it being time I call the appointments committee meeting of the Garder City council's Monday March 18th 2024 at 5:15 p.m. meeting to order like to record to reflect that councelor Heath councelor heglin and chair tyros are present along with mayor Nicholson reading of the minutes of Prior meetings um we have none interview of the following appointees a a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Dane Arnold to the position of Public Works director item 11129 and report from thereor thank you very much Mr chairman uh director Arnold is our longest serving City department head uh that we currently have having originally been appointed in 2001 yep by mayor Kelly at the time uh he has been with us ever since uh in that role uh and the role has grown drastically since he's been in that role from what I've been able to learn in my time as mayor and previous employment here in the city uh you know overseeing you know the consolidation fully of the municipal grounds Department the highway division um overseeing the uh the different recreational aspects at our playgrounds uh the upkeep there uh couple years ago we had the gardener walks initiative where new walking trails are put around the different playgrounds uh that we have in the city just different things to go around and make the city look better additionally from that overseeing the city's Water and Sewer departments and Enterprise accounts I think Dane has probably the biggest budget in the city uh that he oversees when you add everything that he has together in one um and then you look look at the water main infrastructure Improvement projects that we had recently uh that resulted in 96 million gallons of saving on an annual basis just different things like that the long-term planning that's there the vision that goes into it and just the genuine care he has for the community here we're really lucky to have Dane here he's been a great asset to the team who I rely on a lot and I'm happy to put his appointment forward again thank you Mr Mayor director Arnold and you been with the city for number of years but if you'd like to introduce I love working for the city uh I have a great crew I couldn't do anything without the DPW staff that I have and the and the crew that I have in the administration office including right down of clerical um just a great staff and a great City to work for fantastic thank you Council e um I just wanted to go ahead and um go reiterate what we were talking about kind of off the Record and say thank you for everything that you guys go ahead and go do over there um every time I've sent an email prompt response um you know when you guys fixed with every issue that I've had whether it's street lights po um potholes things as such so I just want to say thank you um and that is all thank you thank you Council Heath councel heg thank you uh Mr chairman so I thank you obviously for coming before us appreciate it Echo that as well DPW under your leadership I think has done a lot with a little um and just made been really creative in how things get done um but as a new counselor any projects you've been excited about that have happened anything you know that you've been really proud of that's taking place or uh well I'm very proud of what we got done with s so the Wastewater upgrades the water upgrades um between the distribution system uh right down on the parks and playgrounds that we've worked on and continually try to work on um um I'm very proud of my staff I can't reiterate how happy I am with the crews that I have um the DPW staff that I have so thank you thank you counsel Hein uh I've been on the public service committee for a number of years now I've had the opportunity work uh more closely with director Arnold I've been impressed with your work I appreciate your work and I've been uh thoroughly um surprised by how much the Department of Public Works interacts with constituents from you know water uh water meter uh issues to the streets and pothole Patrol um similar to councelor hegan's question this upcoming year there's a number of things going on in our city some of which are State initiatives such as the Uptown rotary are there things that you'd like to make this citizens aware of uh this upcoming year that you will over seee well we're getting a grant uh it's currently upgrades at the Wastewater Plant it's for a million bucks uh we're doing some just it's completely no rate users whatsoever uh at the at the water system uh with help from the mayor and Grant's writing we were able to get obtain uh a water project that a transmission line this is going to be a new 16in water main that's going to go from Crystal Lake up to the water tanks uh it's going to be about a million bucks that were free free to the city uh we actually opened the bid on Thursday we're hoping to get that starting probably early summer um which is going to go right up Haywood street right up through the there's a right of way that gets up to James Street and goes right to the water tanks uh and we were also just been U awarded a million dollar Grant from James Street that the mayor let me know that uh we got for the jamest street water pump station which is now at the top of the hill so now we've got brand new water man that's going to go up and then the pump station that pumps the water from this particular Pump Station to the elevated storage tank on the other side of 140 um that pump station is getting um upgraded as well um we have a lot of lot of projects going on uh the Uptown rotary who is the city engineer currently overseeing that should be starting mid April um currently it's pothole season unfortunately you're going to start seeing the city the city flow which is the barrel and the cones that's going to be going out but we're constantly unfortunately not pretty work but it has to get done you know uh potholes we're also starting in May beginning of May 1st um new sidewalks on fet Street that's going to run from Route 2A to 101 um West Broadway to Parker Street and that's all going to get repaved lower Parker Street is going to get repaved with new sidewalks up to uh in front of the old gem industry building as well and uh the mayor has some more Paving projects that we have to iron out sound well yeah it's going to be a busy summer thank you it sounds like it and uh thank you for coming out I think it's important to have department heads uh meet before the committee and especially you have an opportunity to uh know give any feedback for the council or the mayor too on uh things that we can better help your department succeed with so thank you for that thank you good job the next item a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Michael F Ellis to the position of senior citizens director uh I will be recusing myself for this item in its subsequent uh referral due to a um personal conflict with the appointee or not a personal conflict a conflict of interest with the appointee so I'll will be stepping outside the chamber for this discussion and potential vote and counselor Heath will be taking care of this item's business and will get me at its conclusion thank you thank you um so we have it 11130 and this is the measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Michael F Ellis to position of senior citizens director um you have anything to say if I may uh I'm sorry M thank you very much counselor uh director Ellis is completing his first three-year term with the city in this role no strange to the city as he was formerly the director of Community Development and planning for the city uh before he became the the president and CEO of the greater Garder Chamber of Commerce then went on to work for Haywood Hospital in their Suicide Prevention work uh which he still does part time uh to help out the community in that way as well but over at the senior center he's really helped to grow the services and programming of the senior center and I couldn't be proud of of the work that he's done one of the things that I told him uh when I first hired him in the position three years ago was that I want people to know the senior center exists and I want people to know that the senior center is more more than a place that people will just sit down and have a cup of coffee just an active place for people to do that if they choose to but there's also other programming there to get them involved as we've said several times before in these meetings the senior center actually receives you know direct payments from the state in the form of grant funding for every individual who uses that senior Senate and the senior Senate can be used for anyone who's 55 and older yeah we we allow 50 and over but we don't check licenses um but things like that to get people into the door help boost the money that the senior Senate can use for those programmingsoftware you know help alleviate somewhat of the tax burden that the department puts on the department so that's why we want to make sure we have someone who's active in that role not only just because it helps the city financially but it also helps the social and emotional aspect of the senior citizen community that we have in the City by getting people out getting people together making them feel less isolated and also providing a support system for several different you know uh families in the community too those struggling with older family members dealing with Alzheimer's and Dementia um there's been different support groups that uh director Ellis has started in his time period um for different demographic groups uh within the senior center and um just for people help deal with the issues that they're dealing so they don't feel alone and sometimes they may not feel comfortable talking to their younger family members about it but they'll feel comfortable talking to their peers about it and that's something that uh you know Mike has really run with uh we also have here with us Ron dmea who's the chair of the Council on Aging um who also has nothing but great things to say about Mike and his time as director and I'm really happy to put his uh appointment before you on than you uh thank you now do you have anything to say coner thank you for giving me the opportunity I think if you know me uh service is Central to my character and personality and I really feel like I'm fulfilling that that goal that philosophy that calling in life through the senior center um I too want to Echo what my predecessor here um director uh danne mentioned about his team I have a great team the Council on Aging has grown and certainly evolved significantly from three years ago they're much more engaged the much more active they take a a huge not only professional role but personal role in the undergoing and I want to also just give accolades to the chairman of our board uh Ron I think with his vision and his uh leadership and his example we've been able to do more and more in the community but that not withstanding I will also be completely completely honest that you know most of our successes are a result of the Partnerships uh DPW great example of the kind of stuff the hard poles they do for us to make our program successful it um you know the veterans agency the schools our partners in city government have been amazingly supportive and as a result allowed us to be much more successful at the senior center and then the volunteers I did write this down CU I don't want to get it wrong so I want to let you know this um last year we had 2,000 people uh sorry 1,600 people come into the center uh 784 of them between the ages of 60 and 78 56775 and older and under um under 59 we're 99 and then we have an unknown 147 I think the important thing there to note though is we get about 50% of people who sign in or swipe into our system so if you look at the numbers it's about 3,100 people served but more importantly we had um and this is an amazing stat we had uh 640 VIP hours at the senior center we had uh 405 volunteers that gave 10,000 500 hours to the garden senior center now if you do the math at 20 bucks an hour because we have nurses and case managers and social workers who make certainly more than 20 and then we have folks that just help move tables the the minimum value of that to the citizens of Garden in the senior center is about $26,000 in volunteer work um that speaks so deeply to uh the message I just gave our success being totally dependent on those folks who want to do more are invited to do more and can do more at the center so lots of good stuff if you haven't been there get there um just if you aren't familiar with the VIP um VIP acronym it's the volunteer incenter program that the City offers here where senior citizens can work up to um or so many hours per week it's set by ordinance uh and authorized by state law where in lie of getting minimum wage for the hours that they work uh they're not getting paid per se but they're getting a discount on their property taxes so you can earn up to $1,000 off of your property taxes each year by working so many hours at $15 an hour until you hit that ,000 Mark uh for one of our city departments and that's available in all of our city offices uh throughout the city the golf course the senior center uh us here at City Hall several people take advantage of that uh the city has not looked at increasing those hours uh in a very long time however recently the um Governor signed a bill that actually allows as part of the tax package that to go from the $1,000 right now to I believe it's $2,000 um that uh residents can earn up to 2,000 off in order for that to happen here in garden the city council would first have to vote to accept that amendment to to the law otherwise we' be staying at that $1,000 so we're weighing that out right now um but we have upwards of between 30 and 50 individuals take advantage of that program annually and one of the ways we advertise for that for our pool workers and several other things in the city is through the work at the senior center and Mike's been really doing a really good job with that awesome than that um C uh no particular questions like you gave a great presentation thank you I know youve definitely upped the profile of the senior center hearing about more seeing about it more on social media as well speakers and programming so thank you for all the great work you're doing for our senior citizens uh councelor first of all welcome to this committee um I got to tell you today because the first thing I'd mentioned to the mayor coming in is that we hosted a social event today um cultural social we had Irish American step Dan just talked a little bit about Irish history and celebration of St Patrick's week um we had 100 about 110 people uh there for a lunch in that was prepared by volunteers so so many important aspects so if you're hungry come on over we have great programs and just awesome volunteer Cooks one of the other things I neglected to mention is about a week or two into director Ellis's first week is in the job uh 3 years ago uh one of the things that we offer to our seniors every year uh through AARP normally is free tax preparation services for senior citizens who fit certain income brackets uh that's a service that we offer on an annual basis right now normally done in partnership with AARP through a grant that was done uh due to the Staffing transition at that time uh the application was not submitted and we were told by ARP that we weren't going to be able to offer that service that year now that was the same year that you know we were just getting out of the covid-19 pandemic a lot of seniors were just getting out of their house income was fluctuating a lot cuz people didn't know how to c uh you know capture or report the income that they received from pandemic benefits and things of that nature um so I let director Ellis know we just need to find a way to deal with it and within I think an hour to an hour and a half uh H&R Block was contacting my office saying that they were giving the city vouchers so that our seniors would be able to utilize free tax preparation services that year too so he even filled that Gap that was there and it did cost the city a little bit much but we paid for it out of the state grant that we receive um and we helped those seniors who rely on those services to you know submit their taxes annually uh something as small as that is something really big for someone who's on a fixed income um and we were able to get that job done in a very quick way and that was one of the first examples I could see how quick Mike Ellis could think on his feet and I've seen how much quicker he can think on his feet since then through the work that he's done it's I'm very proud of him I really am thank you awesome so um you know I've been in a council uh for the last you know two years I'm going to my third right now or in my third um and I've heard nothing but great things about you I've only had very very very positive uh encounter just with you so I just want to say thank you for everything that you do um but I tell you like you guys' touch your team's touch that you guys have on your seniors it's insane it's infectious and I can tell you this you know I I've had a I don't want to say I've had a lady who recognized me in the store and she was like you're the Bingo guy I've only done Bingo once and um you know after she told me I was uh going too fast um she gave me a hug and said you don't understand exactly how much the Senior Citizen Center or Senior Center means to me so I just need you you know you to recognize and you know I'm not the one that runs it obviously but it made me feel good for you guys and feel good about what's going on in the city um you know I know a lot of uh seniors that are looking forward to the events that you have um I mean my wish list would be to um and I think I spoke to you about this before to go ahead and include maybe some of the high school kids and have a maybe a a senior dance where the seniors from the high school and the senior citizens um I think that right there would be kind of cool or something like that it's on our list it honestly is um counselors mayor uh city clerk um I I just want to mention one thing that you mentioned and that's how we deliver our services but for people like Nancy CA and Burman Henry our two staff so we do all of this with a very very very small staff a facility staff an admin and myself the volunteers really backfill that um we've talked to the volunteers as you know uh I put I'm going to put a gratuitous plugin because I think it's important if you've been to the senior center you know we're limited for space we are constricted in so many ways um we have a lot of opportunities for new program that we just can't add to the schedule now because we don't have the ability to accommodate that and as importantly today I mentioned 110 people plus our volunteers um plus the staff at the CAC and their customers we were we were stretched thin for parking um what we do as a a side Gap a side stepping of that we employ amazingly fantastic organizations like gamma and woods to do shuttle services from the mission of Grace parking lot and the police department parking lot but I cannot underscore enough that that is only a short-term solution that may result in problems somewhere down the line loading and unloading people from Vans is not the best um not the best solution but it is a solution to our unbelievably uh tough parking problem so I'm looking forward to getting into our new community center I hope that you share that enthusiasm and support in that our tax base does too people throughout the city should know the important resources that the Waterford Street Community Center are going to bring to Garder in a huge way so um I I took that opportunity it was gratuitous plug because I heard you ask um the DPW director what was on their plate and I figured I'd just jump in um that's very important to our growth and our ability to continue the programs we're doing thank you that thank you for letting us know you beat us to good um that is all thank you great um should we call back thank you councelor e councelor igin item C A measure confirming the mayor appointment of car Carla J W Kitz to the position of trust e Mr chairman actually on these two uh items I'm going to recuse myself as well as an employee of the school to AV at any conflict of interest thank you thank you please report from the mayor thank you very much Mr chairman uh Mrs wajak kwit uh the uh should say trustee Williams Rockwell educational gift fund um is a reappointment to the trustees of the Williams Rockwell fund uh this fund uh has given up so given out so far just about $620,000 since it first began to distribute grants to our schools since 2019 was the first year that we had a distribution uh so you can see the benefit that this uh gift has really given to the city um it may be earlier but I'll get you the actual date I believe it's in the correspondence that I sent uh but uh Mrs wajer kwit and her husband Bobby uh coach wajer kwit is some people remember him uh are both former educators of the garden Public School System uh in which case Carla brings a very keen aspect to the decision- making at the table she's the only former educator as a teacher that we have at the table uh we do have obviously the superintendent of schools who's there who started as a guidance counselor as principal and now the superintendent uh we do have um the next appointee as well who was a former librarian uh however she was the only school teacher for the Elementary grades that was there at the table so it really brings that good perspective as to how will this benefit the students in the classroom how can teachers utilize this how is this enriching curriculum and it's a perspective that's really important there's been a lot of times that we've been in that room and a lot of the questions that she asks or the point she brings up sway the vote one way or the other because she brings a different knowledge set that we just don't have in that table right there so I'm really happy to put her forward uh back up uh for your consideration thank you Council Kei um I really don't have any questions I think you you know you explained it very thoroughly thank you yeah I don't have any uh further questions besides thanking Miss watch ktz I know this is her first her first time on the uh uh committee so uh it's good to hear that she's making an impact and that you fully uh endorse her reappointment move on to the next item uh no further questions C fur questions our next item is coun item D measure confir the mayor's appointment of Robert Rice Square to the position of trustee Williams Rockwell educational gift fund report from the mayor thank you very much Mr chairman attorney rice has been on the committee since its Inception uh by Statute uh there is a appointee of the council president uh the mayor who serves as the chair or his design uh a appointee of the vice chair of the school committee the city treasurer uh the superintendent of schools and then these three individuals who are appointed as trustees as well uh attorney rice has really done a great job on this committee bringing a key Garder perspective as someone who used to be the director of the public library in the city um he un and just someone who's been involved in Gardner as a former attorney a former state representative uh as well to he he knows the community and he knows it well and he can see how this helps us in our long-term planning and see the vision for the future rather than being stuck in the past and I think that building off a foundation of what happened in the past as a way to grow towards the future is a key aspect that he's brought to this committee uh and I'm happy to put him up again for continued service on this board thank you Mr mayor council Heath um I don't really have any questions just got a little bit of a statement um anyone that's has an extensive uh resume like this right here that's willing to go ahead and um you know be a trustee of such um you know hats off to them yeah it is a volunteer position too it's uncompensated exactly so like that is thank you councilor Heath and I I do want to publicly thank attorney rice for stepping up for the community again and I know this committee uh makes important decisions with uh a large sum of money that we are fortunate enough to have to benefit our community Mr Mayor is this committee fully uh it is full at this time um there are there is Dr f is up for reappointment that'll probably come before the council at some point soon um but the three trustees that you know are subject to mayoral approval and Council confirmation are um excuse me the four are Mrs wajer ktz uh attorney rice Tina spra former president and CEO of GFA Federal Credit Union and then Dr F uh so those are the trustees uh that are up there too Tina was just appointed after uh the late trustee Andrew bushe passed away she filled his spot uh and then everyone else is up to date on those terms and we just released the grants that were awarded this year um we had a good year on the market Raymond James is our investing services so they come to our meetings every once a quarter by Statute they're required to meet uh and give an update as to where the revenue was going last year we had the ability to give out up to $250,000 if we chose to we only had about $70,000 in applications from the schools uh but that said we don't know where the Market's headed towards this year with some uncertainty so it was good to put the remaining back into the principal uh so we were able to give out uh just about it was a little more than we gave out around the 70 we got in around 80 uh 80 to $90,000 in applications we gave out between 70 and $80,000 uh in Grant so I think it was only five or six applications that got turned away for some smaller sums and those are because they were largely going to be absorbed by the school budget so those were the main reasons this year um rather than beginning it with the grant just absorbing it into a long-term plan with the school that way it doesn't have to get refunded by a grant one year and then worried about not being funded after that uh once the grant dried up after that year was done uh so we're really in a good spot with the the applications the teachers are getting more creative with it and I think it's actually causing a lot more creative thinking to happen among the school department that actually sets these goals and motions that if a program does need to be absorbed into the school department it's something that we may not have thought about before but is a long-term benefit for the city certainly noticing the creativity is I think I noticed uh Mr Leo's tuba or not tuba application so it's good to see that there's active participation there um excellent that'll conclude our interview of the appointees uh councelor heglin make a light system or something um so uh now we'll be moving into the resummations at on our agenda Mr Mayor thank you very much uh Mr chairman just a couple Staffing changes to note um our former assistant city clerk Faith Glover did retire uh so the city clerk is moving forward with interviews later this week to uh fill that position that's there additionally in the city clerk's office uh JN Kumar was recently hired to fill the position that was vacated by uh Zachary Lawrence who used to work in the clerk's office so that you get us a full staff in the city clerk's office our Human Resources Director Deborah Pond has submitted her resignation her last day is this Friday uh so we are currently advertising for that position uh we have about eight applicants so far uh we're going to be interviewing at least four of them uh and then moving forward with there hopefully we'll get a appointee to the committee soon to fill that role there too as it is a very important role in the city uh and then uh Colin Smith formerly of my office who resigned at the beginning of December his role was going to be filled by Katherine jablonsky uh who used to be an intern in my office a couple years ago she was actually my first intern uh she graduates this may from um Endicott College with a degree in legal studies uh so she'll be taking over when she finishes and graduates in May with her bachelor's degree thank you for that upate and like to thank the director of HR for her many years service to the city wish your good luck in our future endeavors next item on our agenda is the discussion of appointees interview is there any further discussion from the committee referrals from the full Council I'd like to begin with a motion to recommend the mayor's appointment for item 11129 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Dan Arnold to the position of Public Works director for term expiring January 4th 2027 second motion made by councelor tyus second by councelor Heath is there discussion all those in favor I I all those opposed no motion passes all right so I like to make a motion made I'm sorry a motion on what was that 11130 is that it uh that's the item B yes I'm sorry yes um so yeah item 11130 I like to make a motion to sorry motion made by I'm sorry new um yeah so I just mix this all up I just had it too um I like to go ahead and uh make a recommendation for confirmation of the mayor's appointment of uh Michael F Ellis to position of senior citizens director seconded I will be recusing myself from this will uh Madam clerk uh du to personal relationship will be at Point D and counselor Heath will be taking over uh the vote moment before the ca chair all right I'm seconded by Brad heg um is there any discussion all right all there all those in favor say yay all all those oppos say no uh motion pass um that's it that's it we calling back the photus we should I continue right thank you I'd like to take item 11134 and 1135 together and move to recommend Mars of one Mr chairman I'm going to recuse myself from this Focus well thank you councelor Hein in a second thank you Council e motion made by councel tyos second counselor Heath to recommend the mayor's appointment of Carla J WKTZ to the position of trustee Williams Rockwell educational gift fund for term expiring January 4th and uh Robert Rice Esquire to the position of trustee William Rockwell education gift fund for term expiring January 4th 2027 made by councelor tyus second by councelor Heath is there disc discussion all those in favor I I all those opposed no motions pass entertain a motion to adour Move seconded Motion made by councelor Heath second by councelor hegan to adjourn all those in favor I I all those oppose no motion passes We Stand adjourn thank you Mr May thank you thank you --------- for call the Monday March 18th 2024 regular meeting of the gardener city council to comes to order the clerk will please call a rooll council Brooks pres Council Craig Kier pres councel General lowitz pres Council harder Pres Council Heath present Council heglin present Council ma present Council T Munos present councel tone present Council tyros present and president kazinski present please rise to recite the opening prayer and say the Pledge of Allegiance almighty God we thank the for bringing us together this evening Inspire us to worthy deeds and sound decisions and direct us toward the entainment city government we pray you bless and protect all the people of our city godp we deliver in unity and Harmony amen I to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all announcement of open meeting recordings any person may make a video audio recording of an open session of a meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium subject to reasonable requirement of the chair as to the number placement and operation of equipment used so as not to interfere with the with the conduct of the meeting any person intending to make such recording shall notify the chair forth with all documents and Exhibits used or referenced at the meeting must be submitted in duplicate to the chair as they become part of the meeting minutes pursu to General Law chapter 30 a subsection 20 is anyone here recording tonight's meeting okay we will begin with the reading of the minutes of Prior meetings which there is none and next is a public hearing item 1199 a petition by National Grid and Verizon New England Incorporated Allen Street to install one jointly owned pole on Allen Street beginning at a point approximately 430 ft west of the center line of the intersection of Allen Street and winow Street install one jointly owned poll number seven for new houses the public hearing is now open the public hearing notice reads as follows notice to abuts March 11th 2024 to abuts and other interested parties pursuant to the provisions of Master General Law chapter 166 subsection 22 you are hereby notified that a public hearing will be conducted on Monday March 18th 2024 at 7:30 p.m. on the petition of Massachusetts Electric Company doing business as National Grid and Verizon New England for permission to locate poles wires and fixtures including the necessary sustaining and protection fixures along and across the following public ways Allen Street a petition by National Grid in Verizon New England Incorporated to install one jointly owned pole on Allen Street beginning at a point approximately 430 ft west of the center line of the intersection of Allen Street and windso Street inst saw one jointly owned pole number seven for new houses a sketch of the proposed poll location is attached for your edification City Council of gardeners TC sarapan city clerk does anyone wish to speak in favor of the petition does anyone wish to speak in favor of the petition is there anyone here that wishes to speak in favor of the petition okay is there anyone here who wishes to speak in opposition of the petition is there anyone here who wishes to speak in opposition of the petition is there anyone who wishes to speak in opposition of the petition okay hearing none the public hearing is now closed okay we are going to take two items out of order at this time on page three of our city council agenda items 11129 and 11130 item 11129 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Dane Ardell to the position of Public Works director for term expiring January 4th 2027 Council hro thank you madam president director Arnold is our longest serving department head he overseas and is responsible for municipal grounds Highway and water and sewer operations in our city he has been an asset in guiding improvements to our City's infrastructure and having the opportunity to work with the director closely on the public service committee I can personally say I've been especially impressed with his Forward Thinking on ways to do things better and his ever uh present ability to listen and hear differing opinions on topics the director would was especially grateful to his staff for their hard work and thank them for their support the committee met with the mayor and the appointee on this uh reappointment the committee voted in anly to recommend therefore I move the appointment to be certified second motion made by councelor tyus second by councelor General lawitz to confirm the mayor's appointment is there a discussion on the motion councelor Heath thank you madam president um during the committee meeting I should have went ahead and um U I'm sorry the appointments committee meeting I should have went ahead and uh made this comment earlier there was a um interaction that me and Mr uh director Arnold had where I had a phone call one day by a constituent who was not happy with a said situation um she called me while I was at Starbucks and she just happened to be driving by Starbucks caught me in the parking lot I told the constitu I will ride to her house go ahead and go see what was going on I followed her to her house and to my surprise Mr Arnold was already there um so I just wanted to go ahead I don't know if he remembers that situation but I just want to go ahead and put that on record that I was amazed with that right there and surprised myself and um you know that is all thank you thank you counselor further discussion councelor Harden yes um I want to thank director danne Arnold I've been here for um 13 years and through those years he always answers my calls when I have problems in the board whether it's the first one of the morning or the LA last one of the day he does a really good job thank you so much thank you counselor further discussion all those in favor say I I I those opposed say no the motion passes item 11130 a measureing confirming the mayor's appointment of Michael F Ellis to the position of senior citizens director for term expiring January 4th 2027 councelor tyros thank you madam president I'll be refusing myself from this item due to a personal relationship with the appointee thank you counselor councelor heglin thank you madam president and through you to the council uh Mike senior citizen uh Center Director is completing his first three-year term as the senior uh Citizen Center Director we met with him earlier this evening uh and in that time and in our discussions you know with a glowing recommendation from the mayor uh Ron dmea was also present chair of the Council on Aging in support of uh Mr Ellis for this position and this reappointment um it was clear just the great work he's done in raising the profile of the senior center uh and the efforts they've done to increase programming and to raise awareness of this resource for people in our community um so with all those positive re recommendations and I think something notable to point out to everyone as well is that given they're small staff you know he's one director a couple of Staff under him they really rely heavily on volunteers and in this past year he let us know that they've had over 400 volunteers committing 10,000 hours of service to the senior center which is equivalent of around they estimated $270,000 that the city is not incurring and in a way saving so I think that's Testament to the leadership that he has shown in that position and so I move for the appointment of Mr Ellis to be certified second second motion made by councelor Hein second by councelor Mack to confirm the mayor's appointment is there a discussion on the motion councelor Mac um as a member of the public welfare committee uh the chair for the last two years uh two terms I have to say that um I have gone to the senior center on many occasions um I read every newsletter and every email that we receive um I just want to commend um director Ellis because we have a very robust senior center with the resources and the programs they offer I was there today helping to serve um the St Patrick's Day dinner um and I can't say enough I'm looking forward to their move to the New Waterford Street Building because I think the senior center the Council on Aging and everything that they do for our senior citizens can only grow um and offer U more and more um different programming and uh for those that don't um take advantage of it please do so please go on their website please get their newsletter whatever you need please reach out because it is a tremendous asset to the city thank you thank you counselor further discussion all those in favor say I I those oppos say no motion passes at this time we will take a brief recess of the meeting to swear and those who have been appointed here this evening we will reconvene after the swearing in is completed and call the meeting back to order at that time and right onic doly swear you swear that I were faithfully and impartially I faithfully and impartially perform the duties of Public Works director perform the duties of Public Works director according to the law and the best of my abilities according to the law and the best of my abilities raise your hands repeat after me I state your name I Michael ell to solemly swear to solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially that I will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of senior citizen director perform the duties of senior citizen director according to the law and the best of my abilities according to the law and the best of my abilities [Applause] congratulations e that call the meeting back to order Communications from the mayor appointments item 11 1207 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Linda denbeck to the position of disability commission member for term expiring March 4th 20727 coun tyros thank you madam president I'd like to move to refer this item to the appointments committee for study and Report second motion made by councelor tyer second by counselor Heath to refer the item to the appointments committee is there discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I I those oppos say no motion passes Communications item 11 1208 a measure authorizing the FY 2024 Community Development block grant mini entitlement plan I'm going to ask the mayor to um come forward to give us some information regarding this item please thank you very much Madam president uh this is the annual resolution that comes before the city council uh every year gardeners what's considered by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development as what's called a mini entitlement community that means we are not uh have we are not big enough as a city to be Gateway status if we were a Gateway City we'd have these funds directly come to the city annually and we wouldn't have to apply for them on an annual basis Gardner meets all the criteria to become a Gateway city except you need to have at least 35,000 in population in order to qualify for that designation where we're at 21,000 uh residents here in Gardner that's why we have to apply for these funds on an annual basis uh the application that's before you covers Us uh various different uh activities but I do want to stress that this is a Grant application the funds are not guaranteed however a supportive vote of the city council is required to submit this application to the Commonwealth Department of Housing and liable communities uh which is the pass through for these federal funds by March uh March 25th of this year uh so that's why uh I want to thank the council president for allowing me to speak on the matter and putting this before the city council uh from when director Bureau Guard was able to submit this to the city council for consideration uh These funds annually do cover the cost of several different things throughout the city the majority of the salaries that are funded for the Department of Community Development and planning are funded out of this grant uh a large portion of the director's salary about 90% of the assistant director's salary some portions of the uh uh the financial coordinators salary for the Department of Community Development and planning come out of this grant if you look at uh the budget which is the grid Matrix uh that's included in your packet that's what that $125,000 covers is the salaries for those individuals in that department uh additionally there are certain things that these funds have to be used to a certain percentage has to go toward social services within the city's limits and then the rest can be used towards other projects of Community Development the removal of blight things of that nature uh next years's which I do want to stress these are funds to be used applied for this year to be used in next year so these funds would not be used until 2026 uh include the demolition of the former School Street School building located at 53 School Street which is um has been condemned by The Building Commissioner due to its current state of condition uh the goal would be to Dem uh demolish the property extend a parking lot for Jackson playground that's there that currently has no dedicated parking to it uh and then improve some park space there the land underneath the school is subject to article 97 protections of the Commonwealth Constitution uh that is because part of the land that it was built on was originally taken by the city to form Jackson playground uh and where when the Commonwealth adopted article 97 via a ballot measure uh in a local referendum at a state election it did not grandfather properties that were built on the land it just simply said any land that was purchased for this use is subject to those protections therefore if we wanted to do anything with this land other than either refurbish the building which is deemed to be too cost prohibitive at this point because it is condemned uh if the building was removed to do anything else besides keep it as Parkland we would have to go to an act where the legislature would have to take a a roll call recorded vote uh and then have that passed through both the house the Senate and then be signed by the governor so this is the way to get things done in an active way to remove the issues that we've had at the uh building with different break-in issues with different structural concerns issues of fears of collapse and things of that matter uh and improving that area of the city to a larger extent uh the social service programs that are included in this year's Grant application include uh $155,000 to go to our gardener Athletic program at Gardner high school and Gardner Middle School uh for the past four years the city has waved and by waved I mean we have budgeted for or paid for in one way or another all athletic user fees for students at the high school and the middle school prior to when we started doing this students uh were charged $100 per sport per season uh except for hockey which was charged $500 per season uh and those were in order for students to be able to play We want to make sure that there were no barriers especially income barriers or poverty barriers that barred any of our students from being on uh the teams that they uh play on so we have covered that some of that has come from the cdbg the remaining $23,000 is coming from uh the school Department's annual operating budget uh so it's operated there because cdbg funds are restricted to assist Social Services with people who uh are in a low to moderate income demographic so there's income restrictions as to who can qualify for these funds uh but that covers about 150 athletes uh during the school year through this Grant application The Gardener emergency housing Mission offers transitional housing for uh people in the city facing homelessness uh the housing that they offer is uh 6 to n months uh 6 months normally with the option to extend to 9 months uh for uh people who are homeless at the same time they're receiving counseling for uh Workforce training job application writing uh and then ways to uh Financial benefits uh financial management as well so that once they get through those 6 to9 months if they do find housing after that they can stay a little longer under their feet and have a better idea to prevent them from coming back into a homelessness situation the voices of Truth uh $122,000 for uh domestic violence prevention uh offering counseling services for uh individuals uh who are in issues of domestic violence uh we offer a part-time domestic violence advocate at the police station right now through the city's operating budget this would fund their advocacy uh services to work with those individuals above and beyond what uh Danielle drew our city uh domestic violence advocate can do with the police uh police station with the 20 hours that she works over there uh The Gardener Community Action team is looking to employ a part-time individual helping uh with all feeding programs of the agency particularly with their food uh Pantry program and their uh congregate meals programs so that's what that uh $116,000 is going towards and then again the rest is the stuff we've already talked about so for a pH a total Grant fund of $925,000 just under a million dollar it should be noted too uh that the city will have to uh provide a match in some way shape or form uh or the IND or the individual uh organization in the case of the CAC you'll see that they have a match of $526 they will have to come up with that on their own uh because that the whole project is going to cost that the cdbg application looks at the full picture of the matter uh and then uh we provide some what we can and then they provide the total after that the garden emergency housing Min is fundraising the remaining $5,000 towards their project and then with the Demolition of School Street School mainly because of the asbest in the building uh there are additional costs associated with that so just like we did with the other demolition projects we've done for Greenwood pool for the Rome building things like that the city would have to appropriate in next fiscal year the $13,300 uh towards a match if you will uh for the demolition of that building so that's the brief uh rundown of the information included in this year's cdbg Grant uh and I'm happy to answer any questions from the councelors through you madam president councelor Mac um what are the estimated administrative in uh delivery costs for 125,000 uh so those are the salaries the salaries of the Departments yes okay thank you any other counselors have any questions for the mayor regarding the subject thank you Mr Mayor thank you very much Madam president is there a motion councelor Jal thank you madam president I move to authorize the plan second second motion made by councel Journal second by councel tyos to authorize the plan is there discussion on the motion councel tyros thank you madam president My Hope was to discuss the process surrounding this item at the posted informal meeting that's was supposed to take place earlier tonight and to have a discussion and a chance for my fellow counselors to ask questions to the director of community development I stressed this in my original motion that there were issues found by the state's regular monitoring of the previous year's block grant programs Administration that were not catastrophic but issues nonetheless issues that have the potential consequence potential consequences to the completion of previous year block block grant projects and potential future funding of projects that we have before us tonight projects that identified in the fy4 plan we must pass tonight because if it doesn't pass the city will not make the application deadline the item was given to the council with at the last possible moment we are put in a position that we are unable to raise any questions or concerns with enough time to actually consider the motion in front of us give feedback and for the steering committee to you know reconsider the items and resubmit the application with our input while I'm disappointed that we were not able to have that discussion before tonight's vote I do hope this item passes and I do look forward to having that discussion with the director of Community Development to ensure that council is aware of the issues of this program which administers and distributes critical funding to programs benefiting low and moderate income families and Community beneficial projects that the pro issues are being faced addressed and corrected going forward because as the mayor just previously stated the council is often asked to appropriate funds to get these projects across the finish line and these projects are important there are things that we should consider when we make those votes with all with all our other considerations that we make here in this chamber thank you madam president thank you counselor further discussion all those in favor say I I those opposed say no motion passes orders item 11209 in order appropriating $ 77,78 from free cash the IT department City Hall cyber security system account councelor General thank you madam president I move to refer this um item to the finance committee for further study and Report second motion made by Counselor General second by counselor Mac to refer the item to the finance committee is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I those post say no motion passes item 11210 in order appropriating $499,000 from free cash to the mayor's unclassified Professional Services grant writing expenses Counselor General owt I move to refer this item to the finance committee for further study and Report second motion made by councelor General out second by councelor Mack to refer the item to the finance committee is their discussion on the motion all those in favor say I oppos say no motion passes item 11213 in order appropriating $555,500 from free cash to the elections and Registration Department for election officer salary and Professional Services expenses councelor General thank you madam president as the others I move to refer this item to the finance committee for further study and Report second motion made by councelor darot second by councelor Mack to refer the item to the finance committee is there discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I those opposed say no the motion passes ordinance item 11211 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder to add a new chapter 15 to be entitled agricultural commission councelor Mac uh Madam president I refer this to the public welfare committee for further study and Report second motion made by councelor Mac second by councel DN to refer to the public welfare committee for further studying report is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I those oppos say no motion passes petitions applications Communications Etc item 11 1203 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic section 41 entitled handicap parking Central Street from a point 33t from the corner of Maple Street eastly for 40t two spaces councelor C Cormier thank you madam president uh there's an item that uh came to the Safety Committee from the traffic commission um we did discuss this item uh it is a uh housekeeping uh item to uh codify the handicap part spaces that were and that were added when uh the uh bike trails were redone around Monument Park however before we do that uh when the ordinance was written it was actually uh conflating two items um so we need to amend the ordinance and change um so we need to uh change the side from south to North and change the ordinance to um read adding instead of removing M um so I would move to amend uh with those changes you'll have a copy of the ordinance uh as written motion made by councelor Cormier seconded by counselor Heath to uh to send the item to first printing as amended we've all been handed a copy of the amended language is there discussion on the motion all those in favor say I those post say no the motion passes item 11 1204 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 edel street from Elm Street to Lawrence Street counc uh thank you madam president this is another item that was recommended by the traffic commission um they are going to implement this on a 60-day trial basis so therefore we ask for more time on this item if there is no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time item one one sorry sorry does this need to be referred uh this item does you met on this item we did meet on this item okay already thank you thank you counselor um the so that's just for clarification so these items are in front of the Council on the agenda for the first time Madam clerk um but they had a scheduled meeting and so it can it was um um submitted directly to the committee and so they were able to take them up at their committee meeting without it being referred okay um for the thank you thank you um Madam pres councelor M um just for a of order for clarification um when the combat the Safety Committee comes back I'm just having a hard time with edel street from Elm to Lawrence edel Street is this way and elm's this way and Lawrence is here so I'm just having if we could get a map of this is I'm just having it should be is it Elm Street from edel to Lawrence it's the north side of edel uh I believe from Elm Street all the way down to Lawrence Street up to Lawrence yes okay so one way okay thank you I just want clarification thank you so it's it's clarified it's clear as written it is clear written now thank you item 11 1205 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of gardener chapter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic section 24 entitled parking prohibited on certain streets Park Street from C Street to Central Street councelor C thank you madam president again we met on this item this was uh recommended to us from the traffic commission uh this is to codify changes that have already been made because of the bike path that was added to the north side of Park Street uh because of that they had removed all the parking on the south side of Park Street next to Monument Park so this is just codifying that and I move the ordinance to First prin second motion made by councelor Cormier second to by councelor Kei uh to um um send the item to first printing is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I those oppos say no the motion passes item 11 1206 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic section 24 entitled parking prohibited on certain streets Pine Street from West Line Street souly for a distance of 50 ft councelor C foror thank you madam president again we met on this item uh and the commission the committee was unanimously in favor this would um take the when you're coming up uh Line Street onto par Park Street uh Pine Street sorry and if you're looking to your right this would take the very first parking spot out in front of the library um right now it's very blind Corner um so the traffic commission was recommending to remove that one spot which would be roughly 50 ft from the corner of land Street onto Pine Street uh again the committee discussed this with the deputy chief uh and we were unanimously in favor and I therefore move the ordinance to First print recommend to move the ordinance to first printing second motion made by counselor cor seconded by councel Harden to um to send the item to first printing is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I iOS say no motion passes item 11212 election of the city clerk counc Del out thank you madam president I move to refer this item to the finance committee for further study and Report second moot made by councelor General allow it seconded by councelor Max to refer the item to the finance committee is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I iOS to say no motion pass reports of standing committees appointments committee item 11127 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Thomas zupa to the position of Building Commissioner for term expiring January 9th 2027 councelor tyros thank you madam president while the appointments committee has made great progress I'd like to respectfully request item 11127 11139 1113 11140 11141 11142 11143 11144 11150 so more time if there is no objection the committee will be granted more time on all of those items the committee will be granted more time we have taken up items 11129 and 11130 item 11134 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Carla J waji ktz to the position of trustee Williams Rockwell educational gift fund for term expiring January 4th 2027 councelor Heath Madam president sorry one moment you give the interruption but I'm going to recuse myself from this item as well as one 11135 as an employee of the school department thank you counselor councelor Heath thank you madam president um committee met with this appointment um with the mayor uh I don't I'm not going to try to say her last name however um this is a trusty of the Williams Rockwell this is a reappointment this is her second reappointment or I'm sorry her first reappointment she just completed her first um three-year term uh she's a former Elementary School teacher right here in Gardner uh she brings a key perspective to the group um she's the only trustee that has classroom experience um with that being said the Lord um the Lord the uh the mayor trust her we trust her um and the committee voted unanimously to recommend therefore I move this appointment to be C second Mo made by councelor Heath seconded by councelor tyus to confirm the mayor's appointment is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I those oppos say no motion passes item 11135 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Robert Rice Esquire to the position of trustee Williams Rockwell educational gift fund for term expiring January 4th 2027 councelor Heath thank you madam president the committee met on this reappointment with the mayor um Mr well attorney Bob rice um another truste of the Williams Rockwell um he's been a active member in the Gan Community he's a former attorney former director of the library um and also a former State R uh he he knows a lot about Garder um and he brings a lot of experience to this role um this is a volunteer position um with that being said the committee voted unanimously to recommend they I moove disappointment to be CED second motion made by councelor Heath seconded by councelor tyros to confirm the mayor's appointment is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I those supposed say no motion passes Safety Committee item 111 I'm sorry 11086 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic section 24 entitled parking prohibited on certain streets Comey Street coun correct thank you madam president uh the DPW installed signs for the police department 68 trial on Comey Street last week uh so therefore we ask more time to see uh What the residents uh responses to that Tria if there's no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time item 11115 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic section 2 24 entitled parking prohibited on certain streets Douglas Road councelor Cormier uh again the uh DPW and the police department is looking to implement a 60-day trial on this in short order therefore we ask for more time if there's no objection the committee will will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time service committee item 11199 a petitioned by National Grid in Verizon New England Incorporated Allen Street to install one jointly owned poll on Allen Street beginning at a point approximately 430 ft west of the center line of the intersection of Allen Street and Winslow Street install one jointly owned poll number seven for new houses we had a public hearing earlier this evening on this item counselor t yep Madam president uh the service committee would like to request more time as we will discuss this at our next meeting um I it's to be scheduled next week other thank you if the if there is no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time unfinished busit and matters for reconsideration item 11112 and ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 675 thereof entitled zoning to add sports betting to the zoning table abuses councelor Heath I make a motion to send the item to Second and final printing for passage second motion made by councelor Heath seconded by councelor tibo Munos to send the item to Second and final printing for passage is there a discussion on the motion this item requires a 2/3 vote and we will do a roll call vote on this item seeing there is no discussion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council Cormier yes Council DN lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council hegan yes Council math yes Council TBO munus yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes and president kazinski yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11113 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Gardner chapter 6 and55 thereof entitled zoning to amend section 1070 thereof entitled marijuana establish ments to change the method to increase the quota Allowed by the code of the city of Garder I wanted to take a moment um to address an issue on this item I would like to offer clarification for item number 11113 at our previous city council meeting on Monday March 4th I announced that a 2third majority vote was required for this item which was eight votes to pass the initial vote on the motion for the item to be sent to first printing was was taken and the result was seven yes and three no votes I announced that the item did not pass this was incorrect I misspoke and I apologize chapter 4A Section 5 of the general laws of the commonweal of Massachusetts states that no zoning ordinance or Amendment thereto shall be adopted or changed except by a 2third vote of all the members of a city council and so this applies to a vote made to send the item to to Second and final printing for passage like in this case and then the initial vote to print is not a vote to adopt or change the zoning ordinance or Amendment the general laws actually do not require that any vote be taken on the initial vote to print which as it applies in this case to item 11113 is the vote to send the item to first printing by section 24 of the gardener City Charter the affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the council shall be necessary to adopt any motion resolution or ordinance and so in Garder we take a vote on the initial um vote which would be to send the item to the first printing and that requires a majority vote which would be six votes to pass and so we voted 7 to3 on the initial vote as the vote stands that would have passed the vote at our previous meeting so as the general laws say the final vote which we would be entertaining this evening requires a 23 majority vote which would be the eight votes to pass I sincerely apologize for any confusion regarding this item um I did reach out to the council and send them a clarifying email on uh Friday March 8th once I had confirmed that I had the right information from the general laws as well as the city Charter and the clerk and I had actually both determined the initial and final votes were required a 2third majority vote as we do um speak many times before each city council meeting um as we were going by what the general laws had said but um after we further reviewed it and we saw that the general laws only require it for the vote to pass it which is the second vote um we then had determined that uh the city actually having a more stringent and strict policy um you actually can follow that in in this case and um will you do follow that because the state does not require any vote on the initial vote the city the city actually does and it's a majority vote of six votes I hope that is clear and concise as I could make it um and again as the vote was taken the vote stands uh so if it had been seven yes and three no then that would have passed with it being a majority vote um so again I apologize we do try to be as Thor as we can we're actually a little bit too stringent on that one so the item is before us this evening for um to be considered as it would have passed and it did go to first printing as the vote stood so I just wanted to offer that clarification at the beginning councelor Mac just on a point of order when the motion was made by I believe councelor Heath the motion was not made to go to first printing at on the March 4th meeting it was just a vote on the motion and even in the agenda it doesn't it there was no on March 4th there was no notion that it was to go for sprting um so is that still I guess my I'm looking at it the order of the vote the motion was on the item but the maker of the motion for the vote did not make the motion to vote for first printing so we're assuming it's going to go to Second Printing and that was a vote for first printing even though that was not the motion at the time um we'll take a brief request thankk you do you want to e e e e e e e e e e e e e e call the meeting back to order uh to clarify the counc question uh the motion was made by councelor Heath and seconded by councelor Taos to send the item to first printing we just verified um it will be in the meeting minutes um and currently it would be on the city of Gardner's YouTube channel um on our previous meeting it's 45 minutes and about 32 seconds into the meeting if anyone did want to check it but we did just double check and verify that it was the item the item's motion was to send it printing again it was a 7 yes 3 no vote um and it should have been announced that it did pass to go to first printing so this evening it is back on our Council agenda and it would be considered at this point for its second final printing or passage this would be the final consideration of the um of the item so that's what I just wanted to add at the beginning of this to expain some clarification I appreciate everyone's patience um and again um the opportunity for me to give some clarifying information um about that error so thank you is there a motion councelor Heath uh thank you madam president I make a motion to send the item to Second and final printing for passage second motion made by councelor Heath seconded by counselor Tio Munos to send the item to Second and final printing for passage this is there discussion on the motion counc Mac I just want to thank you madam president for looking into this I just wanted to make sure that we were doing everything you know at through the legal process whether it passes or doesn't but I appreciate you taking the time to clarify thank you thank you counselor counselor Brooks yes thank you Madame President um I appreciate your explanation for what happened with the vote two meetings ago um I think it was very clear and and straightens out some confusion that that I had after the fact um I do want to say that that I still intend to vote on this matter uh I do feel strongly that the uh business in this community uh is finite and I would as I had said last time that I would rather have this split between two businesses than four so that there would be two successful businesses operating rather than for competing for smaller shares of the business and finding ways to uh cut Corners to to make their profit or trying to grow the business within this community which I don't think is a is a good idea so thank you thank you counselor further discussion councelor tyros I too would like to thank the the city clerk and the president for U ensuring the work going into meetings and after meetings to ensure the job's done thoroughly and correctly so I think you guys did a good job explaining the situation and uh as councelor Brook said I intend to uh vote the way I did when we sent this to first printing uh just a matter of differing opinions on uh business conditions so I appreciate counselor uh comments and everyone's opinions that they stated last meeting and would be supporting this this ordinance change thank you thank you councel further discussion councelor Heath thank you madam president um I too would like to thank you guys because I'm going to be honest with you I was sitting here trying to find my notes and I forgot exactly what I said uh at the last meeting but um thank you guys for clarifying it and obviously if it's on YouTube I said it so um but I'm going off of um what councelor Brooks went ahead and said about the uh four versus the two which I understand and I respect that um I I just find it kind of weird on if there was any other business that was coming in the city that had no issues and only brought in Revenue you don't know if it's there unless you know it's there um why restrict it down to two where you know if it goes to four and it becomes two ion understand that but like you know just like gas stations you know I got to be honest with you um not that I drive gas but when I drive my my um fiance's car you know I I fill up in other cities um because the gas is cheaper there and I feel like there's a lot of people who are in the dispensaries who go to other cities because their prices are better there because there's more competition there so that's how I look at it I'm not saying that I'm right but that's just the way I look at it thank you for your time thank you counselor further discussion councelor hegan thank you madam president and through you to the council as a new councelor I also appreciate the clarifications uh so thank you for your due diligence on that uh and I similarly I you know I understood and sympathized with the concerns and opposition raised um at our last meeting ultimately I did vote in favor of this as I will again tonight I feel similarly that allowing for the possibility of course does a guarantee that we will have more um but ultimately that's for the market to decide as was pointed out previously there's a rigorous process that these establishments have to go through in order to open their doors and so I feel that that would be vetted ahead of time furthermore as I was looking through our packets the uh planning board had voted unanimously in favor of this Chief mavan had provided a letter around maybe safety concerns dispelling many of those so I appreciate them for for submitting that information so for those reasons among others such as the potential economic benefits I will be supporting this tonight thank you thank you counselor further discussion so this does require two-thirds vote this time around and uh we will do a roll call vote on this and if there's no further discussion the clerk will please call the RO Council Brooks no councelor Craig Cormier yes councilor D LTZ yes Council harder no council Heath yes Council hegan yes Council Mack no council tboos yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes and president kinus yes y three eight y three Nays the motion passes item 118 11180 in order appropriating 625,000 from stabilization to DBW salt shed councelor Ma I make a motion to move the order order second motion made by councelor Ma seconded by councelor tyros to move the order is there discussion on the motion councel Brooks uh yes Madam president uh when the bond market reviews the city's finances and gives the city a credit rating one thing it looks at is the city's stabilization fund increasing value is good decreasing value is not good while special purpose stabilization funds like the one the city has for vehicle purchase are expected to fluctuate the general stabilization fund should not in his presentation to city council during an informal meeting a few weeks ago the mayor noted that the stabilization fund is supposed to be reserved for emergencies ones that aren't covered by insurance or state and federal emergency declarations he cited what lemonster is going through as the result of the rain Deluge last fall that is Major infrastructure damage with no outside financial support from insurance or the state and federal governments I also believe that stabilization can assist with temporary cash flow for example when free cash has not been certified and the city has an unexpected expense that would normally be covered by free cash the funds are appropriated from stabilization fund and then return to the fund when free cash is certified all within the same fiscal year that is that example is slightly different from this request however because free cash has already been certified we are saying that we expect to reimburse stabilization but are not certain depending on the winter I am also concerned about future needs in the near future if a building needs a new roof or a storm water line needs major repair are we going to be asked for additional funds from stabilization it can be a slippery slope having said all that I accept the mayor's opinion that the salt shed needs to be replaced and that time is of the essence and while I have made clear my discomfort with the funding proposal I accept that the mayor is the person who recommends how expenses are funded I am willing to go along with this recommendation with the expectation that every effort will be made to return the funds to stabilization from free cash after the winter is over or that future Appropriations from free cash will replenish the fund within four years I also expect that there will not be additional similar requests to fund projects from stabilization thank you thank you counselor further discussion councel Tyrus councelor Brooks put it very well uh the same reservations I had with this item I think there's no doubt that the city needs uh to undergo this project uh not only for the safety of our DPW workers working in and near that building but also for the safety of the citizens and uh people who visit town in the winter uh if there were to be a snow event and we were able to access our salt reserves I think uh the mayor has put together a a pretty thorough Financial comparison against the loan order against the considerations councel Brooks has brought up I I agree with them and I appreciate councelor Max's request for more time on this item so that we had more time to sit with it and analyze the decision for ourselves and I do think the city is making the best decision we have uh in this situation I'll be supporting this order thank you counselor further discussion councelor Mac uh when I first was elected to the council I served on the public service committee and back then this was a desperate need of the Department of Public Works um at the time we were paying more money than we needed to for salt because we could not have um the uh Surplus on hand because we had nowhere to store it so this is a much needed item um I just want to clarify the reason I asked for more time is I had a lot of questions um last week I sat down with the director of the DPW um and two of his staff members and they answered all of my questions all of my concerns I saw the site plan the materials they they are going to use um so as much money as this is that we are expending out through the stabilization fund we also have to realize the amount of money that we could also save with the purchase of salt um that we can buy more not have to rely on neighboring um communities and um and this is in the best interest of um the safety of our citizens thank you thank you counselor further discussion okay again this item requires a 2/3 vote which is eight votes to pass and we're going to do a roll call vote the clerk will please call the roll Council Brooks yes Council Craig cor yes Council General lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council heglin yes Council Mack yes Council tbot Munos yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes and president cin yes 11 y the motion passes there is no new Business Council comments and remarks councel m um I just want to make a mo uh uh mention um a very unusual approach from the uh Garden High School class of 2024 um they are looking for sponsors for um to to sponsor prom tables um to offset the cost of this year's prom for their students as $100 to sponsor a table uh more information is on the garden High School Facebook page or you could reach out to one of the class advisor Emily Miller at the high school but I think this is a great way to support our students um as day approach their graduation season thank you thank you counselor councelor tyros thank you madam president very briefly I just wanted to uh make a shout out and thanks to repap lotnik the council president and I had the opportunity to tour a new Furniture Factory in Garder uh would you build it is the name of it they specialize in uh kitchen islands and they're made right here in Gardener handcrafted uh we were able to take a tour the f u the facility the factory that makes the furniture and uh rep lotnik was critical in helping get the which ose a big business incubator up and running uh which helped the business uh itself get up and running and the owner had speak to me about spoken to me rather about uh some of the challenges he had faced getting up and running in our city and some of the zoning challenges he had faced um going from an industrial former Factory to a current factory the the amount of red tape and work he had to get involved and it almost uh hampered his uh doors from opening actually so I just wanted to thank repnik for that opportunity and also kind of make a a little note to think about how we have zoning ordinances in town and what makes sense with our current Gardener of today thank you thank you councelor further Council comments and remarks councelor he thank you madam president I just want to um Echo a um statement that I had during our um safety committee meeting on Friday um there there was a incident with a gentleman that um had a heart attack in one of the uh supermarkets um just as recent and you know I I just want to give a personal shout out and a big thank you and recognition to the Garden of PD Woods ambulance and the um fire department for what they did um because this gentleman I he was unive and he is doing well and he's back you know I ran into his family and they went ahead and they told me and I just want to make sure that they know that you know they made a big difference and they are very appreciative um to them all so thank you that's all thank you counselor further Council comments and remarks seeing that there is none I'll entertain a motion on Florida adourn after the closing prayer so moved second motion made by councelor toon second by councelor tyros all those in favor say I I I those post say no motion passes Almighty father who seed Over All as we adourn we thank thee for the opportunity of joint deliberation and action witness during the course of this meeting bless O Lord all who are gathered here and the people whose Representatives we are and do th attend to our common welfare until our next meeting amen meeting stands adjourned thank you everyone e for