not urging us to reject the minutes by any means uh because again they're quite old at this point. But I just want to bring to attention uh that we you know strenuously encourage them to be better
prepared in the future. Thank you. >> Thank you councelor Hegel. Is there further discussion? >> All those in favor I. >> All those opposed? No. Motion passes. Public hearings. Item 11716,
an application submitted by EJ Wilson Trucking for a flammable license located at 163 and 169 Colony Road. I will now read the public hearing notice. Pursuant to the provisions of general laws chapter 148 subsection 13, notice
is hereby given that the city council will conduct a public hearing on Monday, December 1st, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. in the city council chamber, room 219, city hall, 95 Pleasant Street, Gardener, Massachusetts, on an application submitted by EJ Wilson Trucking to store
325,000 gallons of liqufied petroleum gas propane in 11,500 to 15,200 gal above ground storage tanks on land situated at 163 Colony Road, Gardener. Persons interested in this matter are
encouraged to attend and offer testimony. City Council Gardner, TT Saran, City Clerk. Is the petitioner present to speak to the proposal? Please come to the podium. State your name and your address. My name is Eric Weiss. I'm the president
of Weiss Trucking. I live in Westminster, Mass. But my business has been in this city for 30 years. Um, I'm applying for this license because our business has grown and we want to stay in compliance with all the rules and regulations of the state and the city.
Um, the we run a trucking company that delivers product throughout New England. So, the state's requirement is for us to have a license for every one of the vehicles that's in the yard as if it was full. That's why it it looks like it's a bulk plant, but it's really our rolling
stock is what it is. So, I'm happy to answer any questions that anybody has in regards to it. Hopefully, I've explained that enough. But, >> thank you, Mr. Weiss. And I apologize for the mispronunciation. >> No worries. >> All right. I declare open the public
hearing for item 11716. Does anyone wish to be heard in favor of the proposed zoning amendment? Sorry, the proposed license. Does anyone wish to be heard in favor of the proposed license? Does anyone wish to be heard in favor of
the proposed license? Does anyone wish to be heard in opposition of the proposed license? Does anyone wish to be heard in opposition of the proposed license? Does anyone wish to be heard in opposition of the proposed license?
Are there any questions or comments from city councilors? Would anyone else like to be heard on the matter? I declare the public hearing now closed for item 11716. Item 11730,
plan number 3082599, Pleasant Street, Main Street, West Line Street, National Grid to install a new handhold in the sidewalk on Pleasant Street. Install new transformer pad with ballards in the sidewalk behind 8 Main Street and extend the sidewalk out
around the pad to make room for pedestrians. Install duct bank between the handhold and the pad and the pad 140 feet and between the pad and existing MH200 on West Line Street. The public hearing notice reads as
follows. to abutters and other interested parties. Pursuant to the pro provisions of Mass General Law Chapter 166 subsection 22, you are hereby notified that a public hearing will be conducted on Monday, December 1st, 2025 at 7:30
p.m. on the petition of NA Massachusetts Electric Company doing business as National Grid for permission to excavate the public highways and to run and maintain underground electric conduits together with such sustaining and protective features as it may find
necessary for the transmission of electricity. Said underground conduits to be located substantially in accordance with the plan filed here and with marked item 1130. A sketch of the proposed pole location is attached for your edification. City
council of gardener TT Sarapan city clerk. Does anyone wish to be heard? Sorry, is the petitioner present to speak to the proposal? Please come to the podium. State your name and address for the record. >> Good evening. Uh my name is Will
Fontaine. Uh my office is at 20 uh Harrison A in uh Athl. Um this job is to serve the the customer at two Parker Street uh which is across the street from where the uh the proposed
transformer will be going. Um, this job's been with me for a couple years now. Uh, because our original plan to put a pad in the uh the parking lot across this across Parker Street in the uh bank parking lot fell through last
minute and uh it's a very tough lot to feed um because it's it's surrounded on all sides by either buildings or roads where there isn't power at the moment. Um, so we wish to extend extend the power under the road and uh and and feed
them so that way they can grow their business um and their I think they have apartments in there as well. So >> thank you. >> I declare the public hearing open for item 11730. >> Does anyone wish to be heard in favor of
the proposal? Mayor Nicholson. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Counselors Mike Nicholson, 131 Crestwood Drive. Uh this project is a portion of the remain street revitalization project where we're moving some of the poles underground. But as uh the representative for National Grid just
said, part of this electrical work uh goes with installing a new transformer that would be able to have the underground conduit going from Rear Main Street to the Garbos building at 2 to10 Parker Street uh where Nails 2000 uh is for a reference point for people who may be unfamiliar with the addresses
themselves uh because they uh need to upgrade the wiring there in order for the revitalization project of that interior building uh to be done as it's the original wiring that's in the building that's currently there right now. So, in order to be able to fully power the building uh to modern standards for the buildout plans that they have for the upper floors with the
apartment units and the lower floors with the commercial units, uh the electrical system needs to be upgraded. Uh so, when the developer heard that we were revitalizing main street and moving our above ground poles that are in that spot underground into conduit, uh that's when the transformer conversations joined in with that one because they
were originally looking at putting their transformer across the street at the old Bank of America building. when that building was sold, uh the new owner decided not to have that as part of their their project for their location. Uh and thus they discontinued those uh talks between the two of them and the
developer reached out to the city to see if this is a way that we could partner with each other. Uh since we were already going through the electrical work for the remain street project. So that's kind of how this came up. Um it's something that the administration's in support of. I know director Stevens has been working with the uh the applicant for that as well as uh the plans being
reviewed by all the necessary city departments on the end. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Does anyone wish to be heard in favor of the proposal? Does anyone wish to be heard in favor of the proposal? Does anyone else wish to be heard in
favor of the proposal? Does anyone wish to be heard in opposition of the proposal? Does anyone wish to be heard in opposition of the proposal? Does anyone wish to be heard in opposition of the proposal? Would
there be any questions from city councilors? Councelor Donia. >> Yes, President Tyrus. Just a question from and I brought this up during uh our public service meeting as well. Um if we we gotten any answers as to how long
electricity will be disconnected, when's the anticipated um start date for this project? And I realize we might be a little further away, but I want to know how long uh the tenants and the businesses in the downtown area will be
without power possible. >> Would you mind coming to the podium? >> Uh so for for scheduling, um as of right now, nothing is scheduled. So I I can't really give a start date. Um there's I I know
obviously everybody wants, you know, I'm sure the customers want everything done, you know, as soon as possible. Um but because we have to schedule uh subcontractors to do a lot of this work, it's going to be dependent on their schedule as well. Um and then
the schedules of our internal crews. Um so scheduling typically comes uh first come first serve. So, if there's other customers that are in the line for scheduling, they're going to get scheduled first. Um, I would think spring,
uh, because we still need to, um, obviously assuming this gets passed tonight, um, we still need to go through the billing process with the customer at two Parker Street for this portion of the project, uh, as well as for, um, the other portion of the project for putting
all the poles underground. um and the other couple manholes that are going in that 58 uh Main Street rear lot. Um so billing billing still has to be done for that. So that's going to that might push the date depending on how quickly you
know invoices are paid and and or uh payment plans are set up. Um and then as far as duration of whenever that outage occurs, I I'm not sure I'm not part of the logistics team that sets that up. uh we usually notify uh the the customers that
are going to be affected, you know, and give them an estimate once we actually know when it's going to be what process we're going to do. Um because it is it it's kind of a messy area where it goes, you know, from underground to overhead. Um there's a couple feeder
ties there. So, it's they're going to have to figure out how they're going to phase to keep people on as much as possible uh to to not affect them. They might also, again, depending on what they figure out as far as their logistics. Um, they might decide to do
part of it as night work, so it won't affect businesses during the day. Um, but I unfortunately I'm not on that team and I don't know exactly what they'll decide once they see what uh crews they have available and when. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Any further questions? >> Thank you very much. >> Would anyone else like to be heard on the matter? I now declare the public hearing closed on item 11 1730. 11731.
Plan number 31105017 Derby Drive, West Line Street, National Grid to install new handhold in West Line Street. West Line near back of 8 Main Street with conduit from there to pad 200-1 to refeed 8 Main Street.
Replacing old conduits to pads 200-1 and 200-2 installing about 204 of conduit from MH200 to new SGMH-1 at rear of 58 Main Street off Derby Drive.
The public hearing notice reads as follows. to abutters and other interested parties. Pursuant to the provisions of Mass General Law Chapter 166 subsection 22, you are hereby notified that a public hearing will be conducted on Monday, December 1st, 2025 at 7:30
p.m. on the petition of Massachusetts Electric Company doing business as National Grid for permission to excavate the public highways and to run and maintain underground electric conduits together with such sustaining and protective fixtures as may find necessary for the transmission of
electricity said underground conduits to be located substantially in accordance with the plan filed herein marked 11731. A sketch of the proposed pole location is attached for edification. City council of gardener TT Sarafan city
clerk. Uh would the petitioner like to summarize the proposal? Uh good evening again. Um this is the main bulk of this project uh that we've been working on for a few years now. um just coming out of the
existing manhole. Right now, uh the it feeds out through the manhole 200. I don't know if you guys have the plans attached to that. Um part of part of the project goes over to where we uh we want the pad for to Parker Street. Uh we need to be able to feed refeed the candy shop
because they're fed from that uh backyard pole line there. Uh the we're coming out of manhole 200. We're going to be putting in a couple new manholes back there that are and then it's going to feed back up the poles. Uh and then it feeds out back back out to Main
Street. Um I don't know if if anybody has any questions about that. I know as far as scheduling, my answer would be uh would be the same as billing would still have to be done as well as act, you know, the actual uh logistics team and our overhead crews looking at it and
deciding how and uh when they're going to do it. So, >> thank you. Thanks. I now declare open the public hearing for item 11731. Does anyone wish to be heard in favor of the proposal? Does anyone wish to be heard in favor of
the proposal? Does anyone wish to be heard in favor of the proposal? Does anyone wish to be heard in opposition of the proposal? Does anyone wish to be heard in opposition of the proposal? Does anyone wish to be heard in opposition of the proposal?
Are there any questions from counselors on the proposal? >> My only question because I had to read it twice is the about 204 is feet. >> Correct. Yes. >> What note that? >> Would anyone else like to be heard on the matter?
>> Councelor Mac. >> Um I just want to say that I'm glad to see both of these on our calendar. Um as the petitioner said, this is this has been a long time waiting for these. Um and with the delay um in getting that
this done by national grid um it's it's costly for both the businesses and for the construction projects. So my hope is that this can be done in a expedited manner. Thank you. >> Thank you councelor Mack. Would anyone else like to be heard? >> I declare the public hearing now closed
for item 11731. There are no communications from the mayor. Petitions, applications, communications, etc. Item 11734, a ruling from the attorney general relative to open meeting law complaint filed by Paul Deo. Councelor Kazinskus.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to make a motion to place the item on file. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Gazinskus, second by council journal out. Place the item on file. Is there discussion? Councelor Kazinskus. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to share a little bit more information about this item relative to
it. The two open meeting law complaints filed against the Gardener City Council relative to this item were filed in May of 2024 and July of 2024. They were reviewed by the Massachusetts Attorney General's office and the city council has now received the official determination in November of 2025. The
full determination is in our packet. Um, but for the the public watching when we do put these types of things on file, I just wanted to offer a little bit more information as I was council president at the time that they were both filed. The attorney general reviewed both complaints together. The first complaint
alleged that the council improperly entered executive session on August 7th, September 18th, and December 4th of 2023, and that we did not review the December 4th minutes in a timely manner. The second complaint re raised a similar concern about the December 4th meeting
and questioned whether the council should have read the minutes allowed or distributed them when they were approved for release on June 3rd, 2024. After after reviewing the complaints, the council's responses and the relevant records, the attorney general reached
three conclusions. One, the allegations regarding the August 7th and September 18th meetings were not reviewed because the complaint was filed well beyond the 30-day statutory deadline. The law requires timely filing when the facts are publicly known, and in this case,
that requirement was not met. Number two, the attorney general found that the December 4th executive session was properly held by the city council. The meeting was convened for a legitimate purpose. Reviewing previously held executive session minutes and the post and the posted notice provided
sufficient detail. The attorney general also confirmed that the council's discussion stayed within that lawful purpose. And number three, the council's review on June 3rd, 2024 of the December 4th minutes was timely and appropriate. Reviewing executive session minutes in
that time frame was determined by the attorney general to be consistent with the legal requirement to review them at reasonable interviews intervals. The attorney general also clarified that there is no requirement to read such minutes allowed or distribute them
unless a member of the public requests a copy and in which case they would be provided a copy. In the end, the attorney general found no violations by the city council. The matter is now considered fully resolved. I want to make an important broader point here.
Filing an open meeting law complaint does not automatically mean that a violation has occurred. The attorney general's letter is a clear example of the significant amount of time, effort, and legal review that goes into evaluating each complaint by the city
council, by our legal staff, and by the attorney general's office. When complaints are filed without a valid basis, it creates unnecessary work, delays, and expense for everyone involved. And those expenses are paid by
public tax dollars. It diverts time away from actual city business, forces legal staff and elected officials to focus on issues that turn out to be unfounded, and it burdens the state agencies that must investigate them. With that said, I want to be very clear. The city council
fully supports transparency and accountability and I feel confident saying that speaking for the city council on that piece and that's why these types of laws exist. This law in particular but they should be used responsibly. Misusing the complaint
process does not serve the public. It strains resources and distracts from the real work and purpose of city government. Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you, councelor. Any further discussion? All those in favor I >> I. >> All those against, no. Motion passes.
>> Reports of standing committees. If there are no objections, I would like the council to take item 11737 out of order as the police chief is here with us this evening. Item 11737, an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Gardner, chapter
600, entitled vehicles and traffic section 24 entitled parking prohibited on certain streets. Council Cormier. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh yes, this ordinance came out of item 11552, which was a communication from the traffic commission. Uh the traffic commission
had recommended uh implementing a parking ban from January 1st to February through uh March 1st. Uh the committee has met several times on this item as we've worked through this to get to the ordinance uh and was unanimously in
favor and I therefore move to send the item to first printing. >> Motion made by council. >> Motion made by councelor Cormier, second by councelor Harden to send the item to its first printing. Is there discussion? Council Cormier. >> Uh we did have a public hearing earlier
on this item. Uh the chief and the deputy chief both spoke in favor of this item. uh as well as we'd received a communication with the deputy uh director of uh public works uh from Mr. Arnold and he also spoke in favor of
this item. We did not have anyone speak uh against this item. Uh again, the chief is here if anyone would like if you would like to speak in favor now or if anyone has any questions. >> Councilor M. >> I I just have some comments about this. Um the ordinance proposal was was
received in the city clerk's office on se September 9th and brought um before us today on December 1st. On November 5th, the city solicitor responded with the recommended changes to the ordinance. Um I have questions about the notification of the public hearing as
nobody attended. Um and I'm wondering why it wasn't done as tonight with National Grid during the city council meeting and more publicly um posted for people to know. Um there was nothing on the city website. Um I went on to city hall nor on the Facebook pages. Um so as
councelor Cormier mentioned, nobody attended. Um the proposed changes I believe aren't fair to the public to be brought up in a less than timely manner. A hybrid system I believe is confusing. It should be one or the other. Um if you want specific dates, they should be
extended as they once were from December to April. um as it was in the past and as the towing um and the information we received from the deputy chief explained that there were less issues with people parking on the uh on the roads. H also having a fine of $25 is the first thing
that should be addressed. If it wasn't so low maybe people would be fined, you know, more than once would for a higher amount would abide by the parking ban regulations. This entire ordinance, in my opinion, needs to be revised and reviewed, not just the section for the
off- streetet parking ban. Um, but again, I feel the lack of communication at this point in this late date to change the method is going to cause more issues. I support leaving it alone for this winter and revising revisiting a plan for the next year that next year that can be announced well in advance
and alert to the public. Um, this would have to go to two printings, bring the final passage to the end of this month to begin on January 1st. I feel it's an unreasonable request. I will not be voting in favor and I wish we had seen this in front of us uh 6 months ago. Thank you.
>> Thank you, councelor. Any other council comments? >> Council Hegel. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I just had a quick question through you to the committee. One of the data points used was September 2025 to today. It stated 177 towings have happened for winter
parking vans, but to my knowledge, we haven't had any winter parking vans. And so I wasn't sure if there was clarification on that or where that number came from. Um but it was 2024 there were I think like 60 some odd towings and the next data point for 2025 was 177. It could have been an error
though. >> Chair Corman. >> Uh if I recall correctly I believe that was 2025 from the beginning of the year to present through September 25th. Not from September 25th until now. >> Thank you. Thank you councelor Councelor
Hegel. Do you have more questions? Thank you. Any further council questions? Councelor Berts. >> Uh thank you. As uh the committee was meeting on this issue, I think uh we heard some concerns from the police department and from the public works
department about the time that they spend trying to move cars when a code red uh parking ban goes into effect for a particular snow emergency. And it
The the feeling was that that what we're we're spending a lot of time and a lot of resources trying to get cars off the road when people should be able to get the cars off the road themselves that that time we're spending should be spent on public other public safety
issues or on u get plowing the plowing the snow. So I think what what the commit we were kind of in discussing it this was this was kind of a it is a hybrid system but it's it's kind of a middle ground to say
all right the two snowiest months of the year would there would be we would go back to a allight parking ban uh to make sure that at night the cars are off the road during the day it may be easier to get people off the road
and in for the snowiest months if the if that seems to work fine. If we continue to have problems with uh people not moving their vehicles in November, December, March, April, then I think we would look
at we could look at extending the winter parking ban. I think we have a good test tomorrow. Everybody knows it's going to snow tomorrow. The parking ban, I believe, is in effect for 7 a.m. tomorrow to 7:00 a.m. Wednesday. And I'll be curious to see what the result
of that is. People know that there people know that there's a a snowstorm coming. They know they have to get the cars off the street. And yet, I'm I'm feeling like people say, "Well, I don't have any place to put it, so what am I supposed to do?" and we need to get them to understand
that that is their responsibility to get their vehicles off the street so the city can do the plowing it needs to do. Uh so uh I think that's why why the committee u moved the way it did. Thank you. >> Thank you councelor uh councelor.
>> Yes. Uh I I will be supporting this amendment. Um and and you know just listening to uh what the chief and deputy chief had to say earlier today I feel as though you know th this time frame albeit like we need to give the
public um time to to to make these changes. Um, but moving forward in the future, I I definitely foresee us doing this from December to to like a March uh for uh from from an effectiveness
standpoint where that's where a bulk of the snow does come. Uh, I I a as is with Code Red, uh, I I fielded several um complaints this past year with cars being towed, cars being um um damaged
when they were being towed um in in the code read um just from listening to some of the statistics simply isn't doesn't seem like it's the most effective way to go. So, uh we'll be supporting the amendment. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councelor Tone. Now that a
few counselors have uh made comments and questions, I'd like to offer the chief the opportunity uh to speak to the item if he wishes. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Thank you. Um this came about as um going back as I explained it
in the old days. Um when we started to tag in mid November, it it kind of instilled a muscle memory into to the citizens in the community like it cost them $5. counselor to start when I first started issuing those tickets and it moved to 15 and and up from there.
>> Um what it was was notification like hey um the snow could come anytime but you got to make arrangements to get them off get your cars off the road. What happens now is is that I I I feel like we've become a bit complacent with that. Um and and there's no urgent need to get
the car off the road until the next day when they find out the car has been towed. Um, my officers do spend a tremendous amount of time knocking on doors to try to minimize this effect. Um, but I will tell you that when I only have a few officers working at 2:00 in the morning, that is a significant
strain when there are other calls. Um, speaking uh having many conversations with the DPW director, um, back in the old days, I hate to say it like that, but it's the truth. You used to make one or two passes on a road. Now they have to come back multiple times because there's multiple cars in the road and
that's why it looks like a swollen course on the roads when people go through. That's why the roads can't be plowed effectively because there's cars on the road. Uh we are sympathetic to the fact that there are more cars, there are more people in the community and there is less off- streetet parking. So
this comes down to whether it's public safety. If you want the roads cleared that there can't be shouldn't be cars on the road when the roads need to be cleared. So how do you do that? It's either the old way or this current way or a hybrid way. I understand that it should the arguments one way or the
other. Um but we need to start somewhere. Um and I I think by minimizing the effect of the community, we're we're not really hitting you hard in the non snowy months like November and maybe early December. Obviously, tomorrow is an exception. And then at
the end of the season in March and, you know, early April because it did go into April. Um I I think those types of events could be contained to like a a code red because they are bits of anomalies. Um I do think during your
busiest times even you want to go to December through March I that's certainly understandable and it would help tremendously I think because we do end up issuing a lot of tickets. What would happen is the first we'd issue warnings and then we would issue tickets and when um by that time people had
started to get accustomed to I need to get my car off the road. So by usually two weeks into the winter ban it was a ghost town. Um you would see no cars in the road and when when it did come to a snow event the DPW could go through it a lot quicker. Um so that's just my um
what I've noticed over the since the change. Um, I'd be happy to take any questions if anybody has any concerns or anything like that. Council, >> thank you. >> Oh, sorry. >> Sorry. Thank you, Council. >> Um, my concerns go to some of what councelor Mack had stated about the
notification, the timing of this, and I talked to you briefly after the meeting. Um, I just like to see some kind of what the se what the plan would be to get the word out that this change was coming if it was passed so people would be aware. Okay, starting January 1st, this is what's going to happen. Some kind of
notification schedule. Um, what could be done um for those at home? >> Sure. I mean, we can also like we we spoke briefly about um prior to I think we can do the warning system like we did before. So, kind of get people accustomed to saying, "Okay, I need to get my car off the road. This could have
been a ticket. it could have been ticket and towed. Um, so there I I think we can definitely work within those parameters. Obviously, if it's a snow event like we have tomorrow, then we would need to take some sort of action. Um, but I think if it's just a straight ban, non
on street parking, I think we can work with that and get the notification out. Obviously, the the other traditional means, social media, um, any other media forms or platforms you can think of as well, we can do that, too. >> Yeah, just I if I can continue. Yeah, just some kind of if we were to pass
this obviously we have a chance to pass the first printing here doesn't we have to pass it again next time if some kind of plan is in effect to get notification out I would definitely be more comfortable with you know passing this does seem like whether it happens this year or it happens next year next year
it seems like something that's necessary to be done in order to alleviate the issues that both the police department and DPW is having with the parking on the streets. Thank you. >> Thank you councelor. Any further questions for the chief? >> Council Heg. >> Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you,
Chief. Um, so I appreciate the chair of the committee clarifying my data point questions. So, do we know what led to such a spike because I think it had been trending downward and then to September it's been 177. So, that was quite the jump. Any sense of what led to that spike?
>> Uh, I I don't have it without in front of having to a chance to look at a counselor. My only thought would be I don't would we have more have had more events um to to to drive that number up? That would be my only thought process behind that. Um I do usually the first
couple storms is when we see the most. Um I mean we could tow 20 cars in one night. That's a lot there. Back in the old band we we would maybe have a storm we tow three or four tops. Um, so it has become a different kind of event uh when
we do have snow. So, but I I mean I think it's probably the event that would be my first guess without benefit of >> I quick follow up and up. I can defer um what is the current procedure I guess for do like what is the onus on the city to notify people?
Is it a car comes in, there's a car in the way, and boom, that's it. Or is it on us to remind them multiple times >> just determining how much time we are spending on that? Do we have to be? Not that I don't appreciate the courtesy. I think that's the way to do business, but just curious what the steps are.
>> Sure. Obviously, the first thing will go the code red will go out to the community. Um I'm sorry. You talk about it in the current system. Yeah, the current system. Uh the code red goes up. uh the mayor makes the determination to uh to send out that that notification uh sets the specific parameters for it and
then anytime in those specific parameters vehicles parked on the road it's towable. Um we obviously I mean common sense would dictate we're not going to do that till we see snow flying. Um but that is kind of and then we would as the
DPW crews move from road to road they they would notify us and say okay there's a car parked on um you know Elm Street or there's a car parked on Cross Street or whatever they would tell us that um and we would send an officer over depending on the circumstances and
the call volume the officer would a lot of times get out and knock on the door to try and of course that's is a whole another thing when you're waking people up at 2:00 or 3:00 in the it can be a little volatile too. So um obviously I I understand and the officers do want to help in the best
they can and but um there it becomes cumbersome to do that >> council Mac. >> Um thank you uh council president. I just want to say I'm not against a parking van. I'm against the lateness of this. That's what I'm against. And I do
um the data shows as councelor Tone said that the data shows the pass system was more effective. So, I would like to see like you're right, a December to March. I think it would it would make more sense. It also gets people you're in a habit. >> I mean, that's what I grew up with. That's all you knew, you know? I mean,
and you didn't have to wait for the phone to ring. My other concern is today I didn't get all the code rights. I have, you know, I have a landline. I never got I never got a call on the landline. So, I think you're going to find that to be an issue because I don't know if this is a new system, but you know, I got the test and then I got a
couple others and you know, um I I just that was my whole thing. I just wish this had been done sooner and that's why I just in fairness to the public. I would, you know, I personally would like to just, you know, see it wait, but I will um respect whatever's decided.
Thank you. >> Any further questions for the chief? >> Council Kazinskus. >> Thank you. Uh, I think one of the things you emphasize that really resonates with residents when I've gotten these questions over the years is with the public safety piece of this. It's
there's a convenience to removing snow and making things safe for people, but there's also the bigger public safety piece of it where if you do have an emergency, if there's something going on there, that's that's really I mean that's why it's that's really what it sits with and that can kind of motivate
people I have found a little bit more too. I like that that was emphasized today even more was that it is obviously we want to remove the snow. We want to do so safely and everything but it really is the public safety piece of it to just you know a common courtesy to to move your car and obviously there's going to people are going to have issues
because everyone doesn't have a place to put it but you know this is something that affects the whole city and I just thought that that piece was really good to emphasize because anytime I have it's been a much um the conversation's taken a little bit more of a turn because some people just don't think of that. that they think of it as snow removal and not
as well there's actually more reasons behind this. So I appreciate that being brought up front today. If I could to um having worked years over on overnights and everything else and seen kind of how this I have seen people to comply with
the parking man come up with some very unique um solutions um parking on the front yards parking you know and and the officers again we try to use some common sense right like if they do the best job they can getting
the vehicle off the road where you know there's consideration given given there Um, so I I think that the bigger picture is is that something needs to happen. The current system it doesn't reach. I mean, technology is bound to fail. Um, the old system, like
you said, it we conditioned people because if you left your car on the street, it was probably better than average chance you were getting a ticket. And then the ticket was the five or 15 or $20 reminder. I can't park on the road anymore. But we don't have that anymore. So it all is dependent on
technology to get through to people. Um so and I understand it. I we want to work with people but again I want to make sure the roads are safe and passable for people too. >> Thank you. Any further questions for Chief Aine. >> Thank you for taking our questions.
>> Of course. >> The motion is to send to first printon by councelor Cormier. All those in favor I I. >> All those against no. >> Opposed? No. >> One no. Motion passes. Back to our regular uh calendar. Reports
of standing committee service committee. Item 11730 plan number 3082599 Pleasant Street Main Street West Line Street National Grid to install a new handhold in the sidewalk on Pleasant
Street. Install a new transformer pad with ballards in the sidewalk behind 8 Main Street and extend the sidewalk out around the pad to make room for pedestrians. Install duct bank between the handhold and pad about 140 ft and between the pad and existing manhole 200
on West Line Street. Council >> President Tyrros. Yes. Uh the service committee met on this item 11730 and um asked several questions to national grid and uh voted in favor um
to move forward um with this plan. So make a motion to move forward with the plan. >> Move to approve the plan. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Tony, second by councelor Cormier to approve item 11730. Is there discussion?
>> All those in favor? I. >> I. All those against? No. Motion passes. Item 11 1731, plan number 31105017 Derby Drive, West Line Street, National
Grid to install new handhold on in West Line near back of 8 Main Street with conduit from there to pad 200-1 to refeed 8 Main Street. Replacing old conduits to pads 200-1 and 200-2. installing about 204 ft of conduit from
manhole 200 to new SGMH-1 at rear of 58 Main Street off Derby Drive. Council Tony Tyros um public service met on this item as well um and was in favor asked several questions as
we alluded to during the public u hearing that we had earlier today. Um just just ensure we just want to ensure that uh communication gets to the businesses and residents when this uh temporary out of service um it does take
place. Um just to reiterate that, but we were in favor. So I'll make a motion to approve uh plan 1131. >> Second >> motion 1731. I apologize. >> Motion made to approve plan uh item 1131 by councelor Tone. Second by councelor
Cormier. Is there discussion? All those in favor I. All those against no. Motion passes safety committee. Item 11716, an application submitted by EJ Wy Trucking for a flammable license
located at 163 and 169 Colony Road. Council Cormier. >> Uh thank you, Mr. President. The safety committee had a chance to meet on this with the applicant and the chief who was here this evening. Uh the chief uh had no issues. They had inspected and were
favorable in it. Uh therefore the committee was unanimously in favor and I move to approve the application. >> Second. >> Motion made to approve the application by councelor Cormier second by councelor Harter. Is there discussion?
>> All those in favor I. I >> Wisconsin against no motion passes. >> Item 11552 communication from the traffic commission regarding the number of vehicles towed under the city's winter parking ban procedures. Council Cormier. >> Move to place the item on file.
>> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Cormier. Second by councelor Dows to place the item on file. Is there discussion? All those in favor? I. All those against? No. Motion passes. Welfare Committee. Item 11688,
an ordinance to amend chapter 675 of the code of the city of Gardener, thereof entitled zoning to allow for the operation and use of cottage kitchens in residential districts within the city of Gardens. Councelor Mack. >> I make a motion to send the ordinance to second and final printing. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Mac, second by
councelor Tivo Munos to send the item to its second and final printing. Is there discussion? The clerk will now please call the role. >> Councelor Brooks, >> yes. >> Councelor Cormier, >> yes. >> Councelor Dalawitz, >> yes.
>> Councelor Hardurn, >> yes. >> Councelor Heath, >> yes. >> Councelor Heglin, >> yes. >> Councelor Kazinskis, >> yes. >> Councelor Mack, >> yes. >> Councelor Tone, >> yes. >> Councelor Tibball Munoz, >> yes. >> President Harris, >> yes. >> 11.
>> 11. The motion passes. Item 11704, an ordinance to amend chapter 675 of the code of city gardener thereof entitled zoning to promote housing growth and production in the city. Councelor Mac, >> point of order. Apologies. Um, >> please state your point of order.
>> Take this up. Um, the version before us hasn't been properly drawn. Uh, it does not accurately reflect the amendments adopted at the last meeting. Specifically, my amendment which we had passed at our previous meeting in section 3 subsection E clause 3 by
striking may be rented or occupied by family members but and replacing it with shall. The maze were struck but the whole sentence was not. Um so it's just a a minor issue. Uh and I would defer to the council president on how we handle this before taking it up. Thank you.
>> Like to call a brief recess for you to consult. Get a copy of that. now. Back to order. Uh, Council Hegel, your point of order is well taken. Uh, the clerk just distributed uh the correct language of council Hegel's amendment from our last meeting uh for
counselors to consult. We'll proceed with this item with this correct language. Councelor Mac. >> Um I recom I make a motion to send the ordinance to second final printing. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Max, second by councelor Kibo Munos to send this item
to its second and final printing. Is there discussion? Councelor Mac. I think it's important to also note that we all received a communication from director of community development and planning Jason Stevens that the planning board um wasn't um in full support as the uh
recommend recommended amendment um presented to them. Thank you. >> Thank you councelor Mack. Further discussion. >> The clerk will now please call the role. >> Councelor Brooks. >> Yes. >> Councelor Cormier. >> Yes. >> Councelor Durnitz. >> Yes.
>> Councelor Hardurn. Yes. >> Councelor Heath. >> Yes. >> Councel Hegeland. >> Yes. >> Councelor Kazinskis. >> Yes. >> Councelor Mack. >> Yes. >> Councelor Tone. >> Yes. >> Councelor Tal Munoz. >> Yes. >> President Tyrus. >> Yes. >> 11.
>> 11 years. The motion passes. Item 11 1739 public welfare committee update. Councelor Mack. >> Thank you, Council President. The public welfare committee consists of councilors Heath, Councelor Tmunes, and myself as chair. The committee held meetings on September 30th, October 16th, and
November 18th for department updates. The department updates are part of the meeting minutes and quite lengthy and informative. If you'd like more information, please you can refer to the uh minutes um as posted. Our meetings are very extensive and include many city
departments, so it's difficult to adequately summarize everything discussed, but here are some highlights of the meetings. The cable commission will be getting some new equipment and it's looking to add new program including working with the Garner Police Department and expanding the high school
sports coverage. They also added a new uh camera for behind the plate um plays for baseball games as well as softball. New cameras to assist in the filming of programs will be purchased by the end of this fiscal year. There is an issue with the
switches in the TV studio in here in council chambers as it was a Windows 10 system and is no longer supported. Mr. Jossi is currently seeking options to replace the system to continue the live streaming of move meetings that occur here in the chambers. The team at WGT is
always accommodating to cover events and advertise on the lo and advertise on local access channel things occurring within the city. This would be part of the September meeting minutes. The Veteran Service Department's new director is off and running. Director Davis spoke about the increased numbers and claims that they are filing and
recently hired an assistant who spoke eloquently on the VET during the Veterans Day ceremony after just starting her position. There was discussion of not adding any more cities of town to their workload as they are trying to service everyone's needs and this was part of our October meeting.
The Levi Haywood Memorial Library had a very successful summer reading program and the new director, Miss Clements, has done a great job and expressed her appreciation to all businesses that contributed to its success. The program was for children, teens, and adults. The
library on October 2nd celebrated the increase of hours to a to 50 hours a week with some creative staff scheduling which allows the library now to receive more state funding with the expansion of the hours and is greatly and she is greatly appreciative of the city's
council's continued support and her report is part of our September meeting minutes. The historical commission is very active and currently archiving their collection. Chris Paris shared with us the ongoing recording process shared with us that the ongoing rep
recording process is timely and volunteers would be appreciated. They are pursuing the need to have some gravestones at the old burial ground repaired. They shared their monthly meetings with the welfare committee and I am one is I'm very impressed by their commitment to preserving the past
including items from the Greenwood Pool building prior to its demolition. We appreciate Mr. Nelli, who sends us their meeting minutes to keep the committee informed, and this was part of our October meeting update. The golf commission has had a great season due to the hard work of the superintendent, Mr.
Bill Frank, and his staff. In spite of the lack of rain, they were committed to working extended hours to make sure the course was playable for members and guests. The goal is to maintain financial stability with having a strong membership
and in rising profitability. There was a new staff position hired with which was a muchneeded full-time mechanic which is vital to the course operation. There will be the need to uh purchase four to five new pieces of equipment for the next season. The golf
course is a great asset to the city with the reputation as being a well-maintained municipal course. The course is not only a benefit for our members but the public as a whole who are supportive of his success. And Mr. Frank uh presented at the October meeting the Greenwood pool despite the
uh a few issues this summer that led to closing for a few days was very had a very successful season. The introduction of opening on Sundays in July was very wellreceived and hopefully will continue next year to allow parents who work to spend time with their children. There
are upcoming investments that will need financing. The outside pool will need to be resurfaced. The last time this was done was 15 years ago with a usual lifespan of 10 to 12 years. The splash park was unable to open this year with the approximate cost to fix it being
$21,000. Both the splash park and the pool resurfacing have been submitted to the capital improvement plan and need to have some priority as it is important to maintain the city's services that can be enjoyed by all citizens. The goal to
increase the lifeguard pay for FY27 is something both the director Morris and the committee have been proactively supporting and this was part of our November meeting minutes. The disability commission will be meeting again on December 10th. They just provided us their updated um meeting minutes. The
committee has recently been at full membership and has been working to resolve with the city the ADA accessibility of Naki Park and would like to work with the city to expand the handicap parking spots downtown. I personally have been a longtime advocate of this as I believe the traffic
commission and safety committee need to make this a priority. Given our disabled population, more convenient accesses to businesses and restaurant is needed for our population. And I believe this has been overlooked and this was part of our November meeting minutes. The recreation
department had another successful summer program for 353 participants made possible with the volunteers and ste seasonal staff of uh Mr. Fort hat. He has informed us of the camp dates for next year will be July 6th to August
14th. So parents can plan. There are a series of athletic clinics being offered throughout the city. uh a field hockey and indoor soccer running this late winter and baseball, softball, and track and field clinics will be offered in the early spring. And currently, enrollment is going on for recreation basketball,
formerly known as biddy basketball. All recreation information for summer camp clinics and all activities can be found on the gardener recreation Facebook page or calling Mr. Fort at the high school. Council on Aging. Our council on aging
is very active um as our amazing senior center is with which offers a plethora of events, workshops, and resources to our senior population. Whether it be a warm meal, companionship, a game of cards or pool, a day trip playing bingo, or information on health insurance,
including Medicare, these are the services that are offered. The center has senior center has offered something to for everyone. their monthly newsletter, which we all just got a copy of the December um newsletter today on our on our on our desk, um has has many
events and interest um to attract new seniors who have moved into the garden areas as well as those who have been here for years. Director Ellis has a very small staff that makes an enormous impact on the social, emotional, and qu uh quality of life for our seniors. I
would suggest that if you haven't signed up to volunteer to call bingo, do so or stop by to see the 600 people who are there during the week. Um again, this is part of our September mini minute meeting minutes and if you read uh I
would encourage you, it's in the October um uh minutes that we approved. Um it's like a five-page report and it goes on and it itemizes how much money people save you know just by going to our senior setting and getting their services and really it's really outlined
how much they do and date the data is important so we know that these people really are um are taking advantage of the services and getting the services met and their needs met. Uh the airport
commission direct Davis report included the completion of the re reconstruction of runway 18-36 with funding from FAA. A wildlife hazard site visit was done and the final report from FAA and mass DOT are pending. Lifelight has been landing at the
airport for months that it was necessary for security reasons to move from the college. MIT has been using the airport on a regular basis. They are charged a nominal fee for the use of the airport. However, the city needs to look at other revenue sources as the airport has building maintenance and equipment
needs. The airport director and airport commissioner have been strongly encouraged by the welfare committee to submit their needs to the capital improvement plan and to request funds in their FY27 budget as they have not requested the funds in the past couple
of years and have been dealing with the ongoing maintenance needs of their equipment. much of which is prepared by volunteers and this has been historically done for years but something that they can no longer be dependent on. Without the commitment of the commission members and those who do
volunteer to mow, plow and do daily repairs to maintain the airport. I seriously doubt that we would be able to operate it would be able to operate. But as there are certain regulations that need to be met, the airport as part of the national transportation system will have increased needs for funding for the
next three years based on the FAA recommendations. The city has paid their local share of the funds for the FAA projects uh which are paid for by federal grants, but this increase towards the airport isn't enough revenue to fund the non-grant funded projects.
The airport is looking to increase participation by re reaching out to local remote control aircraft clubs and are hoping to get the gardener Boston soaring club and hang gliders of New England to the airport. Not only would such things increase traffic to the airport but could help with getting more
FAA funding and eventually increase revenue and that was part of our November meeting and I respectfully submit respectfully submit this report on behalf of the public welfare committee. Thank you. Second >> motion. Motion made to submit the report
by councelor Max, second by councelor Heath. Is there discussion? >> All those in favor? I. >> I. All those against. >> Motion passes. Finance committee. Item 11721. An order transferring $11,000 from
Health Department solid waste salary and wages to Health Department solid waste operating expenditure account. Councelor Mack. >> Yes. This order is is from available salary funds from the health department uh solid waste salary expense account to the health department solid waste and
operating uh excuse me salary account to the health department solid waste and operating expense account for a new photocopier and postage machine of which a third of the expense is from the solid waste um account a third from water and a third from sewer. Um I make a I make a
motion that we uh pass this order. Thank you. Second >> motion made by councelor Max by councelor general to pass the order. Is there discussion? >> Clerk will now please call the role. >> Councelor Brooks, >> yes. >> Councelor Cormier, >> yes. >> Councelor Durlowitz,
>> yes. >> Councelor Hardurn, >> yes. >> Councelor Heath, >> yes. >> Councelor Hegland, >> yes. >> Councelor Kazinskis, >> yes. >> Councelor Mack, >> yes. >> Councelor Tone, >> yes. >> Councelor Tibo Munoz, >> yes. >> President Tyrus, >> yes.
>> 11. 11 years. The motion the item passes. Item 11723, an order appropriating $100,975 from free cash to the city's stabilization account. Councelor. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Leading to a motion. The finance committee met twice
on this item and did recommend its approval. However, I did want to give some background and explain the reasoning for our delay and a note on the letter for this item in the packet. The reason the committee did not initially approve this item was due to a line in the mayor's letter that read, "In reviewing the trends in the
stabilization account with the city auditor, due to the appropriations that have been made and interest received in the account, the $625,000 that was appropriated from the stabilization account for the construction of the new salt shed has been fully reimbursed to the account." We uh we were concerned about that and
we weren't sure if that was accurate and it turns out that wasn't truly accurate and it's one of the things we wanted to dive deeper into. If you looked at page 125 of our packet, you could see the financial information to support this. Uh first I just want to say that the information presented like this, as you
can see the two spreadsheet excerpts are at different orientations, making it a little harder to read and understand. Uh what the sheet is saying is that the total deposits including the one right now on the floor total almost 500,000 interest earned in the account since the
salt shed withdrawal have been about 300,000. So totaling around 700,000 growth in the account uh since the salt shed withdrawal. This seems to be how the mayor and auditor came to the determination in the statement in the letter. However, we did not feel that
that should necessarily be accepted um as a done deal. So when we approved the withdrawal of the salt shed, it was on an emergency basis for those two conditions, right? That the money would be repaid increasing our stabilization deposits over and above what we would normally do and that it would include
the interest to the 650 or 625 that would otherwise have been generated. Uh neither condition has yet been met. Of the 500,000 in deposits we have made, not all of that counts towards repayment because most of it is what we would have deposited anyway. None of the interest
generated should count. I think this plan was and is a good one. It encourages us to keep the stabilization account healthy. It's obviously cheaper to borrow from ourselves than lenders and allows us greater flexibility in terms of repayment. So, I do appreciate uh the original plan that the mayor brought to
us to do this this way. However, for this plan to work and be a viable option in the future, we do need to take um or really make sure that we're not shortch changing ourselves. We're prematurely declaring the loan repaid because that will be detrimental to I think the health of the stabilization account.
We need to determine what the total amount is to be repaid. Determine how much of those old deposits will count and what the plan is going forward to get us to where we could be or really should be. In hindsight, these are things we probably should have demanded at the time, but I think it's important we take care of this now. So with that,
I move that we accept the order appropriating $100,975 from free cash to the city stabilization account and we direct the finance committee to study and report on the salt said repayment issue. Thank you. >> Second.
>> Motion made by councelor dur allowance. Second by motion made by councelor heglin. Second by councelor d allowance to accept the order and direct finance committee to study the salt shed uh payment structure. Is there discussion? >> All those in favor? I. Sorry. I call
roll call vote. Thank you. >> All out of order. Roll call. >> Councelor Brooks. >> Yes. >> Councelor Cormier. >> Councelor Dalawitz. >> Yes. >> Councelor Harter. >> Yes. >> Councelor Heath. >> Yes. >> Councelor Heglin. >> Yes. >> Councelor Kazinskis. >> Yes.
>> Councelor Mack. >> Yes. >> Councelor Tone. >> Yes. >> Councelor Tibel Munoz. >> Yes. >> President Harris. Yes. >> 11. >> 11. The motion passes. Item 11727, an order appropriating $100,000 from free cash to landfill pump
repair account. Councelor Heglin. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh move the order be adopted. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Heglin, second by councelor Dowitz to adopt the order. Is there discussion? Councelor Heglin. >> Thank you again, Mr. President. Uh the finance committee met twice on this item as well. At the first meeting, we
discussed how there was a previously approved request by this council for $125,000 towards this project and the comm mayor confirmed that this was an addition to that to replace the pump, not repair. Uh despite the account being named that it was just the existing count, so they
stuck with that use. It was noted that the mayor's administration knew the initial 125 would likely not be enough and that they did anticipate this being a possible need. Uh as well, they came to us to that end. The finance committee asked for more information around the bid process, the project expense
details, etc. as we weren't initially provided with strong details about the request. Having received those, at our second meeting, the finance committee voted unanimously to recommend the order be adopted. Thank you. >> Thank you, councelor. Further discussion will now please call the role.
>> Councelor Brooks, >> yes. >> Councelor Cormier, >> yes. >> Councelor Dalawitz, >> yes. >> Councelor Hardurn, >> yes. >> Councelor Heath, >> yes. Councelor Heglin, >> yes. >> Councelor Kazinskis, >> yes. >> Councelor Mack, >> yes. >> Councelor Tone, >> yes.
>> Councelor Tibo Munoz, >> yes. >> President Tyrus, >> yes. >> 11 years. The motion passes. Item 11733. An order to amend the code of the city of Gardener, chapter 8, attachment E, thereof entitled non-UN compensation schedule by removing positions into a
new attachment F and setting the compensation for such positions. Council Dowitz. Thank you, Council President. I'd like to make a motion to move this ordinance to second and final printing. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor Dalow, second by councelor Mack to send a sign to its second and final printing. Is there
discussion? Councelor Heg. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh tonight, similar to last time, uh and in keeping even with my statements at the start of this, right, when we find mistakes, we have to own and correct them. Uh to that end, I'm going to be offering an amendment. Uh and I move to amend the
ordinance in exhibit F. there have been entitled primary non-un employee compensation schedule by striking the lines for group 3B in their entirety and in place thereof the following really this pertains to the library staff uh it was brought to the mayor's attention
with more eyes being on this now it's had time to circulate among staff um as well as other department heads and employees of the city as well as the council that two of those positions the building maintenance craftsman and technician were going to end up being accidentally underpaid due to an error
with the transcription and the you know copying and pasting and and making these numbers work out. So this will amend that to ensure that does not happen and they do see an increase with that >> motion made to amend by councelor Heglin second by second by councelor Mack to uh
strike in its entirety section 3B and replace it. Um, thank you. Like to call a brief recess for counselors to receive the amendment, review it, and we will come back to work. We have councelor Hegund's motion to
amend second by councelor Max ordinance in exhibit F. They're entitled primary non-UN employee compensation schedule by striking lines for group 3B in their entirety and in place the following table. Is there discussion on the amendment?
All those in favor I >> I. >> All those against? No. The motion to amend passes. We now have on the floor uh as amendment any further discussion. Councelor Brooks.
>> Uh uh. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh for reason reasons expressed at our last meeting, I will not be supporting this particular ordinance. While I am pleased we are doing something for our non-UN employees, I still have uh objections to
sections five and seven. I do want to thank the mayor and others involved in for fixing the rates for the library building maintenance staff. I have also been told that rates for pool staff and summer recreation programs will be reviewed in the spring.
Uh, finally, I ran a quick cost estimate for FY26 and calculate that this ordinance will cause an increase in payroll of about $185,000. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councelor Brooks. Further discussion, >> Council Kazinskus.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. I hope this salary ordinance passes. It's been a long time coming and a lot of work has been put into it. If the city council approves it, then it'll be the first real modernization of the non-UN salary system in 20 plus
years. Uh, this update is necessary to improve hiring and retention, reward longevity, and thank you to councelor Hegeland's hard work. Finally, give the city flexibility and hiring without penalizing employees who move
between departments and want to stay in the city of Gardner. These changes will help the city attract and keep the people our city needs. Since many of the positions included here are assistant and support roles, I want to say this directly,
their work matters and it is valued. Any suggestion otherwise or any comparison to the past that implies their contributions are less valued does not reflect the views of this council. And also I want to be clear that department heads should properly train their
assistants and staff in helping them grow in their skills and experience. That to me is a basic expectation and I firmly believe that that expectation is met and exceeded regularly by our current department heads. Thank you. >> Thank you councelor Kazinskus. Any further discussion?
Councelor Tone. >> Thank you president Taros. I just want to make a statement about when we talk about retention. Money does not retain people. The environment that they work in is what retains people. How people are treated
is what retains people. How people feel worthy of the job that they do. Money only gets you so far. Yes, we need to be competitive, but we need to create an environment here in Gardener where people want to stay and are acknowledged
and rewarded on a year-to-year basis through performance evaluations, through feeling good about the work that they do. That's all I have. >> Thank you, Council Council Hegel for the second time. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, you know,
I appreciate too some of the concerns with maybe language. Uh I thought during our discussion last time it was interesting to note I think around assistants in particular I worry about the idea that assistants aren't necessarily ready to step into the role of a department head. When I think of an
assistant auditor or treasurer, I think of them as assisting in all duties of the role and therefore being trained or quasi specialized if not fully specialized in each of those duties as opposed to maybe an executive assistant or secretary where it's a little more clerical and office-based, you know,
less specialized skills. And so I think um you know, I I still to this day support that language. I stand by it. I'm glad that we have it in there. Um and through you and and wanting to understand more I think against some of the concerns too through you Mr. President to councelor Brooks just in
thinking of you know the current versions of the previous versions this current version that I know has been opposed um by my colleague I'm just curious if it's solely the language or if it's that the money isn't enough. I noted that, you know, the cost obviously
was raised tonight of what it does for the city and so I threw you to the counselor. We're just curious about that to learn more and understand better. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Heg. Council Brooks. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh
the the reason I brought up the cost was just to have it out there. It it we we have to do what we have to do, and it's no different than settling a labor contract. you have to pay what the market requires us to pay to keep people uh employ keep people wanting to work
here. Um my my objection on the language is twofold. One one is uh I believe it's section seven where it requires uh a person to be reappointed before they uh can get a step increase. that doesn't particularly affect the group that we
have that we're looking at currently because I'm not sure that many or if there's just I guess a handful of of department heads in there that would would come up for appointments and I just don't think it's fair that their
uh step increase is dependent on the mayor and us doing our work. The step increase should be based on their work and what they're doing. It's just how I feel. Uh the other part is is I feel strongly that it should be time in the
position and not time with the city. Uh to to talk a little about what uh councelor Hegel was was questioning on on an assistant and and being ready. Um I'm going to speak to the the auditor's
office because that's what I am most familiar with. the the assistant auditor handles the uh generally the assistant auditor is handling the uh weekly warrants getting getting the bills ready to pay getting the payroll in order
doing those reconciliations and so on. Uh putting together uh any information on uh deposits and those kinds of things. um they're not directly involved in what the city auditor is doing which is uh
keeping the books, doing the journal entries, recon doing the reconciliations and and all that. They can be around it and be aware of it but they're just not into the details. And that's not to say that an assistant couldn't step up to do the job. It's just looking at that
particular position. Um, their day-to-day work doesn't overlap with what the auditors doing. They're two separate things. If you had a much bigger city and you know, if you had a city like Boston, then there would be a couple of layers and the people closer
to the top would be doing more more involved in what the what the person at the top is doing. In this case, it just it just doesn't work that way. And that's kind of why I have a problem with looking at time with the city because I don't necessarily feel that
somebody sitting as as an assistant city auditor for 10 years is picking up the kind of ex they're picking up some experience to get them to the position. But that might just get them uh to the position. It doesn't give them
experience in the position. And that's just I guess that's how I would answer that question. >> Thank you councelor Brooks for the discussion. >> Council journal out. >> Thank you. Thank you uh Mr. President. To that note, I mean it is built into the system um that not all the years
have to be counted. It's up to the discretion um of the mayor and the approval of the council. Um also being said um it just seems the description is instead of an assistant auditor, it's an assistant to the auditor. Um I think there should be training being involved.
If you've been in an assistant auditor role or any assistant um role in the city, there should be movement towards training that person to either stay here or go elsewhere to you know move on in their career. Um so I think there needs
to be a focus on making sure I guess across the board that's happening in all our assistant positions that that type of um growth is available to them. Thank you. Thank you, councelor Dalitz. Councelor Matt, >> uh just to um repeat or what councelor
Tone said, Tony said that, you know, part of morale in a the workplace is people being appreciated and for years of service within the city and acknowledging them is extremely important. Um I I do believe like an
assistant city clerk, the previous one left to become city clerk in another city. Uh because there was no movement here. So I I I I do disagree with council because I think you know as I said fire police you're working towards
that next step and promoting. I mean in my history as a 32y year plus employee of the city of Gardner there are difficult times. I went through seven principles in 10 years. you have changes in department head and you have change in leadership. Um and part of morale is
what you make of it as well. I mean we can you know you either choose to go to you know work you know kicking and screaming or you can choose to you know walk in with a smile and serve the public as as you're hired to do so. But I I really think it's important that we
realize like even outside of city government. I mean, if you work as a par profofessional or even a substitute teacher, you get credit for those years of service, not only in your salary, but also in your
retirement. Um, and there's a huge difference between a substitute teacher and a licensed in a licensed certified teacher with a master's degree in the subject. There's a huge difference. However, we have to embrace our employees. We have
to show that we are making a conservative effort to show how much we appreciate them. And again, as I said in the last meeting, I appreciate their patience in this process. Um, and you know, hope I think it's affordable for the city as the mayor had budgeted for
this and hopefully in the future um, we'll be able to continue to do more. Thank you. >> Thank you, councelor Mack, for the discussion. Councelor Kazinsk. >> Thank you, President Tyros. I would also like to add to my previous comments and to this discussion that uh your years
outside the city are awarded to you when you get hired with the city. So when you go into directly into an auditor position or a director position or a department head position, you start there. You don't start at a different position because you're getting rewarded
on the previous experience you have to be eligible for that position and to start at that level. and then you're eligible for everything beyond that. So I don't know as they're not acknowledged because I think that they are if you're able to be put directly into that kind of a position and then your years on you
know with the city can go on top of that if you move around in the city. So I think there is a value to in this system in this ordinance we're talking about to the previous experience that you have because you have that applied when you apply for a position. Um, so I I do
think that that that does count for something there. Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you, Council Gazinskus. Further discussion. Councelor Heath. >> Thank you, uh, President Tyros. Um, I just want to, you know, echo some of the things that, um, councelor Tone went
ahead and said, you know, um, we're in a world where, you know, leaders build other leaders. And you know, if you're an assistant and you are following the leader and going somewhere else, you owe that leader some, you
know, some credit for that. They built you to go ahead and, you know, and helped you become what you are and hopefully bring a better life for your family, um, financially, things of such. And like councelor Max said, um, you know, thank you to the the employees
who, you know, waited for this for their patience because it's hard right now and, um, you know, it it's very hard right now where, you know, most people are getting second and third jobs just to be able to survive. So, thank you for just going ahead and waiting and letting
us do this process to go ahead and get you the money that you guys deserve. Um, that's all I got to say. Thank you. Thank you, Councelor Keith. Further discussion. As amended, the ordinance uh motion made by councelor Gernow, second by councelor
Mack to send the ordinance to its second and final printing as amended. The clerk will now please call the role. >> Councelor Brooks, >> no. >> Councelor Cormier, >> yes. >> Councelor Journal, >> yes. >> Councelor Hartarn, >> yes.
>> Councelor Heath, >> yes. >> Councelor Hegland, >> yes. Councelor Kazinskus, >> yes. >> Councelor Mack, >> yes. >> Councelor Tone, >> yes. >> Councelor Tel Munoz, >> no. >> President Terra, >> yes. >> Nine, two.
>> Nine, two nos. The motion passes as it needed. Eight. Item 11 1735, an order appropriating $95,000 from free cash to the landfill closure account. Council journal. >> Thank you, President Dyros. This item was before the finance committee uh in
two versions. This is the second version. Um there was a clarification on the amount. Um the originally was said that the addition normally this um transfer is for $75,000 as noted in our um chart that's part of this plan
through 2035 I believe in order to fund um the landfill closure account. Um the 20,000 actually isn't for the erosion as originally stated, but is for uh the increase in cost that is being incurred due to the um things being more
expensive at this time. Um the um going forward, there will be a new outline of this chart explaining the um how we're going to continue to fund it to the closure in 2035 or the end of the the closure process in 2035. The finance committee was in favor and I move the
order. >> Second. Motion made by councelor journal, second by councelor heglin to move the order. Is there discussion? >> The clerk will now please call the role. >> Councelor Brooks, >> yes. >> Councelor Cormier, >> yes. >> Councelor Dalawitz,
>> yes. >> Councelor Hardurn, >> yes. >> Councelor Heath, >> yes. >> Councelor Hegland, >> yes. >> Councelor Kazinskis, >> yes. >> Councelor Mack, >> yes. >> Councelor Tone, >> yes. >> Councelor Tibo Munoz, yes. President Tyrus.
>> Yes. >> 11. >> 11. The motion passes. Item 11736. An order appropriating $15,000 from the law department salary and wages account to the law department expense account outside council. Councelor General.
>> Just want a point of order, small correction. I think it's order transferring, not appropriating. Um it's I think it's stated wrong on the um on the agenda, but in the packet I believe it is correct. Um, an order transferring >> point of order is well taken. The, uh,
updated item will be an order transferring $15,000. Thank you, Council General. >> Dubon, Mr. President, uh, this transfer is from the unexpended portion of the line item for the assistant city solicitor to the outside council um, line item. Um, it is to cover complex
uh, city personnel issues. As part of a our packet, there is a letter outlining the types of services provided by this council. Um and they will be providing support in relation to collective bargain agreements at this time. The finance committee was in favor and I move the order. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor journal. Second
by councelor Mack to move the order transferring $15,000. Is there discussion? >> The clerk will now please call the role. >> Councelor Brooks. >> Yes. >> Councelor Cormier. >> Yes. >> Councelor Durnitz. >> Yes. >> Councelor Harder.
>> Yes. >> Councelor Heath. >> Yes. >> Councelor Hegland. Yes. >> Councelor Kazinsquez. >> Yes. >> Councelor Mack. >> Yes. >> Councelor Tone. >> Yes. >> Councelor Tbo Munoz. >> Yes. >> President Tyrus. >> Yes. >> 11. >> 11. Yay. The motion passes. Item 11
1738. A measure to set and determine the step designation for various non-UN employees of the city of Gardener pursuant to exhibit F of the chapter 8 of the code of the city of Gardner. Council journal allowance. >> Make a motion to adopt the measure. >> Second. >> Motion made by councelor D allowance. Second by councelor Mack to adopt the
measure. Is there discussion? Council journal outs. >> And to be clear for everyone at home, this uh item goes along with item 11 1753 uh with the change in the non-UN compensation schedule. This is to set the steps for all the current employees. >> Thank you, council journal. Further
discussion. The clerk will now please call the role. Oh, sorry. All those in favor? I. >> All those against? >> Motion passes. There is no unfinished business. There is no new business. Councelor comments and remarks. Are there any counselor
comments or remarks this evening? Council Heath. >> Thank you, uh, President Tyrros. Um, I just want to go ahead and, um, shout out Officer Smitty. Um, I wrote up something nice for him. He retired today. So today we honor officer Smith for an incredible
28 years of dedicated service to our community. As a Gardenner police officer, his integrity, compassion, and unwavering commitment to protecting and helping others have truly made a lasting impact. Um before everyone gets in, he
is a Bears fan, so we got to give him some uh some uh grace with this. Um, thank you, Officer Smith, as known by his colleagues as Smitty, for everything you've given to Gardener Police Department and to the people you've
served. Your presence will deeply be missed. Congratulations on a well-earned and welldeserved battalion. >> Well said, counselor. Any further discussion or council comments? >> With that, I'll change a motion to adjurnn after the closing prayer.
>> So, move second. Motion made by councelor Tony, second by councelor Mac to adjurnn. All those in favor I. I. All those against no. Motion passes. >> Father over all as we thank thee for the opportunity of joint deliberation with us during the course of this
meeting. Lord all are gathered here and the people whose represent to our common welfare until our next meeting. Amen. We stand.