it being time I now call the appointments committee meeting of the Gardner City council's Tuesday April 16th 2024 meeting at 6 pm to order I'd like the uh clerk to reflect that all members of the committee are present chair uh tyros councilors heglin and Heath also president is Mayor Nicholson is anybody recording today's meeting there being none reading and prior minutes we have none interview of the following appointees measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Thomas zuka to the position of Building Commissioner good good evening good evening from the mayor thank you very much uh Mr chairman and counselors uh commissioner zupa has been with us uh for a couple months now serving in his position on a temporary appointment I've been very very impressed during his time in the office I Define his approach as firm but fair uh being able to work with individuals to get to where they need to be but still following the laws and r rules and regulations that uh dictate how the building code is supposed to operate uh I have received very little complaints about the work that's been done uh over there uh which when your job is to critique the work of someone else it's hard to get very little complaints back uh the approach he's taken to modernizing the department uh through new technological means by outfitting uh inspectors you'll see items on the full Council agenda this evening that include um transfer requests from salary Appropriations to expense Appropriations to equip every inspector with a tablet that way they can get their inspection report done out in the field where they can actually see it and upload everything together with pictures included rather than having to try to do a couple of inspections and then come back and try to remember okay well what did I say I have inspections ago based on my notes that I wrote down here uh we're going to get a lot more of an accurate Reporting System done a lot more documented uh and I guess firmer foundational basis for any decisions that get made by uh the building department uh Tom has really worked too on making sure that we update the documentation that we have in the building department because right now we're missing a lot of documentation for stuff that happened in the past that we're trying to catch back up to date on just to make sure all of our eyes are dotted and our tees are crossed uh he's a local native of the city of Garder uh may be a resident of a surrounding town right now we won't give him a shout out but uh grew up here in Garder and knows the community and knows it well and I think that that adds another great perspective to that position too is he he's got a vested interest in what's going on here in Gardner and I think that that plays a big role into why he's been so successful thank you Mr Mayor commissioner zupa if you'd like to introduce yourself to the committee sure um Tom zupa Building Commissioner uh City Gardener um just to expand on um what the mayor had stated is uh when I first came into code enforcement I was lucky enough to work under a commissioner who saw something in me and mentored me um taught me how to read the codes and read the laws how they were written and not how we have gotten into the habit of uh interpreting them on our own um it's proven to be an asset in my career so far uh and that's you know those are techniques and tactics that I've carried into City Gardener with me um as mayor stated this Garden is my hometown my children go to school here I have a vested interest in this community um moving Gardener forward and moving it Forward safely and appropriately is is one of my my top priorities um when we talk about documentation within the department uh we' brought in um new plan review uh checklists uh that the department has never used in the past this now allows an inspector to uh when they get building permit plans for whatever they may be be able to systematically go through the building code um and research every single section of the code that applies to to that permit so it's far more accurate um the code books the training material that that we're going to be providing uh the up fitting of the vehicles that we're going to be providing uh allows the inspectors or will allow the inspectors to do their jobs as they were intended to be done um what folks often forget is um the role of a building official is first and foremost Public Safety um we do provide a service um but it's first and foremost Public Safety it's it's making sure that our First Responders are safe when they go into a building it's making sure that all of our residents and our guests of the city of gardener are safe um it's a big job requires a lot of sacrifice a lot of dedication um both are all our you know characteristics that I have and traits that I've shown um you know in this position so far so it's it's not something that I take lightly at all I appreciate that commissioner thank you thank you counselor England sure thank you first and foremost for coming out tonight before us um in an impressive few months it sounds like uh under your temporary appointment I think just two quick questions um how long previously in you know similar capacities and then uh sure after that yeah uh previously was almost 3 years in in the city of fitzburg U that's where I was Meed by uh commissioner barbero there and then um luckily I was able to you know this position came up and I applied for it and you know I'm thankful uh that I was able to be given this opportunity by May Nicholson great thank you and uh just other one quick question uh any particular projects you want to highlight or anything you been excited about did you working on in your sure yeah we we have a lot happening in in the city um and it it's spread out throughout the city um we you know we worked closely with with the school department um to to bring that Elementary School into compliance um they've been throughout this process they've been really great assets uh providing documentation for me uh we've got a lot of commercial development going on here in the city with obviously with Aldi and chipotle coming up um the residential stuff has slowed a little bit um but we are still having you know a lot of interest couple of forms that I've brought along with us U we're digitizing our process um still offer paper applications for anybody that wants them one of the things that we do is it's called the form of intent uh many other municipalities use it sometimes under a different name when somebody wants to know what they can or cannot do with a parcel structure within the city of Gardner they start there um and allows me to give them a comprehensive zoning determination for what they can do uh and a clear path for success so that's that's been instrumental in our success so far in the building department thank you that's it for me thank Council heg Council e um I'm going to Echo what uh Council he e onee and said uh thank you for coming out tonight um you know I don't know if a lot of you guys know but enam actually worked for maybe a day or two together free many years many years ago you know probably 18 years ago yeah it's been a long time 18 years ago um when when I had three jobs at the same time yes yes yes and um he was always of this size and um you know you know he's was the gentle giant is what we used to call him um for the wreck rol one or the other um however you know like knowing you then to knowing you now you know and I watch from afar social media things that such see you're on the passings and there always been you know Good Vibes everything else appreciate um but we never really talk business sure um very impressed very impressed ever since you came aboard I know you know what you were doing over there in Fitchberg I was watching from afar and everything else I think that you are um from what I've been told from those that you have dealt with uh firm but fair um and I mean you know I I've heard nothing but great things about what you're doing and again me personally as a friend as someone that has known you um I can't even say as a friend as an ex-coworker who has later on life became a friend um I just want to go ahead and just say like I'm thly impressed in you as an individual so well thank you ccor I I appreciate that uh it means a lot uh to me to to know that I'm doing a a good job there's there an old saying that I dislike very much uh and it's if if you're not getting complained about you're not doing your job right um it's a saying that I've never I've never taken to um you will always get complained about in especially when you have to take enforcement action on somebody uh but I stand by what I put in my uh cover letter is that my goal is to um enforce the building code and the laws associated with it in a tactful manner tactful and respectful um there's no other way to to do this job so I I I thank you for your kind words I do appreciate it oh I I thank you for your service and I'm pretty sure the city of Gardner thanks you as well um that is all thank you thank you coun um commissioner we've been on the cdbg committee yes uh together for a number of years now and through various uh City uh processes we've interacted and I Echo the mayor's um you know appreciation and remarks that you're doing a good job and I think you're certainly uh serving the citizens well um only technical question I have is for the Building Commissioner I'm assuming all you have special licenses or certifications that you uh have to ascertain and keep up to date is that is that correct or uh y so I am what is called conditionally appointed um so as a conditional appointee you have 12 months following the six-month probationary period to get all of your licenses when you receive approval from the bccc building official certification committee that letter gives you approval to take all of your local exams as well as all your commissioner exams um so that would put me some some point about the end of the year um so again one test left once I have that that final test send it off to the state send it off to the BBS and they give you they give you the license from there um so one test left I would have loved to have had it done already but as we all know we've been down a local building inspector for you know the better part of last year we were down to clerk as well for the better part of last year so um taking the helm Tes takes a while to right to ship small incremental changes um but I've you know had you know the privilege cuz i' I've learned a bit more um than what I wanted to in such a short period of time um but doing the job of three individuals um puts a slight delay but I have I have no no concerns with with passing on last I think that's completely fair and you know hearing about the digitization of your department and standardization of processes I think you've been well busy too sure it's a lot of work I don't take days off uh for for the Public's awareness I know um you know cly when I was younger there was certainly many red x's on buildings in town Public Safety is a big aspect of your role um are there any anything on the horizon that you'd like to inform the public to be aware of things coming down the pipeline so nothing as far as red X's or condemned buildings um we we've had the many conversations in you know the the cdbg meetings and Council meetings about the existing properties that we do have that that we' redex there there's a a process some individuals would like properties to just be slap with an X um but there's a very distinct process so they have to pose an immediate danger to life or limb or they have to be especially unsafe in case of fire uh if they're occupied that's a very different process on on how we have to go about doing that uh we have redex quite a few buildings even since I started here those are all buildings that are being looked at from the city or being looked at by the city for demolition or or repurposing um there are many other properties that we're attempting to bring into compliance um um due to ongoing investigations we can't get too specific with them um but we are working collaboratively with the Board of Health um on trying to bring quite a few other properties vacant and occupied into compliance very good thank you any further questions from the committee no evening thank you very thank you we we'll take a few more questions for you thank you so measure confirming the mayor's appointment of gero to sorry to the position of local building inspector for from the mayor thank you very much Mr chairman uh both Mr Drano and Mr impressa who's in the next one our reappointments uh they're both represented by the Teamsters Union that we have here representing our inspectional services uh Department uh but for Mr germano he's worked in the building department for several years most recently um when former commissioner Jean was appointed commissioner and left the local building inspector role Rick went back into that position uh that said uh Mr germano was employed by the city of Gardner back when uh commissioner Reynolds was commissioner he was the local inspector here then left and then came back when Roland jeene was appointed Building Commissioner uh so he's done a lot of work for Garder over a lot of time uh he's really dedicated to his job he's very thorough in his inspections and has been a really big asset to the city and I'm happy to put him forward again for reappointment thank you Mr Man as the department head uh commissioner isuku would you like to give report of course um so I first met inspector Jano uh a few years back at one of our uh many district meetings that that we go to um even before I first spoke to him I I could tell that he was a a good inspector was a knowledgeable inspector just by the questions that he asked during the training um having been able to work with uh with inspector jamano since last May um I've come to come to know him personally come to witness his work ethic um he is a tremendous asset to the city of Gardner he knows the city well he knows the building code well um I'm bringing him up to speed a little bit more on zoning it is something that he has has taken more of an interest in uh which is something that I I love to see from the inspectors lots of uh residential and Commercial and Industrial experience um so he's he's a wealth of knowledge and uh as I stated you know an asset to the city of Gardner and does this does the local building inspector handle all three residential commercial Municipal absolutely yep um so inspectors do it all uh so inspectors also enforce zoning um by my extension um so if we get complaints in the office whether digital phone call paper complaints they will actually go out and investigate those those complaints as well um it's the only way that you can do the job as an inspector you have to do all of it um and he and he does it all very well very good counselor hegler uh I think any questions this evening ask e uh thank you I actually have no questions either thank you and I only have the standard question of uh for the local building inspector are there certificates um licenses that he either needs pursuers his possession uh nothing new that he needs to pursue uh he has he holds his local building inspector certification uh and then he also participates in all of his continuing education which is takes place in many forms um some of it can be done through the international code counil online and you submit the certificates um if an inspector attends all of his district meetings if he which is which would be once a month um in our case where members of several districts so um he gets more than enough uh you know credits continuing education credits for when his uh certification comes up for Renewal he'll have all that continu education very good and for the districts is that Wester County are we well so we have uh the state has districts and I believe it's if I remember correctly it's nine districts broken up throughout the state um we are district three there's also District Four and then there's some other building official um committees that that we're all members of interesting thank you any further questions thank you for the report item C A measure confirming the mayor's appointment of James E impresa to the position of plumbing and gas inspector of Corin mayor thank you very much Mr chairman inspector impa uh was uh has been with the city for close to 10 years now uh serving in this position it's a part-time role uh but he is the uh local plumbing inspector for the town of Westminster as well uh some of our inspectors do that too with they're us full-time during the day and then have second jobs after hours and other communities uh that's pretty normal for most municipalities in these types of positions around the state uh he's been very um thorough in his job again working with individuals who are coming in for permit and project requests to see what they need beforehand and how they need to work through those uh most recently with growing places at wford Street school I know he sat down with their contractor and said all right this is everything that the code says you need in the end let's talk about how we're going to get you to that final product and it's that's something that's really I guess em I of Jimmy's uh work ethic is that he's willing to work with people and get them to where they need to be but again still following all parts of the code and showing them the road mapap on how to get there rather than putting up a roadblock at the beginning uh instead so I'm very been very impressed with his work thank you Mr Mayor I will uh I will just reiterate what the mayor had said um inspector Pria uh at one point in time sat on uh Theo inspector's board he's an incredibly knowledgeable inspector um one of the things that he does extremely well aside from his knowledge of of the the pluming of gas codes is his willingness to meet with uh with contractors um or or other individuals design professionals prior to the start of uh of their project one of the things that we reiterate time and time again is we want communication from the general public we want communication from them from homeowners we want communication from the contractors we would all and this is this is kind of the atmosphere that we have in the building department now is we would much all much rather work with you through the project and guide you then have to stop you if we have to stop you it's it's it's a very different road that we have to go down um sometimes it can be really messy so one of the great things that we all try to do and Jimmy is is fantastic with that is spending time with individuals ahead of time to make sure that they have the proper knowledge before they even start the project it's good to hear that's Heath uh I have no questions thank you uh no nothing else for me to it's great to hear about inspector impressia uh about how good of work he does and how um how you recommend his his work is this um because he also is parttime Westminster is this a full-time position or is it this is this is a 20h hour part-time position for him um because he's because he's retired he's limited the number of hours he can work per year um and that's why he's that's why he's partner I if I could I would love to have fulltime I mostly I mostly ask because it sounds like it's a full you know it's full work he's doing it it really is it's it it should be a full-time position I would love to have it be a full-time position we also brought in an alternate inspector uh Wayne little who is my club and and gas inspector in uh in Fitchburg knows inspector impr pressure very well they work fantastic together so when he happens to be out on a vacation Wayne steps right in and it's seamless uh and he has the exact same mentality so if I could have a fulltime person I would I would take him but um Jimmy does an amazing job to put this into perspective too with his retirement from the state's plumbing board is the plumbing board is the board appointed by the governor that all inspectors Statewide report to so they're the ones who give the appeal decisions they're the ones who give the Y Anda and the final say on these inspections so they have to know everything back and forth because they're also some of the people who write the updates of these codes so to have someone here in Gardner who was on that board and help basically write the codes that now he's enforcing it's it's very invaluable for us to have it's impressive thank you uh those are the appointments front of us uh with your department commissioner zupa if you have other commitments to attend to or you're welcome to stay here I I do I have my vacation to continue vacation to continue this is important though this is a I appreciate that thank you thank you for coming in on your and have a good vacation thank you item D A measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Charles the blank to the position Board of assessors report from the mayor thank you very much Mr chairman Mr Blan was first appointed to the board of assessors by mayor M mayor m in the 1990s and has continued to serve in his position ever since uh the board of assessors is highly highly highly Rec uh regulated by the general laws of the Commonwealth and the code of regulations uh because they are the ones who set the valuations of different properties in the city that go towards how much we tax each individual property across the city on an annual basis that process to Define how much a property is assessed and valued at is very regulated as to looking a 2-year look look back on how qualifying sales went on appeals if someone thinks that their property is being incorrectly taxed they actually have the hearing before this board so you have to know those regulations on what can and cannot be appealed and also how those valuations are built so that if you think the valuation is based off of an incorrect value why you believe it's in that manner uh he comes highly recommended by the city's assessor Christine Kumar uh and I think he's done a great job in the role and look forward to seeing him continue in this position thank you Mr counsel uh yes I I just wanted to go ahead and um I mean obviously um he's not here but being on the uh Board of Assessors for over a decade what you said that he was also um appointed by yeah I wasn't sure when I sent the original write up it was it turns out it's been longer than I've been alive yes so like um you know it's just very impressive and um I'm just glad he's with the city with us so that is all thank you thank you Council Heath Council agin yeah um you know like that obviously thank him for his years and years of service um just take her out do you know if he had any like specific training in a previous life that got him he was a teacher I believe oh Jee yeah he is a local Gardener resident he and his wife live on Bayberry in uh South Garder but um I believe he was an English teacher that's that's not familiar right that's fair that's fair counselor um but I know he's gone through extensive training since then yeah no thank you very good and I'm always especially grateful to people who um you know worked for the committee for decades like You' said it's a lot of time and dedication to our city and uh I like to thank Mr blank for his Services move on to the next item any further questions no a measure confirming the mayor's employment of Timothy horens the position of Redevelopment Authority report from the mayor thank you very much Mr chairman this is a reappointment uh the bylaws of the gardenary Development Authority uh State the stipulations as to who uh a me who makes up their membership uh requires a local real estate professional a local business owner um someone who has a planning background and as specifically fills it out as to what that makeup is made up from for the mayoral appointees and then the governor gets an appointment to that is not restricted uh by those bylaws because it's enabled by a state statute that was signed by the governor to begin with uh Mr Horgan fills the business owner uh slot for that having been the owner of Horgan cleaners and South Gardner for several years along with his brother uh during his time he's brought a I guess a newer perspective and a newer voice to the Garden Redevelopment Authority um bringing in you know modern ideas on how can we attract businesses here how can we work with people and individuals to get you know Gardener back up and running in these properties that we're looking at selling um to people who they should be going to and people who are going to be invested in Gardener I think this committee is going to be very busy uh coming up in the next couple years uh not only with you know the things that they already had on their plate with the sale of the Garbo slot next Tractor Supply uh the sale of the old esbent property behind that and the rear main street project that the garden of Redevelopment Authority is overseeing uh but also just with the general expansion and interest that we've seen in Garder over the past couple years uh this is something that we're going to be looking at the gardener Redevelopment Authority with a greater eye to make sure that we have you know a sense on how to move the city forward rather than holding the city back very good coun a uh I think you know I'll just Echo again thank you to you know Tim for his years of service I I Lao and agree that with his business experience and his knowledge of gardener I think he's an asset to that um to the gr and that organization yeah appreciate you speaking on his behalf thank you thank you councel EG councel Heath um I just want to basically uh Echo exactly what the council he said you know thank you for the years of service I'm excited about anybody that's trying to go ahead and help businesses come to Garder and and um you know being here for years decades um you know I'm happy I'm happy that he's getting reappointed I'm happy that the way the direction of G is going I'm happy with any involvement that he has within it so thank you thank you thank you Council Heath uh similarly I was uh you know especially business owners looking to improve the city uh by uh getting on these boards and commissions Mr Mayor uh is the gr full uh of membership or there current vacancies we do have a current vacancy created by the late Ron cormier's passing um we are looking at options to see how we can who we should be able to fill that with but again we're taking a look because there's also expirations that have happened uh on that committee too that we're you know just not changing for lack of vision but changing to get New Perspective and rearranging where those individuals may fall into our future goals very good I think you know especially as the committee chair I think the appointments committee is very interested who will make up that composition of that committee because it is a very important Authority in our city a lot of important decisions a lot of opportunities actually um for our city with this committee so it's good to hear that you were looking at bringing us an appointee any further questions no next item a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Linda debeck to the position of disability commission report from the mayor thank you very much Mr chairman unfortunately this morning uh Miss denbeck called my office uh and then later no ified me in writing that will be forwarded to the city council that due to a medical diagnosis that a close family member received she doesn't have the time to be able to serve on this committee and make this commitment anymore so she is asking that her appointment be withdrawn and removed from the agenda um but she will look to the see if after things get a little more settled and under control there if this is something she'd like to come back to at a later date and unfortunate hearing yourest wishes to the DC family any questions from couns thank you next item resonations Mr Mayor there are no resonations appointment at this time Mr chairman discussion on appointees interviewed any further discussions from the committee on the appointe interview no very good let's say any motions on um interviewed appointees yeah I will uh I move to um you recommend favor from our committee confirmation of the appointees a through e second motion made by counselor hegn second by councelor Heath to uh recommend the confirmation of the mayor's appointment of Thomas sua to the position of Building Commissioner Rick UMO Jano thank you I'm having a rough day today uh to the position of local building inspector uh James and treasure to the position of plumbing and gas inspector Charles leelan to the position of board of assessors and Timothy Horgan position of Redevelopment Authority made by Council hean second by council at Heath is the discussion all those in favor say I I all this oppose no motions pass and I'll make motion um that we uh to remove from the agenda uh Linda dbec from the position of disability commission member second motion by by chair Tyro second by councilor heglin to uh recommend removal of item 11207 from the council's calendar is a discussion all those in favor I I all those oppose no motion passes um referrals from the full Council there are three items um that will take up at a future meeting and a motion to adjourn move seconded motion made by councelor Heath seconded by councelor Hein to adjourn is their discussion all in favor I iose no we stand a Jour thank you very much