it being 7:30 I will call the Monday April 1st 2024 meeting to order for to order business to call of order when I call your name please respond present Council Brooks present Council Craig Cormier present Council General LTZ present Council harder present Council Heath present Council heglin Pres Council Mac present Council tbot Munos present Council tone present Council tyros and president K so I have nine councils present um in absence of this council president kinus the first order of of business is the election of council president proam for this evening April 1st 2024 at this time I nominate the nomination now in order for office of council president proam I open the floor for nominations Council M um I'd like to nominate councelor Alex stais as uh council president forem to serve for this meeting in uh president kazin's absence second are there any other further nominations for a president protm motion to close nominations second okay um motion made by Council tone second by Council Mack to close nomination all in favor indicate by saying I I those opposed saying nay motion carried nominations are now closed I will call the role of members please State the name of the council you choose of your choice councelor Brooks councelor Journal owt Council Craig Cormier councelor DN lawitz Council d lawitz councelor d lawitz Council harder councelor DS councelor Heath councelor D lards councilor heglin councelor dernal lawitz councilor Mack councelor dernal lawitz counil T Munos coun D Al counil tone journ lawitz counc Ty is absent so I have nine councilors who voted for councel General lawitz councel General Laz is elected president pro for this evening April 1st 2024 thank you everyone uh please rise to recite the opening prayer and save the Pledge of alleg Allegiance almighty 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 government we pray the to bless protect all the people of our city and to so guide and Inspire us that we may deliberate 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 I'll start with the reading of the open meeting recording notice any person may make a video or a 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 or referenced at the meeting must be submitted in duplicate to the chair as we become part of the meeting minutes pursuing to Mass General laws chapter 3A section 20 is there anyone recording tonight's meeting hear none on to the next uh item of the calendar which is the reading of Prior minutes there are no prior minutes there are no public hearings Communications from the mayor orders number 11214 in order transferring $122,000 from the building clerk salaries and wages to operating expenditures councelor Mac uh thank you um I'd like to make a motion to refer the following items to the finance uh committee for study and Report 111214 11215 11216 11236 11237 11238 and 11239 second motion made by councelor Mack to re refer uh 11214 11215 in order appropriating $212,500 from free cash to the police department new vehicles account 11216 an order appropriating 40,000 from free cash to the public works tree removal account 11236 in order appropriating 390,000 from water Enterprise Surplus to repairs to transmission main account 11237 order appropriating 75,000 from water Enterprise Surplus to the repairs to water M's account 11238 in order appropriating $140,000 from sewer Enterprise Surplus to chemical treatment account 11239 and Order appropriating $75,000 from free cash to energy and utilities City City owned properties accountor excuse me councelor ma did you do through 11 2178 and n as well yes okay 11217 A measure to establish a Special Reserve fund for the opioid settlement under mgl chapter 44 section 53 11218 a measure to approve an easement from Kristoff vardia to the city of Gardner for the purpose of snow storage on Rock Street and 11219 a measure to resend the acceptance of civil service for the members of the Garder Police Department as adopted by the town of Gardner on March 4th 1912 Is there further discussion on the motion hearing none all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no the motion carries next is item 11220 a communication from the mayor regarding the non-union salary study Council ma um thank you Council LTZ um I would like to refer this to uh the council as a whole and schedule an informal meeting once this entire salary study is completed there is some areas that were not part of our report and is missing as well as um The Narrative of the report so I think it's important that um in the next couple months that we have an informal meeting once we have the complete study second motion by councilor Mack to refer the item to the counc a whole and schedule in a formal meeting seconded by councelor Heath um is there further discussion on the item hearing none all those in favor I all those opposed motion carries uh item 11221 a communication from the mayor regarding the emergency repairs made to the Crystal Lake Dyke by Greenwood pool Council hegan thank you councel General now uh there be no objection I'd like to move to place the f Communications on file item 11221 11222 1122 3 1122 4 11225 11226 11227 11228 1129 1123 0 11231 11240 11241 and 11242 second motion made by councelor heglin seconded by councelor tasson to place items 11 uh with these following items on file item 11221 11222 a communication for the mayor regarding the fiscal year 2023 external audit item 11223 a communication from the mayor regarding calendar year 2023 employee earnings report 11224 a communication from the mayor regarding Federal ear mark received by the city to replace the James Street Pump Station 11225 a communication from the mayor regarding funds received from the national opioid distributor settlement 11226 a communication from the mayor regarding National Grid construction work 11227 a communication for the mayor regarding Downtown parking meters 11228 a communication from the mayor regarding the execution of the collective bargaining agreement between the city of Garder and the Teamsters Local 1 70 for animal control services 11229 a communication from the mayor regarding the fire department roof replacement 11230 a communication from the mayor regarding the collective bargain agreement between the city of Garder and the American Federation of state county and Municipal Employees aflci State Council 93 local 1717 11231 a communication from the mayor regarding the city 2024 flower par flower pot program 11240 a communication from the mayor regarding a $750,000 grant for electric vehicle charging stations in the Nolton street parking lot 11241 a communication from the mayor regarding National Grid credits for street lights and 11242 a communication from the mayor regarding the city's contract for advanced life support ambulance services with Woods ambulance is there any further discussion on on any of those Communications seeing none all those in favor say I hi all those oppos say no the motion motion carries item here item 11243 a measure confirming the order of taking for 94 Pleasant Street as voted on by the city council on August 1st 2022 councelor Mack uh yes councelor jtz I would like to make a motion to place the uh to refer the following items to the finance committee for study report items 11243 item 11244 item 11245 item 11246 item 11247 item 11248 item 1 1249 and item 11250 second motion made by councelor Mack seconded by councelor Tone to refer the following items to the finance committee uh items 11243 items 11244 a measure declaring the air rights of the notton street parking lot as Surplus for the purpose of leasing to a solar photo voltaic canopy array a measure declaring the roof of Department of Public Works Administration Building located at 50 ma drive as Surplus for the purpose of leasing for a solar voltaic array measure declaring the roof of Department of Public Works cold storage building located 50 maer drive as Surplus for the purpose of leasing to a solar photo voltaic array item 11247 measure declaring the roof of the Garder City Hall located at 95 Pleasant Street as Surplus for the purpose of leasing to a solar voltaic array item 11248 a measure declaring the roof of the Waterford Community Center located at 62 Waterford Street as Surplus for the purpose of relasing to a solar voltaic array item 1249 a measure declaring the roof of the Department of Public Works garage buildings located at 416 West Broadway as surus for the purpose of leasing to a solar voltaic array and item 11250 a measure declaring the roof of the gardener Fire Department headquarters located at 70 City Hall Avenue as Surplus for the purpose of leasing to a solar voltaic array is there any further discussion on any of those uh items hearing none all those in favor say I I I all opposed say no the motion carries item 11251 a petition for home rule legislations entitled an act changing the use of school land in the city of Garder I believe the mayor would like to speak on this item to begin with Mr Mayor thank you very much Mr President and members of the city council uh this item before us is on somewhat of a time sensitive uh timetable that we have uh and it relates to the Future Community Center that we're looking at building at Waterford Street School uh and something we've talked about on several different occasions under the public land protections Act of the Commonwealth uh the legislature must approve all changes of uses to public buildings uh in municipalities uh the land that the now former Waterford Street School sits on was purchased by the city through an eminent domain taking in 1919 for the purposes of establishing Wilder field playground uh in 1949 and later adopted in the acts of 1950 the city council sent a home RO petition to the state legislature to take a certain portion of that land out of the provisions of playground purposes and put those into the purposes of uh housing a public school building that was approved and signed by Governor dver at the time uh and then as we are talking about today uh the building isn't set to be used for purposes of housing a City public school at this time as we do have the new Gardener Elementary School uh the school committee voted to relinquish their use of the building in October of 2022 uh however we needed to have a separate survey done of the property to subdivide the property out from what was voted in 1950 uh to remove the POS provisions of that land from playground and park purposes to educational purposes and then keep what was there under playground and park purposes there for Wilder field that survey has since been completed last week and recorded with the registry of d needs and now that that survey is done and the parcel is separate we can move forward with this home roomle petition to change that purpose of use from an educational purpose of the house for the purpose of housing a uh City public school to General Municipal purposes that allows the city to utilize that building for the highest and best use that the city deems appropriate at that time as it sits right now the purpose of establishing a new nonprofit Community Center in the city of Garder uh this would allow us to then go out and Lease certain uh portions of that building to different nonprofits in the area move different city services into that area right now the most we can do is what's called a license agreement uh which is a creates a tency at will with a different tenants who are in that building they do still pay rent they do still uh move forward with the different uh aspects of a light lease for lack of a better term however there's no long-term protections there so they are still subject uh to different aspects of the law that wouldn't be subject if uh we could get a long-term lease and we also have a better Financial benefit as a city if we can go ENT inter excuse me enter into a long-term lease uh if we don't do this right now all leases in that building have to be approved by the Commonwealth which is a very Tim lengthy process uh so this will allow us to continue to move forward with that process at a quicker speed and a speed that's the best interest of the city thank you thank you Mr Mayor councelor Hein thank you Mr President Pro I move pass the item second motion made by councelor hegan seconded by councelor Mack to pass the item is there any further discussion hearing none um all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no motion carries under next under petitions applications Communications item 11232 a measure to adopt local option room occupy excise rate increase under Mass General law 64g section 3A councel ton Mr President PM I would like to take the following 11232 11233 and 11234 and refer those items to the committee as a whole for discussion second uh motion made by councelor ton seconded by councelor Heath to refer items um the following items to the council the whole 11232 11233 a measure to adopt local option sales tax on meals under Mass General law 64 L uh SEC 2A and item 112 2 34 a resolution to review the city's zoning map for accuracy is there any further discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no the motion carries item 11235 a resolution relating to the future of Helen may solder councilor heglin thank you Mr President proem uh leading to a motion I think I saw like some of you did a recent article where the mayor outlined the stat status of repurposing and redeveloping various school buildings no longer in use I commend the mayor for this as I think in the past we've let building sit far too long and in some cases lose the opportunity to do anything with them other than knocking them down drilling that pack as Helen may soer which as yet does not have a plan this resolution would call on the mayor to prepare for the council an evaluation with options for that property and there's two reasons why I think we should get that process going first I did teach there from 2019 to 202 1 so I'm very familiar with the state of that building uh and the issues it has even when it was being upca regularly uh some of which I think are time sensitive especially now that it is unoccupied the other piece is that certain options may require title work as the par parcel on which the building sits is a megga lot so that contains Stone field the big chair Elm Street School Etc and so with that I uh moveed to pass the resolution and send it to the mayor motion made to pass the resolution by councelor Hegman seconded by Council tibo munes Is there further discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no the motion carries reports of standing committees finance committee item 11209 an order appropriating $ 77,78 from free cash to the IT department City Hall cyber security system account councilor Mac thank you uh president proem um the final finance committee met on this item this is for a three-year service um agreement um with to serve as a this to enforce the city's um cyber security um our current um system would become the backup system which would reduce um the uh hacking attacks that could lead to ransoms on the city um and so uh director O'Keefe um has done much research and is very knowledgeable um about the different um security systems and what is needed uh so we aren't in the situation as other local communities have been so the finance committee um uh approved this order for passage by the council second motion made to uh pass the order by councelor Mack seconded by councelor Heath is there discussion on the motion do want to note that this item and the following two do require a roll call vote hearing no uh need for discussion can the cler calls call the role Council Brooks yes councelor Craig Cormier yes councelor General lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council hegan yes Council Mack yes Council TB mun yes and Council toone yes n y nine y the motion passes item 11210 in order appropriating $49,000 from free cash to the mayor's unclassified Professional Services grant writing expense report from the finance committee Council Mac thank you uh Council uh darwitz um this is for a seven-month contract um to work on obtaining Federal grant opportunities for this city of Garder um Keller Partners would be the grant writing um uh company that we would be contracting with um if you recall we had um allocated $60,000 for local grant writing which was concentrated on state grants um we received $2.7 million um on and state grants um thus far and but they only focus on state grants um with Keller Partners we would be the only municipality in Massachusetts they would work on to apply for um federal grants um which is much more substantial um pool of Grants and the ones that are just um uh just within the state um so the finance committee met on this order and I mov the order for approval from the council second motion by councelor Max seconded by Council tone to approve the order is there further discussion Council Brooks yes thank you Mr President uh I am going to support this I think it's great that we're going after uh grant funding uh I think a piece that that is added in this is that they also manage the grant so that we'll do the filings and so on my one note of caution is that to make sure that we don't get so far ahead with grants that we can't manage the grants and the projects associated with them I point as an example to the uh safe roots to school grant that was redoing part of Elm Street between Temple and cross street it was a grant obtained by the assistant principal at Elm Street School several years ago he left and that project has been orphaned ever since and I think it's it's it's moving along but it it it became something that that was a question of of who in the city was having ownership of the grant so I just want to make sure that as we're as we're pursuing grants there is uh there are people within the city government who are willing to take ownership of the project itself not just getting the money but completing the project thank you thank you Council Brooks any further discussion Council Tony I I yes I would just like to Echo exactly what C councelor Brooks um just stated uh I think it's of the utmost utmost importance uh that these grants get managed and and sought through to their fullest entirety entirety so that's really all I have to say thank you thank you councelor Sony councelor Mech um I I just want to concur with the other two counselors I think the importance of this um allocation for federal grants is that they do do the follow-up process the follow-up reports um that's extremely important um especially grants get audited to make sure the funds are being used in the appropriate manner um so I think that across every Department um we need to make sure that those that have grants or receive grants are doing their due diligence um to follow them through thank you thank you Council ma any further discussion seeing none CL please call the RO Council Brooks yes Council Craig Cormier yes Council General lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council Hegman yes Council M yes Council TBO Munos yes Council tone yes n N9 y the motion carries 11213 in order appropriating $555,500 from $500 from free free cash to the elections and Registration Department for election officer salary and Professional Services expenses report from the finance committee councelor Mack thank you uh councelor General lawitz um this um item the appropriation uh from free cash the is asking to bring the account back into the black from the funds that were used for the state special state senate election um for cost and materials as well as the materials needed for the city Charter vote that was put out um to to our citizens um uh yes we do get a very little bit of of reimbursement from the um State when you have a special election um however this money is needed um to because the additional cost for materials um in election officer salaries and Professional Services thank you I make a motion that we uh move this order second motion made by councelor Mack seconded by councelor Tone to move the order is there any further discussion seeing none can the clerk can the clerk please call the role councelor Brooks yes councelor Craig Cormier yes councelor General lch yes councel harder yes councel Heath yes Council hegan yes counc yes Council mun yes and Council yes n n y n y the motion carries item 11212 election of the city clerk report from the finance committee councelor Mack thank you um I'm going to ask uh that we have more time on the this item as um the election of the city clerk is one of the few positions that is voted on by the city council and as two councilors are absent tonight um the finance committee would request more time there no objections the finance committee will be granted more time the finance committee will be granted more time appointments committee 1127 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Thomas zupa to the position of Building Commissioner for a term expiring January 9th uh 2027 councelor Heath thank you uh councelor um D AZ also on as uh president pro term um the appointments committee has not gotten to meet with the uh well haven't gotten to meet together um so I asked for more time for the following orders 11127 11139 11140 11141 11142 11143 11144 11150 and 11207 there are no OB objections the appointments committee will give you more time for 11 11 12711 11139 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Robert pz to the position of planning board member for term expiring January 4th 2027 11140 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Robert Schwarz to the position of planning board member for term expiring January 4th 2027 11141 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Steven Cormier to the position of planning board member for a term expiring January 4th 2027 11142 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Charles O Blan to position of board of Assessors for a term expiring January 4th 2027 11143 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Rick germano to the position of local inspector for term expiring January 4th 2027 11144 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of James Andia to the position of plumbing and gas inspector for a term expiring January 4th 2027 11150 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Timothy Horan to the position of Redevelopment Authority for a term expiring January 8th 2027 and 11227 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Linda demc to the position of disability commission member for term expiring March 4th 2027 is there any objection hearing none the appointments committee will be granted more time for those items Safety Committee item 1186 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of guard chapter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic section 24 entitled parking prohibited on certain streets Comey Street in the city council and referred to the Public Safety Committee on November 6 2023 more time on November 20th 2023 December 4th 2023 December 18th 2023 January 2nd January 16th February 5th February 20th and March 4th of this year councilor cor yes thank you president proam uh as this uh item is with the police department on a trial basis I believe they're just entering their fourth week of this trial uh we would ask for more time if there are no objections the Safety Committee will be granted more time the Safety Committee will be granted more time next item 11115 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 Road rep from the Safety Committee Council Cormier thank you president pro we are still waiting on the police department to act this on a trial basis so I ask for more time as long as there's no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time item 11203 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of gardener chapter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic section 41 entitled handicap parking Central Street from a point 33 ft from the corner of Maple Street eastly for 40 ft two spaces report from the Safety Committee Council Cormier thank you president proam as discussed in our last meeting this was just a Clearing House item we already had these handicap spaces designated so this is just adding into the ordinance so I therefore move to send the item to its second and final printing second motion made by councelor Cormier seconded by councelor Heath to send the item to its second and final printing all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no the motion carries item 11204 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic section 24 entitled parking prohibited on certain Street streets edel street from Elm Street to laurren Street report from the Safety Committee councelor cor thank you president proam uh this item is waiting on the police department to enact on a 60-day trial so I therefore ask for more time there is no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee we granted more time item 11205 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 Cottage Street to Central Street report from the finance committee Council former uh thank you president proam uh uh as we discussed in our last meeting this was to clean up uh the existing ordinance after the bike trail extended the north side of the road and took this parking so I therefore move this item to Second and final printing motion made by councelor Cormier seconded by councelor harder to move this item to its second and final printing Is there further discussion on the item seeing none all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no the motion carries item 11206 in ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 600 entitles vehicles and traffic section 24 entitled parking prohibited on certain streets Pine Street from West Line Street southernly for a distance of 50 ft councilor cor thank you br proam again this item we discussed in our last meeting is the uh single parking spot closest to West Line Street in front of the library uh it causes a terrible blind spot if you're coming up from West Lon Street on to Pine Street uh I therefore uh move the item to second in final printing motion made by councelor Cormier seconded by councelor Carter to send the item to Second and final printing Is there further discussion on the item councelor Ma I just want to thank the um traffic commission for doing this um I had pointed it out to them um especially after during election day um coming up to there you just it was just so blind it was a blind spot and it was very dangerous so I I thank them for being proactive and in in um and addressing this item thank you Council Mac any further discussion seeing none all those in say hi hi all those opposed say no the motion carries service committee item 11199 a petition by National Grid in Verizon New England Incorporated Allen Street to install one jointly uh one pole on Allen Street beginning at a point approximately 430 ft west of the center line of the intersection of Allen Street and windel Street install one jointly old poll number seven for new houses report from the service committee Council Sony yes president thank you president proem uh the service committee uh did meet on this item and the city engineer Rob Oliver uh wrote a a letter in favor as well as the uh service committee voted to support this petition uh with the caveat of a guy a guywire being added to it however in in National Grid is aware and I have been in in contact with both National Grid and uh I would like to make a motion to approve this petition um as presented second motion made to approve the petition by councelor Tone seconded by councelor tibo munes is there any further discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no the motion carries welfare committee item 11211 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Gardner to add a new chapter 15 to be entitled agricultural commission um councelor Mack yes the welfare committee respectfully ask for more time on this item as long as there's no objection the committee will be granted more time hearing none the committee will be granted more time no unfinished business in matters for reconsideration there is no new business counselor comments and remarks seeing none move toour second following motion made by councelor Cormier to adjourn after the reading of the closing Prayer seconded by councelor Mack all those in favor say I I I please rise for the reading of the closing prayer Almighty father who see us over all as we we thank the for the opportunity to Joint deliberation and action witness during the course of this me bless Lord are here and the people represent are do thend to our our next meeting amen meeting is a jour --------- U seeing it's time 6:45 and call today April 1st uh 2024 meeting of the gardener finance committee uh to come to order I am Al Council D lards taking the place of council president kazinski who is not with us to chair this meeting can the clerk please call the RO Council dtz pres Council man pres and president consensus AB there are no previous uh meeting minutes to discuss so it's on to the uh first uh item referred to finances item number 11209 in order appropriating $ 77,4 18 from free cash to the IT department City Hall cyber security system account Mr Mayor thank you very much Mr chairman uh this is an appropriation that the IT director babok Keefe has recommended that we move forward with to advance our cyber security system that we have here in the city uh this is the cost of a full three-year subscription to this service so this is something that after three years we would build into the city's budget uh but for now this is the full cost of the entire contract for the city for onboarding cost and a three-year subscription to the service uh this backs up our city servers on a virtual cloud-based system uh on a half an hour basis uh so it does make it so that if we were ever hit by uh ransomware or some type of other Cyber attack we wouldn't actually have to go back and pay the ransom or anything like that because we could just back up our system to the nearest backup time uh right now it uh if this was to go forward with it it would substantially um increase the number of backups that we have and the frequency in which these backups occur uh to make that time period smaller if there is any data ever lost as a result of these attacks uh director O'Keefe has been um recognized by the Commonwealth as a leader in the cyber security backup system team uh using several of the things that we do do as a model for other municipalities across the common wealth to continue to protect things and have us not go through things like lemonster or AOL or other places went through where they ended up having to pay out a million dollars in ransomware um the times that we have been hit we have never had to pay a dime out because we have these backups that we just simply put in place um there's certain things that we can and can't talk about because then it reveals certain uh practices and liabilities that we don't want out publicly just because we don't want to give anyone any ideas um but this would substantially strengthen our position as a city uh from the already very strong position that we have thank you Mr Mayor Mr May uh my only question is this is the only quote he received and does he feel that this is the best quote for the city to proceed with he does this is something that's ex uh cyber security systems are exempt from the provisions of chapter 30b so we don't have to go out to bid for those systems and he does believe that uh for meeting with the vendor because even if this is the only quote he received for this type of service he's constantly meeting with different vendors to see what other products are out there and where we can move forward so he does believe this isn't the best interest of the city are we keeping the current system in place or it's going to be replacing so it's it'll be two that'll the current system will basically become our backup system backup to the backup system correct all right that's all I had a motion I'll make a motion that we re we uh refer item 11209 uh to the council for uh for approval uh second that motion motion made by councel Ma exed by councel d lawitz uh to um recommend passage of the uh free crh free cash appropriation to the full Council the um CL call rooll Council man yes Council generals yes I'm sorry was there any further discussion on that no I had no further discussion thank you thank you uh next item on the agenda is item1 1210 in order appropriating 49,000 from $40,000 from free cash to the mayor's unclassified Professional Services Grant rating expense Mr Mayor thank you very much Mr chairman you remember last year the city council voted to approve a free cash appropriation of $50,000 to hire an onall grant writer because of the amount of grants that have uh recently been released out of onetime funding out of both of the federal and state government uh since that was approved and that contract signed we've taken in about $2.7 million that that grant writer has obtained for us and spent to date a little bit after the letter was written about $35,000 of the original 50 uh while this is an uh appropriation for an additional funds uh the reason being is the on call grant writing staff that we have at the central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission and the work that we've seen with them has been very good in terms of the quality received uh but there's two specific pitfalls per se because they have been very strong in the grant writing applications that we've seen from them uh the first being that the Central Mass Regional Planning Commission is very State oriented when it comes to Grant programs that are out there um they are very very very familiar with all the different nuances that were required in state applications be it with the executive office of energy and environmental Affairs housing livable communities the community onstop grants but they're less familiar with the federal grants that are out there and that tends to be where the majority of this new onetime money is and while they have helped us successfully write a grant application on the federal level there's been several other Grant applications that we've gotten feedback after we've been notified that we weren't accepted for those grants saying you know maybe this could have improved here and this could have improved here and you don't know that unless you have that learning curve however I don't think there's certain cases that we should be the the guinea pig for other organizations to get that learning curve uh with it uh so I do plan on utilizing the remaining amount of the original free cash appropriation to fund CM rpc's contract through its term with the city but have them focus on state level grant funding because that SS to be where we've gotten the most amount of success out of the work that they've done with us um 1.7 million of the $2.7 million that we've received out of their work has been State Grant funded where that was a one11 million Grant from the Fed federal government that was awarded there uh this appropriation that's going forward uh would be to get us through when the arpa funds expire on the federal level and this would be for a grant writer that focuses solely in federal grants we would be this grant writing firms only Massachusetts client that way we're not competing with our other colleagues across the state because in most of these Federal grant funding the law is written X number of dollars for Massachusetts X number of dollars for California so on so on on the state by State basis uh so if we were to go with someone who had other Massachusetts municipalities as clients they'd be competing amongst clients so I want someone who's going to push for us in the best and strongest way possible um they don't charge on an hourly basis like cmrpc does which is great for this firm because they also administer the grants after they've been awarded so right now if uh Central Mass Regional planning writes a grant for us and we get awarded it's up to our staff to then file all the administration paperwork and make sure the money gets spent the right way and the right proper procedures get done they would do that all for us Additionally the staff at this firm is all former Congressional staff members uh so they know the federal government they know what nuances uh they're all federally registered lobbyists as well so that they know uh basically they write the Grant and then they go and Lobby for your application with a different which you can't do at the federal level unless you're a legally registered lobbyist itself um so this really I think helps strengthen the city's position in terms of the grant funding that's still out there the American Rescue plan fund uh expires unless Congress asks to extend that uh at the end of this fiscal year excuse me calendar year not fiscal year uh the inflation reduction act kicks in this summer for certain grants that come out there the bipartisan infrastructure law has recently been rolled out that has another two years before that expires uh but I want to see the actual benefit that this gets to the city so that's why uh there's a 7-month contract uh that's being proposed here uh through this funds is that I want to make sure we actually get a benefit of this um I think it would be beneficial to the city I think for a short amount of money we could get a lot big return as we've seen with the initial investment we've done with the grant writing services in just the past year um and I think it's something that uh would' be losing out on substantially if we didn't have the staff there we do have grant writing staff hired by the city uh the assistant director of Community Development the deputy police chief uh the prevention coordinator they all are part of their job descript I is grant writing however there's so much new grant funding out there as a result of all of this Federal legislation that's either coming directly from the federal government or through the states as a pass through that we just can't keep up with the we're at capacity on our internal staff levels and this is really just helping us get above and beyond what we can see Additionally the staff that we have in our individual departments are very Department focused and that's the reason why they're assigned to those departments the assistant director of Community Development is trained to find Community Development based grants same thing with the health department is trained to find Health Department related grants but we lose those big picture grants out there that you can take bits and pieces of each puzzle and put them together to get the full picture and find the grant for that work there and that's where these people fill that Gap and I think again if the money is not coming to us it's going to go to Kalamazoo or Kansas City or other places we might as well do what we can to bring our taxpayers money back here under Garder thank you Mr Mayor um I was a proponent of the previous expenditure for central Massachusetts Planning Commission um I think it's worked out very well as you described glad to hear this um other organization is going to handle the administration of the grants that's going to take a burden off of the employees here um at City Hall um as you st would' be their only masters's client is that something that would remain in place or is it Poss okay so we no matter they're not going to sign with any other correct according to the contract other um municipality yes that's good to hear um that's all I had Council neck um I'm I'm just a believer sometimes you have to spend money to make money and I just think we' we've shown from our last um allocation for grant money that um it you know it really paid off very well for the city um I I do like the fact that they are only working for one uh municipality in the in the State uh and I do like the fact that they do the follow-up um Grant reporting and stuff cuz we are learning how important that is the follow through and that we're not in a position that we can jeopardize a grant once we we get it because um we rely on on those funds so I I think it's it's well worth um the money to see what we can bring forth for federal grants because you're right there there's much more um resources and and and different things that we can do with federal funds and vers the state so and I will say too I I I I know I talked a little bit about the reason to need this versus what we have with the Central Mass Regional um they have been tremendous with working with us and finding grants that are out there and going there um but charging on an hourly basis for a Federal grant tends to add up really quick um and again they are tremendous on a state level but they're learning on a federal level and I get everyone needs to learn but when that's this much out there I would rather not put the city in that gambling position right now uh additionally the funds even if we get them are protected by federal statute uh Any Grant from the federal government received over $750,000 must be audited on an annual basis uh by our City's outside auditing firm we did just get last year's audit back on Friday John Y and we got a clean audit report on that that'll be submitted to the council for the next meeting for youreview just like the full audit was submitted for this uh council meeting tonight um but so there there's a protection plan in place there's a way to make sure everything's done properly and again I think it just sets the city up for nothing but success in the future thank you um I will make a motion that um item 11210 in order appropriating $49,000 from free cash to the Mason classified Professional Service grant writing expense be referred to the full Council for approval second motion made by councelor Mack and seconded by councel J lawitz to recommend uh passes of 11210 in order appropriating $449,000 from free cash to the mar and classifi Professional Services grant writing expense um is there any further discussion on the end hearing none C call the rooll council M yes counc General yes motion passes um next uh item is 11213 in order appropriating $555,500 from free cash to El elections and Registration Department for election officer salary and Professional Services expenses Mr Mayor or Madam clerk uh I can start if you want sure uh the uh this is basically being put forward to bring the uh elections division back into the black there were some over uh ere expenses that were done as a result of the uh Charter booklets that were sent out to help educate the public about the ballot question that was on last election uh the special election added certain requirements to the election that we had uh that increased the number of poll workers that we needed uh as well as just the general expenses of buying new ballots just things like that we do get re uh reimbursed partially from the Commonwealth for those elections but not fully uh and additionally now we we just had the super Tuesday election uh so there's just it's been a heavy election here for us so this is to cover the ere expenses that we expect for the rest of the fiscal year and bring that to basically close for the fiscal year thank you Mr Mayor C back uh no I'm just glad that we get some reimbursement from the state because um it's it's nice that people have an opportunity to take another position especially within the state but the state has to be cognizant of what that does to our local municipalities when we have a vacancy in a position um so and and you know we need our you know we need to we need to bring this account back in we need our election workers to be paid we need all the necessary materials um so I have no further questions um just to explain that reimbursement too it's actually set by State Statute in a formula uh so the salary that would have been received by that position at the state level is set aside and then divided up by population of each community and that's the reimbursement that's there so if say a the legislature was getting $10 for simple numbers um for when the person resigned versus when the special election took place uh that $10 is then okay well there's you know 10 municipalities but one has a hire so this gets $3 this gets $5 this gets so we get that's our reimbursement so it isn't that much but it's still something correct and and in a state um in the state senate R it was many municipalities correct so it would be very low thank you we we quite a few it's good to hear that we do get something back obviously an expense that we get from time to time when we have these special elections or um throughout the year but I CH a motion on this item yeah I make a motion that we 11213 in order appropriating $555,000 of free cash to the elections and Registration Department for election offices to and Professional Services expenses be um put forth to the full Council for approval second that motion motion made by councelor Ma seconded by councelor LTZ to recommend passage of the order all those in favor say I I I those opposed say no motion carries next item is 11212 election of the city cler um I would like to make a motion seeing we don't have a full committee um for more time for this item uh second that and Is there further discussion on this no I just I just think that I agree with that Council kazinski is not being here um I think I mean I it's it's fine that we put it off to our next scheduled meeting I agree with councelor kazinski is not here um also Council tyros will not be attendance for the full council meeting as well for the election is one of the few um positions that the city council is um does elect um so I think we should do our best to have a full Council present for that that vote um so um all those in favor say I I I all those opposed say no uh the motion passes any new business I have no new business I can make a motion for adjournment unless you have something new uh second the motion all those in favor say I I I all those opposed motion carries than jour