##VIDEO ID:EnHZffQSFJc## the Wednesday September 4th 2024 regular meeting of the gardener city council will come to order the clerk will please call the role councelor Brooks present councelor Cormier present councelor General owitz present councelor Harden present councelor Heath present councelor hegan present councelor Mack present councelor tibo Muno present councelor tone councelor tyros present president kazinski pres please rise to recite the opening prayer and say the of Allegiance almightyy God we thank thee for bringing us together this evening Inspire us to worthy deeds and sound decisions and direct us toward the attainment of good City we pray the to bless and protect all the people of our city guide Inspire us that we may delate in unity and Harmony amen I pledge aliance to the 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 equipment used so as not to interfere with the conduct of the meeting any person intending to make such recording shall notify the chair forth with all documents and Exhibits used are referenced at the meeting must be submitted in duplicate to the chair as they become part of the meeting minutes pursuant to General Law chapter 38 subsection 20 is there anyone recording this evening's meeting reading of minutes of Prior meetings there are no minutes there are no public hearings Communications from the Mater orders item 11383 an order authorizing $ 5,536 payment of Prior year expenditure report from the finance committee Counselor General owt thank you madam president the finance committee met on this item this bill is from the Department of Corrections it's from last fiscal year specifically June 29th um it is for three metal picking tables as well as some office supplies as it came in last fiscal year we have to approve the authorization here to pay uh bill from last year the reason for the delay in it the mayor went to detail saying we waited to make sure all the items were delivered um and also there's the the process for go through the Auditors and purchasing um offices the finance committee was in favor and I move to adopt the order second motion made by councelor D seconded by councelor Mack to adopt the order is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role councelor Brooks yes councelor Cormier yes councel DN owitz yes councel harder yes councel Heath yes councelor heglin yes counselor Mack yes councelor Tio Muno yes councelor tyros yes president K president kazinski yes so 10 10 y a motion passes item 11384 a measure transferring $44,000 from city clerk salaries and wages to city clerk Professional Services operating expenditures report from the finance committee councelor JT thank you again Madame President this item is to help cover the cost in the clerk's office office uh currently um the assistant clerk had um left for the job we have a the city clerk out as well currently coming back sometime in October this is to cover the uh one of the former assistant City Clerks coming back to help train U some new hires in the office the finance committee was in favor and I moved to adopt the measure measure transferring the funds second motion made by councelor General seconded by councelor Mack to adopt the measure to transfer the funds is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I those oppos say no motion passes item 11385 a measure to Grant National Grid and easement to install a Transformer at 95 pluging street councelor tyros thank you madam president I move to refer this item to the public service committee for study and Report second motion made by councelor Tyro second by counselor D allowt to refer the item to the public service committee for further study and report is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I those oppos say no the motion passes petitions applications Communications Etc item 11386 a ruling from the attorney general relative to an open meeting lock complaint filed by Paul De Mayo councelor tyros thank you madam president I move to place this communication on file second motion made by councel Tyro second by councel dur allowance to place the communication on file is there discussion on the motion councel tyros thank you madam president for the Public's awareness this communication is a ruling from the Attorney General's office regarding a complaint made in regards to a previous complaint by the same complainer apologies complaintant um that the council did not handle a previous complaint appropriately the Attorney General's office reviewed the complaint the meeting minutes the meeting video and ruled for the um for multiple reasons that the council did not violate open meeting law and that the sorry about that the matter is now resolved thank you thank you Council further discussion all those in favor say I I those opposed say no motion passes item 11387 a resolution relating to the future of Coleman Street School councelor Hein thank you Madame President I'm going to move to refer this to the finance committee for further study and review second motion made by councelor heglin second of by councelor General lawitz to refer the item to the public to the finance committee for further study and report is there a discussion on the motion councel hland thank you madam president through you to the council just as some context and background um similar to other resolutions just in looking at some of our old school buildings that are not in municipal use right now but either are vacant or in other use um when I looked at Coleman Street school as many of us probably know making opportunity count formerly the massachusett opportunity Council they run Head Start there which is a great program really great for our youth our family and our city uh and I'm talking with some of the folks over there as happens and in other situations their lease ended and was never renewed so they've been tenants at will for some time now um so to that end and talking they're hoping to be able to make some improvements to the parking lot and some of the internal space but would rather have something more formal before going ahead and spending that money um so my my goal was to put this resolution forward at least have the finance committee do some review and study and hopefully you know if if all goes well and and everything comes out as you know above board we can look at maybe putting this forward just to help you know initiate this process with the city and and keep us involved in the loop thank you thank you counselor further discussion all those in favor say I I I those oppos say no the motion passes reports of standing committees finance committee item 11 1289 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder part one thereof entitled administrative legislation report from the finance committee councelor darn owitz thank you Madame President yes this is a lengthy document that has been revised um it was briefly discussed um the mayor did say there was going to be further um revisions um and the finance committee would like to uh themselves discuss it further so there was request for more time on the item um if there's no disc if there's no objection the committee will be granted more time committee will be granted more time item 11382 motion to amend item number 11256 a resolution to rename the city council chamber the Ronald F Cormier Council chamber as adopted by the city council on June 17th 2024 councelor Mac uh thank you madam president the finance committee met this evening and voted to recommend to the full Council the recommendation um to form an ad hoc committee to consist of four individuals to present to the finance committee options of a physical dedication and display to honor uh Council Ronald former councel Ronald Cormier the finance committee will then recommend to the full Council um the appropriate um decision um once it has gone through the process so in the form of a motion I I like to um make the motion to form an ad hoc committee second motion made by counselor Mack seconded by councelor General LTZ to form an ad hoc committee on this item is there a discussion on the motion councelor correig I would just from any vote on this thank you counselor councelor tyros thank the finance committee for taking up this item and uh putting some process uh behind a dedication for a man that very much deserves the dedication thank you thank you counselor further discussion all those in favor say I I those opposed say no motion passes item 11370 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Gardner chapter 590 thereof entitled Solid Waste to change the fee for solid waste collections this item along with item 11371 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Gardner chapter 553 thereof entitled sewer rates and along with item 11372 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Gardner chapter 171 thereof entitled Personnel to amend Schedule E non Union compensation schedule all three of these items 11370 11371 and 11372 um there has not been enough time so there's basically been insufficient time between the first printing publication and this evening's meeting where according to the city council rules there has to be so much time in between the first printing and when the next um action is taken on the item so because of that insufficient time the items will on the calendar um the printing publication time will then be met by the time we have our next regular city council meeting on September 16th and according to the city council rules we'll be able to move forward at that time so these items will remain on the calendar unless there is an objection to any of those things seeing as there's no objection the um items will remain on the calendar until our next city council meeting Safety Committee item 11 115 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 Douglas Ro report from the Safety Committee councelor Cormier uh thank you madam president uh the traffic commission is looking to uh alter this particular um traffic pattern change uh so the ordinance will be changing therefore I move to remove this item from the calendar until that is prepared second motion made by councel cor seconded by councel dtz to remove the item from the calendar is there discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I those opposed say no motion passes item 11 1204 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Gardner CH chapter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic section 24 entitled parking prohibited on certain streets edel street from Elm Street to Lawrence Street report from the Safety Committee councelor Craig Cormier uh thank you madam president uh we will look for more time so we can schedule a public hearing at the next safety committee meeting if there is no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time item 11349 an application by eatm LLC for a license to deal in secondhand articles at 677 tany Boulevard inside Walmart a report from the Safety Committee Council cor uh yes thank you Madam president for item 11349 and 11350 we have not met on these yet so we ask for more time if there is no objection the committee will be granted more time on item 11349 and item 11350 an application by Gardener tenin Incorporated for a bowling alley license at 560 West Broadway seeing as there's no objection the committee will be granted more time on those items service committee item 11326 a petition by National Grid Elm Street and cross street relocate pole one solely owned Pole approximately 15 feet councelor tyros thank you madam president on behalf of the public service committee I'd like to request more time if there is no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time welfare committee item 11211 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder to add a new and I'm sorry to add a new chapter 15 to be entitled agricultural commission councelor Mac yes I'd like to make a motion to remove the item from the C Council calendar as the petitioners have formly requested the withdrawal of their proposal from consideration by the city council second motion made by councelor Max second and by councelor generals to remove the item from the calendar is there a discussion from the motion all those in favor say I iOS say no the motion passes there is no unfinished B business and matters for consideration there is no new Business Council comments and remarks Council M um I just have two brief ones first I would if anybody's looking to volunteer on September 14th we're just looking for a few uh three to four more volunteers from 9:00 to 11: a.m. to help plant mums in the flower pots downtown you can contact Katie oblonsky at the mayor's office um and it's also on the city hall uh Facebook page and um lastly I just want to give a huge congratulations and thank you to uh Levi Hayward Memorial Library director Stephanie Young for pursuing a grant that was received received and now we'll allow the library to be open on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to to 1: p.m. um starting this Saturday September 7th um not only do I congratulate her on her initiative in getting this done but this was very important for the library to receive their certification um so I just want to thank her um for her diligence in her work on behalf of the city thank you thank you counselor further councel comment and remarks councelor Brooks uh thank you madam president uh last Wednesday I attended the opioid overdose awareness night at ran Park also present were councelor Heath and president kazinski I was proud of the support this community showed for those struggling with addiction and Recovery it showed how this disease of addiction needs to be fought at the national level the politics of addiction seems to focus on stopping the flow of fentanyl from Mexico and on calls to better secure the border from drug traffickers the rationale seems to be that if the flow of fentanyl is stopped and the Border secured then the addiction problem is solved frankly in my opinion that rationale is a pipe dream anyone who has taken basic economics has learned about the law of supply and demand that law of supply and demand works for the drug trade since the start of President Nixon's War on Drugs the focus at the federal level has been on stopping the sale or supply of drugs that Focus ignores the demand side of of the drug trade which has exploded in the past 50 years per perhaps we should be asking what can we do to lessen demand I believe we are answering that question in Garder this community supports many Alcoholics Anonymous or AA meetings Narcotics Anonymous or NA meetings and alanon meetings for families and friends of Alcoholics and addicts they are all 12-step programs and they work if you work it recently someone spoke about all the poor souls who were going to those meetings and about how sad it was that we have this big problem in our community in reality this big problem is everywhere and honestly my reaction was the opposite I thought isn't it great that there are so many meetings available in this community and so many people who are looking to attend them and work on their sobriety or recovery there are on average three AA meetings each day and five NA meetings each week here in Garder if you are looking for a meeting just do an online search for AA or NA meetings in Gardner or reach out to Gamma or alysa's place if you do reach out to Gamma or alysa's place please know that no one there will judge you and no one will gossip about you they have been in your your shoes believe me to me that's what's special about Garder so many meetings so much support and so many engaged in those programs at the Wednesday night observance there was frequent mention of pathway house I remember when it opened about 50 years ago the men would apply for jobs at the Furniture Factory my father would usually hire a couple of men at a time some would work out and some would fall off the wagon some made a go of it others had excuses but in the end they were no different from anyone else in the community and soon Blended in with the other Factory workers and with the fabric of this community they were supported not judged to today Garder has many of these halfway houses and they have become part of this community so Blended in that I can't tell you how many of where they are I felt great pride in my community in Garder on Wednesday night as I witnessed the outpouring of support for those struggling we have learned not to be judgmental not to look at the alcoholic or addict as having moral failings they have a disease and while the disease has a physical manifestation we understand that this sickness also infects the mind and because the disease affects the mind is that that much harder to treat and it can only be treated when the alcoholic or addict is willing if they are not willing all we as family members or friends can do is watch and wait all the while continuing to love them as I said at the start I am proud of this community for the support we give to those fighting for sobriety or recovery that support is what community is that's support is what community does May Gardener only grow stronger thank you thank you counselor further Council comments and remarks councelor Heath thank you madam president um I just want to go ahead and say um well welcome Jersey mik you know um I've eaten here three times this week I'm not proud of it but it was good food um I also want to say thank you to them because they actually fed the um Gardener uh High School band when they first opened up which was great and I know they gained a lot of customers and you know so I just want to go ahead and go say thank you to them and I think by the time we have our next meeting fall Sports will be started so I just want to say good luck to all the athletes out there in the fall Sports um and that's all thank you thank you counselor for the council comments or remarks Council tyus thank you madam president uh while there was no formal ceremony I just like to briefly announce to the public that last week Mackie Park was opened in downtown Gardner um through a combination of state federal and City funds we're able to take a blank slate into something that I think uh will attract people to downtown over the weekend I saw a lively game of cornhole being played and it brought a little joy to my heart um and I hope people enjoy um the nice fall weather in Mackie Park uh another Milestone reached in our journey to rejuvenate Gardner thank you thank you counselor further Council comments or remarks okay I will entertain a motion on the floor to adjourn after the closing prayer second motion made by councelor Mac seconded by councelor Heath all those in favor say I iOS say no motion passes Almighty father overall as we we thank thee for the opportunity of joint deliberation and action witness during the course of this meeting bless Lord all who are GED here and the people who represent we are and do to our common welfare our next meeting meeting stands adjourned thank you everyone