the Monday June 3rd 20124 regular meeting of the gardener city council will come to order the clerk will please call the RO C Brooks Pres mayor pres Council General lard pres Council harder pres Council Heath pres Council hegan pres Council Matt pres Council MOS pres Council Toni pres Council tyros pres and president kazus pres please rise to recite the opening prayer and sa the Pledge of Allegiance almighty God we thank you for bringing us together this evening Inspire us tothy deeds and sound decisions and direct us toward the attainment of good city government we pray you to bless and protect all the people of our city guide and Inspire us that we may delate in unity and Harmony amen I to of the United States of America to the stand Nation God indiv andice for all announcement of open meeting recordings open meeting recording notice 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 the number placement 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 and duplicate to the chair as they become part of the meeting minutes pursuant to General Law chapter 38 subsection 20 is anyone recording tonight's meeting can just stand and come to the podium and just state your name and your address organization please Steve news 17 street thank you yes follow the mail n will I may or may not thank you anyone else recording tonight's meeting thank you reading of minutes of I'm going to try I don't know if it's gonna work can you just I just need you to go to the microphone I'm sorry so it can just up for the recording you say state your name and your address please s92 street thank you anyone else recording tonight's meeting we will begin with the reading of minutes of Prior meetings March 18th 2024 regular meeting councelor George tyros Madam president I move to wait wave the reading of the minutes and accept them as presented second motion made by councelor Tyra seconded by councelor Heath to wave the reading of the minutes and accept them as presented is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no motion passes December 4th 2023 executive session councelor tyros thank you madam president as stated during the December 4th 2023 regular meeting the December 4th 2023 executive session was held under the purviews of the open meeting law solely for the purpose to approve executive session meeting minutes of August 7th 2023 and September 18th 2023 the meeting minutes for the executive session held on August 7th 2023 and September 18th 2023 were approved to be released to the public with redactions regarding wage and City claim during the December 4th 2023 executive session and can be requested through a public records request thank you counselor public hearings there are no public hearings Communications from the mayor orders item 11292 in order appropriating 320 $2,000 from free cash to the DW snow and ice removal expense account councelor Max uh thank you madam president this request for $320,000 for free cash to the DPW snow and ice is due to the mild winter we have this season to make up for the deficit needed to cover the account we originally budgeted the minimum amount of 300,000 for the winter which is uh legally allowed um to be a deficit spending account um as we never know what the winter will bring um the total for the snow and ice removal for the winter was $613,500 which was much much less than the previous year of 1, um 2,413 excuse me $18.80 the finance committee was in favor and I mooved the order second motion made by councelor Mac seconded by councelor DARS to adopt the order as there discussion on the motion Council ton yes just hearing the numbers from um councelor Mack why aren't we asking for $313,000 as opposed to 320 councelor toony to the is that through the chair of the finance Comm through the chair of the finance committee one um I honestly do not have a a clear answer it was a round number above it is what was requested by the um the May the a May the auditor C Madam president I my during the public service committee budget meeting I do believe that the DPW director had mentioned that there's a minimum amount that needed to be funded could be checked on that but I'm pretty sure that's why it's a round number uh for this thank you counselor counselor just further discussion I know further discussion I just wanted to ask a question thank you and thank you Council General Al any if there is any surplus it would again fall the free cash for for next year um so this will cover this will cover this year's and anything else will be back in free cash for next year further discussion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Craig yes Council General lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council Hegman yes Council Matt yes c t Munos yes C tone yes C tyros yes and president yes 11 11 Y is the motion passes item 11293 in order appropriating $335,000 from free cash to DPW repairs and maintenance expense account counselor M um this order is for $35,000 from free cash to the DPW repairs and maintenance expense uh the account right now has a $119,000 deficit and we did ask why they wanted $35,000 it will bring the um account in the black with the buffer for any needed repairs before the end of the fiscal year the tpw has three mechanics uh where they usually have six um on staff they do the fire police um and other City Hall uh vehicle maintenance in addition to the DPW Fleet some vehicles have had to be sent out for outside repairs due to the staffing issues the finance committee was in favor and I move the order second motion made by councelor Mac second by councelor DS to adopt the order is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role councel Brooks yes Council Craig Kier yes Council General lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council heglin yes Council Mack yes Council TBO munus yes toone yes Council tyros yes and president kinus yes 11 11 y the motion passes item 11294 in order appropriating $24,000 from free cash to DPW energy and utilities account councelor M yes this item is for the um DPW energy and utilities account the account right now has an $11,000 deficit without the last two months of the fiscal year um the additional $113,000 is to cover the increased cost um of fuel uh with the DPW having the largest Fleet in the city um resulting in the overages anything that is left will be will be returned to the uh free cash account the finance committee is in favor and I move the order second motion made by councelor Mac seconded by councelor D Al to adopt the order is there discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role councelor Brooks yes councilor Craig Cormier yes councilor General LT yes councelor hard yes coun Heath yes Council heglin yes Council Mac yes Council T Munos yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes and president kazin yes 11 y the motion passes item 11295 in order appropriating $50,000 from free cash to mayor's unclassified termination leave expense account councelor General owts thank you madam president this order U is related to as you said the termination leave account this covers all the cost of earned time off when a person retires or leaves employment here with the city uh the auditor and the mayor said this amount would cover what was needed to get us to the end of the year the finance committee was in favor and I move the order second motion made by councelor General out seconded by councelor Mack to adopt the order is there discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Craig Cormier yes Council D lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council hegan yes Council Mack yes Council TBO munus yes counil tone yes Council tyros yes and president kazin yes 11 y the motion passes item 11296 an order appropriating $4,000 from free cash to ambulance repairs and maintenance account councel D alls thank you madam president this item was to repair our oldest uh ambulance the new ambulance which is at least as a right now in the State uh we'll be getting it soon um but we need to repair the previous we always have a backup um it cost uh this we needed free cash appropriation of $4,000 to cover those costs it now actually will be um I guess permitted or licensed to be used for another two years so we will have a third uh ambulance in service um which is a bonus cuz sometimes that is needed uh the finance committee finance committee was in favor of this and I move to adopt the order second motion made by councel General seconded by councel Mack to adopt the order is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role councel Brooks yes councel Craig Cormier yes Council D lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council heglin yes Council math yes counil tbot Munos yes Cil tone yes Council tyros yes and president kazin yes 11 11 y the motion passes item 11297 an order appropriating $7,000 from free cash to airport various expense accounts report from the finance committee councelor General lawit thank you uh Madam president this item was to finish covering some of the improvements up at the airport the city has received a lot of state and federal uh grant funding for Runway improvements improvements to the building um and this was just um the little left that was need to um finish some of the work um I know windows were improved there um space is looking more ful you um I have been up there um so I encourage people to check it out however the finance committee was in favor and I move to adopt the order second motion made by councel D out second by councelor Mack to adopt the order is there a discussion on the motion councelor Mac I just want to commend director Davis and the airport commission for all the work they've done down there the building has been in great need of repair and refurbishment and a lot of um the commission over the years have done a lot of volunteer hours and I just thank you for their work thank you counselor for the discussion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Craig Kier yes Council General lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council hegan yes Council Mack yes Council tibo MOS yes Council ton yes counc tyros yes and president kinus yes 11 11 y the motion passes appointments item 11298 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Dr Stephanie marquetti to the position of Redevelopment Authority member for ter expiring July 1st 2029 councelor tyros thank you madam president I move to remove this item from our calendar second motion made by councelor tyros second by councelor General outs to remove the item from the calendar is there a discussion on the motion councelor tyros thank you madam president today we received a letter from the mayor stating that it's become uh come to his attention that uh membership of the Redevelopment Authority is restricted to City residents uh so uh with do Dr marquetti not being a city resident um I do want to express appreciation for her interest in helping out the Gardner Community thank you counselor further discussion all those in favor say I I oppos say no the motion passes there are no petitions applications Communications Etc reports of standing committees finance committee item 11256 a resolution to rename the city council chamber the Ronald F Cormier Council chamber councelor ma yes uh the committee uh request more time if there's no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time IEM item 11275 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Garder chapter 560 thereof entitled Solid Waste to change the fee for solid waste collection councelor Mac yes I make a motion to move this to Second and final printing second motion made by councelor Mac seconded by Counselor General lawitz to send the item to Second and final printing is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I those a post say no the motion passes item 11286 in order appropriating $30,000 from free cash to the mayor's unclassified s Graves versus City lawsuit expense account councilor M um the committee requests more time we are still awaiting the redacted bills from the legal council if there is no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time item 11289 an ordinance to amend the code of the city of Gardner part one thereof entitled administrative legislation councelor Mac yes committee request more time um this I will update the employee job descriptions and benefits with the order Cod and codes to Mayor state law this 45 page document is extensive and the committee request more time if there's no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time appointments committee item 11139 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Robert betz to position of planning board member for term expiring January 4th 2027 councelor tyros thank you madam president I move to remove this item from our calendar second motion made by councelor Tyro second by councelor dwit to remove the item from the calendar is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor coun apologies Madam president uh today we received a letter from the mayor stating that after several decades of service to the city of Gardner on the planning board Mr betz has filed his resignation from the board with his office uh he is uh I am grateful for him uh to remain a full voting member until his replacement has been appointed uh I think it's uh I think it's important to appreciate members of our community whove served on various boards and commissions and in this case for several de es uh so I thank Mr pz for that thank you counselor for the discussion all those in favor say I I this V say no the motion passes item 11 140 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Robert Schwarz to the position of planning board member for term expiring January 4th 2027 councelor tyros thank you Madame President I'm uh I would like to take item 1140 11141 11255 and respectfully request more time if there's no objection the committee will be granted more time on item 1140 11141 a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Steven Cormier to position of planning board member for term expiring January 4th 2027 and 111 11255 a measure confirming mayor's appointment of Vincent Peter to the position of assistant city solicitor for term expiring January 4 1st 2025 seeing as there is no objection the committee will be granted more time Safety Committee item 11115 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 Douglas Road councelor corm uh thank you madam president for items 11115 and 11204 uh both these items are with the police department and they're entering I believe their fourth uh week of a 60-day trial with the police department and the DPW uh therefore I ask for more time on both items if there's no objection the committee will be granted more time on item 11115 and item 11204 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 edel Street see as there is no objection the committee will be granted more time 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 councelor Mac yes um the committee is going to request more time we are still awaiting information from two department heads in regards to this item the city clerk did reach out to them um and we hope to get some information soon if there's no objection the committee will be granted more time the committee will be granted more time item 11276 an ordinance to amend section four of chapter 182 of the code of the city of Garder thereof entitled zoning board of appeals to increase the number of members from 3 to 5 councelor Mac um I make a motion to move this to second in final printing second motion made by councelor Mac second to by councel TBO Munos to send the item to Second and final printing is there discussion on the motion counc M president uh thank you leading up to a motion um I think there's a reason we have the process we do where there's two printings on an ordinance change we advertise it we have discussions it's gone through committee with this ordinance we understood it to be that there would be uh four residents on the uh on the zoning board and one that could possibly be a resident or possibly not a resident um after it went to its first printing in the paper I got a was contacted by a constituent who said to me well the way it's written it it's you could have nobody from Garder on the on the zoning board and I said well no that's not how it works and I went back and looked and if you look at the language it currently reads up to four of which are residents of gardener up to four means it could be 0 1 2 3 or four so my motion is to remove the words up to and insert in their place the words at least so it says at least four of which are residents of gardener so the first sentence would read uh section 1824 the zoning board of appeals here and after call the board shall consist of five persons at least four of which are residents of Garder and shall be appointed by the mayor subject to confirmation by the city council second sor motion to amend made by councelor book seconded by counselor Cormier to get the original to amend the item to remove the words up to and insert in their place the words at least so that the first sentence reads section shall be appointed by the mayor subject confirmation by the city council so so the amended motion so this is a vote on the amended motion is there a discussion on the amended motion councelor tone uh just a question through the chair uh would this be us sending it to first printing or would this be for second printing this would be going to Second and final printing as Amendment if the amendment passes okay y g tyus for discussion for discussion uh thank you uh Madame President through the chair to council the maker of the uh Amendment the the language at least uh just kind of thinking as the chair of the Employments committee we often sometimes have boards and commissions that aren't full or that we try to find people to sit in place of uh do you have any concerns with the language of at least if uh there's a situation where multiple board members May resign or uh another circumstance where we don't have the minimum for that's a good kundra to to have uh I think in that situation it would it would the the as I understand the zoning board of appeals needs to have at least three members operating and by having a five member board they have a little more flexibility in what they're doing um I think the presumption of having the possibility of one non-resident was was in case there was a desire to have someone who had some expertise and that that was had been the argument right along with it um and I and the way it was always explained was there would be four four plus one the the fifth member could be a resident or if it was elected not to um so I don't I don't I guess I don't see it as a problem further discussion Council Corman uh I believe councelor Brooks's uh motion is solid and if we find that there's an issue we can always revisit it down the road thank you counselor for the discussion okay this vote again is on the item as amended with the language that Council Brooks um has uh removed and then added in place to and then we will vote on the original motion so this is on the motion as amended uh the clerk will please call A rooll Council Brooks yes Council Craig Cormier yes Council D LTZ yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council heglin yes Council Mack yes Council tbot Munos yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes and president kazin yes 11 11 y the motion passes so on item 11276 an ordinance to amend the section four of chapter 182 of the code of City of Garder thereof entitled zoning Board of Appeals to increase the number of members from 3 to five as amended motion was made by councelor Mac seconded by councelor tibo Munos is there discussion on the motion this is again s this a second and final printing as amended seeing there's no discussion all those in favor say I I post say no motion passes Committee of the whole on the f items we had an informal meeting earlier this evening to discuss these items regarding the FY 2025 budget uh the council has had the FY 2025 budget um for a little bit over a month as the mayor did present it to us at the beginning of May it has also been available on the city's website and to the public at for that time we had formal meeting earlier this evening as we do each and every year before the budget to go through each and every line item get our last questions answered for the people here this evening and the public watching at home I just want to um just go through the process where we do uh have the budget in front of our standing committees and each of our standing committees oversee different departments in the city we meet with we meet with each of those standing committees and all of the Departments as well as the mayor to discuss the budget so we've had a little bit over a month of meetings and study and uh report of the budget and our meeting this evening is for all of us to come together after we've done all of that and to discuss it further and get more questions answered um as a committee at a whole this was referred out to the committee of the whole um all of these items for the budget um at um our first May meeting and uh so that entails all the committee of the whole items that are before us uh moving forward item 11261 a measure authorizing FY 2025 revolving funds for the city pursuant to Massachusetts general laws chapter 44 section 53 e and a half councelor General LTZ thank you madam president I move to authorize the measure second motion made by Counselor General second by councelor tyros to um authorize the measure is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role also Brooks yes councel Craig Cormier yes Council D LTZ yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council heglin yes Council ma yes Council T Munos yes Council tone yes counil tyros yes and president kazin yes 11 11 y the motion passes item 11262 in order to raise and appropriate the sum of 13,665 4445 for the various Departments of the city for the salary and Labor budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1st 2024 and June 30th 2025 councelor General lawitz I move to adopt the order second motion made by councelor General seconded by councelor tyros to adopt the order is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Craig forier yes Council dwit yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council heglin yes Council Mack yes coun tbot MOS yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes and president kazin yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11263 in order to raise and appropriate the sum of 27 m361 1427 for the various Departments of the city for the expense budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1st 2024 and ending June 30th 2025 councelor General owitz thank you madam president uh per our discussion during the informal meeting I would like to move to uh adopt an amended version of this order where the total amount is 27,34 12227 second motion made by councelor dap seconded by councelor Mack to adopt the order as amended to the sum of 27 m341 12227 is there a discussion on the motion councelor DN owitz just for clarity this is a decrease in the office supply line item in the legal department of 1,99 $2 thank you counselor further discussion the clerk will please call the role councelor Brooks yes councelor cier yes councel General lawitz yes Council harder no councilor Heath yes Council heglin yes Council yes Council TBO munus yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes and president kinus yes 10 y one no the motion passes item 11264 in order appropriating the sum of$ 34,2 2,226 for the school department budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1st 2024 and ending June 30th 2025 councelor General La thank you madam president I move to adopt the order second motion made by councel General all seconded by councelor tyros to adopt the order is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes Council crair yes counc D lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council hegan yes Council Mack yes Council TBO mun yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes president yes 11 11 years the motion passes item 11265 an order appropriating the sum of $2,162 73 from available funds cable commission fees reserved to Cable commission budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1st 2024 and ending June 30th 2025 councelor General lawitz I move to adopt the order second motion made by councelor General seconded by councelor Heath to adopt the order is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes councelor Craig Cormier yes Council D lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council heglin yes Council math yes Council T yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes and president kinus yes 11 y the motion passes item 11266 in order appropriating the sum of $1,819 180 from available Enterprise funds various receipts reserved to various Enterprise accounts for the fiscal year beginning July 1st 2024 and ending June 30th 2025 Council joural I move to adopt the order second motion made by councelor General out second by councelor m to adopt the order is there a discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Craig cor yes Council General lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council hegan yes Council math yes Council TBO Munos yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes and president yes 11 11 y the motion passes item 11267 in order appropriating the sum of $170,000 from available funds bonds proceeds reserved to interest outside debt for the VIS fiscal year beginning July 1st 2024 and ending June 30th 2025 councelor General owt I move to adopt the order second motion made by councelor General out second by councelor tyros to adopt the order is there a discussion on the motion the cler will please call the role councilor Brooks yes Council Craig Cormier yes councel darwitz yes Council harder yes councilor Heath yes Council heglin yes Council ma yes Council TBO mun yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes and president C yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 112 68 in order authorizing a transfer of the sum of $322,700 from sewer retained earnings surpress to fund the FY 2025 Revenue budget councelor General lawitz I move to adopt the order second motion made by councelor General seconded by councelor Heath to adopt the order is there discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Craig Cormier yes Council D lawitz yes Council harder yes Council Heath yes Council heglin yes Council ma yes Council TBO Munos yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes president yes 11 11 y the motion passes item 11269 an order authorizing the transfer of the sum of 93,6 187 from landfill retain earnings Surplus to fund the FY 2025 Revenue budget councelor General LT I move to adopt the order second motion made by councelor dnot seconded by councelor Tone to adopt the order is there discussion on the motion the clerk will please call the role Council Brooks yes Council Craig Cormier yes Council General lwit yes Council hard yes Council Heath yes Council heglin yes Council Mack yes Council TBO munus yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes presus yes 11 y 11 y the motion passes item 11287 in order to amend the code of the city of Gardner chapter 171 thereof entitled personnel to change the compensation schedule exhibit e non-union Personnel councelor General LTZ thank you madam president I move to send this item to first printing second motion made by councelor donot seconded by councelor tyros to send the ordinance amendment to first printing is there a discussion on the motion this item also requires roll call but it is a 2/3 vote the clerk will please call the rooll council Brooks yes councel Craig Cormier yes councel J ards yes councel harder yes councelor Heath yes Council heglin yes Council ma yes Council T mun yes Council tone yes Council tyros yes president yes 11 11 years the motion passes there's no unfinished business in matters reconsideration there's no new Business Council comments and remarks councel hlin thank you madam president just a couple of congratulations this evening to our graduates from Garder high school and Gardner Academy between the two schools 140 students earned their diplomas so we're really proud of all their accomplishments and then I also want to congratulate our colleague counselor tyros and his wife on welcoming home their uh baby girl um this month so congratulations thank you thank you counselor any further Council comments and remarks I'll entertain a motion to adjourn motion made by councelor by councelor tyros to adjourn is there a discussion on the motion all those in favor say I post say no motion passes please rise for the closing prayer Almighty father who us over all as we thank the for the opportunity the course of this meeting bless Lord all who are gaed here and the people whose Representatives we are and do th attend to our common welfare until our next meeting amen the meeting stands aded thank you everyone --------- we are meeting informally tonight to discuss the city's FY 2025 budget proposed by mayor Nicholson as in years past we will go Page by Page through the budget packet which is included in our meeting packet for the public watching this evening I'd like to begin by sharing information about the city's budget process up to this point after meeting with City department heads many of them more than once and working with our city auditor throughout the year mayor Nicholson presented the city council with his City budget recommendations on Wednesday May 1st 2024 his proposed budget also became available to the public that day on the city's website the city council and public have had the opportunity to review the budget since then the city council Finance Public Safety public service and public welfare standing committees have met with City department heads from the Department under each committee and mayor Nicholson during their standing committee meetings for further study of the budget and answers to questions those standing committee meetings are available on the city of gardener YouTube channel this evening the city council is meeting as a committee of the whole to review and discuss the mayor's budget recommendations mayor Nicholson and City auditor John Richard are here this evening they will assist with information and answer questions the city council has the authority to cut line items from the proposed City budget with the exception of the school department where the city council can cut only from the bottom line of the school Department's proposed budget other than that the city council has the authority to cut line items from City departments mayor Nicholson will give a brief over overview before we begin our review go ahead mayor Nicholson thank you very much Madam president and counselors for the time to uh present more on the budget and I thank you for the time that we've spent in the different standing commit of the city council to go over these proposals as well uh by and large this is a relatively level Services budget uh the items that were able to remain level funded were largely remaining level funded any increases that are there were largely in part to either contractual obligations or salary increases when the budget was first requested of department heads back in December of 2023 the directive that was put forward was to cut 3% from non-salary expenses in the budget so that more funding could be put towards making our positions more marketable as we've had several issues in the past uh in the cover letter to the budget that I provided not the big binder but the actal cover letter itself I go through several different factors that led to different either Revenue increases or changes in expenses our health insurance is still recovering from the effects of uh the covid-19 pandemic we were lucky enough in Gardner to go seven years without having any increases in our health insurance rates however due to everything else that's come forward we're now catching up to those S years uh so we had to to uh see some increased costs in that the city's current plan is that the city uh pays 75% the employee Bears the cost of the remaining 25% through payroll deductions our retirement pension liability continues to uh increase so that we can meet our schedule to be fully funded in our retirement pension liability in 2034 uh once that year happens we'll be fully funded in that one so that funding should be freed up in the budget at that point however there have been times in the past where our Actuarial Studies have shown that we could save money if we spread that out a little bit further so that's one of the reasons why that 2034 number has been extended certain times there are certain State statutes as I'm sure Council Brooks and auditor Richard are familiar with that do set specific timelines for those requirements particularly with uh regular retirement uh liabilities I do think the oped timelines are going to be pushed out because everyone seems to be way behind schedule on the oped liabilities because quite frankly there's other more important priorities that should be done uh the city's Recreation Department did see the large increase uh in order to meet the current enrollment figures that we've seen last year and this year that was covered last year in a grant one of the things that Council tyros mentioned that I think is very important to mention here today uh from the public service meeting is what's our sustainability plan for this program the grant that we had last year funded additional staff that were there so we could take increased uh students in the program however we were ineligible for the grant this year as it's a grant that you have to be invited to attend into and the question was asked well if we have you know 400 students in the program right now but we get 600 in the students next year is this going to be even bigger of a budget next year I don't believe that to be the case um as the person who puts the budget forward after the department head recommends it I think where we are right now this is substantial enough increase that at least for the next 5 years I wouldn't be going for a um an increase in this department right now because the other thing too is yes you have to weigh affordability with cost and yes you have to weigh what you take in with your Revenue versus what you take in uh on uh what the city's able to appropriate into the program too and use the revenue you take in before you use your appropriated funds and that is good financial management but we do just need a general I guess management plan uh for the department so that's something that over the course of the next fiscal year uh the administration will commit to overlooking to see how can we best move forward with this type of a uh a program because it is a valid question because we do need to make sure that we're running a sustainable program because of how many people rely on this program because it is such a good uh and important program for so many people it should be something that has a sustainable funding plan and is able to move forward in a way that is got its feet underneath itself not may not be self- sustaining in a way but at least we have a sustaining plan for it from revenue and Cityside appropriated budget uh other things that have changed since uh this was proposed is uh I mentioned in the uh narrative that Paving costs were cut from the uh dpw's budget there's some things that go into that the city receives just under $600,000 annually from the Commonwealth's chapter 90 funding program uh that is set by formula that's set in the chapter 90 the general law statute uh based off the City's population number of businesses within the city and mile of roads all of those get compiled together into some type of formula that spits out the number that we automatically get back every year since 2012 the city's received just under $600,000 uh as is mentioned in the uh Revenue section of your binders that are there uh additionally from that the city supplements that chapter 90 funding with 10% of certified free cash for the city's Financial policies uh so that was all in addition to the regular $150,000 in the budget that we would then supplement the supplement that we added to it with additional funding in the budget new this past year uh is uh the fair share amendment that was adopted by the voters at the last state election has supplemented that uh $600,000 from chapter 90 with an additional $360,000 and then the Commonwealth new rural roads program recently uh transferred an additional $185,000 uh into our Paving account as well to to supplement chapter 90 funding so from the Commonwealth not only do we get $600,000 from chapter 90 we get the additional 360 from the fair share Amendment more commonly referred to as the millionaires tax and then we get the additional $185,000 from the rural roads program because Gardner does qualify into that program as a rural community in terms of Roads uh so as such while we are reducing that $150,000 in the budget in order to you know balance out everything that's there there is additional new money coming in to supplement that funding so we still are able to pave more than just what chapter 90 allows now it does cost about a million and a half per mile of road in order to pave which has gone up from the million per mile that it was the first year that I was elected but we are still able to keep up with some things in that nature uh other than that I hope you uh found the new budget binder at least somewhat informative in terms of where the revenue is actually coming from that wasn't really something that had been explained prior when this process was uh starting out uh and a better understanding of where those monies that are collected are being expended in the overall operating budget and I happy to answer any questions that come up uh this evening thank you very much M president thank you Mr Mayor are there any questions comments from the city council the mayor's overview thank you Mr Mayor um I would say I will be here so it's yeah um I would say that you know the budget materials we got this year they are online for anybody watching at home any members of the public interested um they are available and have been since um you offer them to us and you have the full binder right there of the entire budget and if you didn't find it informative you didn't read it basically um each year we get it kind of in a different format mostly usually in a binder but I found um you know collectively the information to be super informative and to really help raise questions ahead of time and get good information so I know I I appreciated that um any um Madam president just two quick things I forgot uh additionally on top of that the Commonwealth now has a new Municipal uh Municipal pavement grant program it's a non-competitive grant to the Commonwealth that we can use to apply for full Paving of any state numbered road uh so we'll be looking at that for Pearl Street for next year once the Uptown rotary is done since Pearl Street is considered route 101 uh and then additionally uh new as of 3:00 p.m. this afternoon the city did settle with the DPW Union on their new contract that it's effective uh July 1st uh the funding is included in the budget uh because we are under staffed uh right now as we move forward and see how hiring goes as a result of that if we need additional funding uh there is about now that the councils has adopted the local auction meals tax the local auction hotels tax increase and we had the $5,000 buffer that does allow for an additional anticipated about $600,000 uh that isn't included in this budget uh that if we know need to come back in appropriate as a result of the full Financial impact of those um we'll come back for those at those time but once the final contract is drafted and then signed by the union and executed by the city we'll be sure to get you a contract of that too a copy of that contract as well thank you thank you Mr Mayor questions comments on the council okay we will begin on the page with the lines 1 through 35 list tonight one point of organization as we go through the budget that I'd like to bring to the Council of attention is when referring to a particular line item within the budget please use the line number all the way to the left of the page for example line number six under city council is Communications those line numbers are unique to each line making it most convenient to follow along so again we are on the page with lines beginning with line one ending with line 35 is there anything to report or are there any proposed cuts from the council are there any questions or comments from the council okay we will continue toor go ahead Council so uh line number 16 I noticed there's a assistant city clerk's pay was cut it looks like is that so I see uh mayor's budget and then um fiscal year 24 it looks like there's a a cut is that is there is there a move to from full-time to part-time am my misunderstanding Mr Mayor go thank you uh if you notice line 17 was increased by the amount that line 16 was cut the city clerk is recommending going from having two assistants to one assistant department head and two clerical staff members that are there so the money's just moved from one line to another thank you for the clarification further questions comments we'll move to page beginning with line 36 ending with line 74 anything to report or any proposed cuts from the council counc president councel M um line 627 at the fin finance committee meeting we discussed the line item for the law department for off off office supplies that it was significantly higher than the other um offices um so I would like to propose a cut of $1,992 to $1,500 to make it in line with the other um offices within City Hall so counselor just to be clear this line 67 M the proposed cut is $11,992 correct and so you would like to make the item $1,500 correct there was no explanation in the um narrative that we received um we didn't receive a narrative from the law department so there was nothing to support thank you anything further counselor Council tyus uh thank you madam president uh to anyone on the finance committee I I because there was no narrative submitted uh did the solicitor come to the meeting to discuss his budget no he did not anything further Council Brooks thank you madam president from from my experience um with I going to say office supplies for the city solicitor it usually was just a blanket amount to cover whatever expenses they had within their office because they don't operate within City Hall and they're not doing things um like any other department and so my experience now I granted I haven't been in this community working here for 10 12 years but it it was more just to cover their outof pocket expenses for their office and and it could be office in terms of paper and uh I was going to say typewriter rink but I guess we don't have that anymore uh but it but it could be for other other costs they have within their office that's all thank you further comments Council tyos thank you madam president I think uh know I have a question for the mayor uh regarding outside Council because there has been I mean on our agenda tonight we have an item to for $30,000 to move from free cash to the marison classified uh for some litigation we have ongoing that the solicitor is conflicted with um and it seems as though as I've been on the council for a few terms now the amount of times that we've uh had Appropriations in front of us for outside Council has increased um so I'm wondering if this is a trend that we should look at more closely if uh you know I have some open questions out to the solicitor from our last meeting that I've yet to receive an answer from um so I just don't have a lot of information to work with uh in regards to this budget this year it's certainly something we can provide a full report on um in the future uh I will say that the appropriation that's on the agenda is not for this account so that's above and beyond what's uh in the outside Council my item just because that was in a separate uh system so the uh the $30,000 or the $80,000 total that's been spent on the other one that's included in a classified account uh is just to make sure that that's separate that the law department is not involved in that when that's where it's in the classified account but mainly with uh this outside Council line item that's something that if you know smaller things come up along the way zoning cases things of that that's really what's paid for out of there uh the Haywood items that came before the council a couple years ago uh because there was a conflict with the city solicitor that's where this you know this line item is what paid for that that's there um there was some costs that were reimbursed uh by hwood hospital but again that fell to the general fund because all revenue received except specifically Mark as to fall to the general fund um there certainly again we can provide a report for that uh certainly can say having uh attorney puser as the assistant city solicitor has reduced that a little bit because they now no longer work for the same outside firm um so there's certain things like there was a zoning case regarding pigs that attorney puser was actually our outside Council on but the moment he was swor in as assistant city solicitor um he no longer could charge separately for that account so now that's under the offices of the law department but things like that do change so since there has been some changes as well to having to provide a report at some point appreciate that Miss your understanding do you have off the top of your head how many of those line item exist for various lawsuits or is it just the one currently for the I think it's just I think it's that one there have been others that have been existed but as those have been settled those line items have been exhausted since they're no longer in use interesting thank you further questions counil Mac um I will say that after the um budget committee meeting with the finance committee um I I did meet with the city solicitor because I did have a ly of questions um and I 101 which I would encourage others to do so um you know I I did get some explanations although I don't agree with all of them and um you know I I I I I do have great concern about the amount of money we spent for outside Council um and you know the amount you know office supplies I think you know when I he's been the St for 16 years um I think you know when you apply for such position you know what it entails um and what's involved and um and as I said that it was very difficult for us to make any decision um without the narrative as the other departments did um so I I just I just think um you know sometimes there needs to be more detailed in that um it is it is such a a you know a big budget item um the entire department that um I would encourage people to to ask more questions um I think have to be something that is considered automatic especially when it comes to the cost that for outside Council I think there needs to be more questions asked if there are conflicts but just in this specific case I do think you know I think the office supp should be deducted and I think that um if you know if there's a case and and they can come back that I think it's you know it's you know in cartridges and stuff are expensives but it's it's very hard too as an independent Law Firm it's hard to keep track of what is being used for the city what's being used for the law firm and stuff um um and you know it's it's I don't I don't know I just I just think it's hard to do without the explanation and that's just my opinion I mean if you feel it we stay there that's that can be discussed as well thank you counselor further questions comments counselor heglin thank you madam president um I I want to Echo that that was the the very point I was going to make you know at the schools every page we print is trapped and we know how much that costs um and then there's connected to that but I was wondering the same thing was there any explanation why that 6,000 it sounds like there was not um and is there any way to track what that 6,000 would go to but it I don't think where it's a general line item it would be there's no receipts needed or anything like that so that was definitely one concern I had um and overall as a new counselor I I do appreciate the questions being asked because knowing we've had to pay for outside Council it's been hard for me to understand we hear the rec department had the largest increase going in the next year but not knowing how much we've spent on outside Council at this moment it's it's hard to know really what does the Law Department cost us as the city um you know we have two salaried employees but then we've needed this out additional um you know outside Council it's come from free cash it's come from other Professional Services line items and so without that that I think that concrete number of what we're spending it is hard to see adding more um when there's been conflicts or other lack of expertise that has led to to the need for outside council with Helen Mayer for instance and my resolution um as another example it was proposed that the school department seek a second opinion for the deed that was found and and how that land can be used or not given this imper petu clause in the original deed um and and did they not fall into the city Law Department are they a separate is that necessary um or why did we have to make that expense uh so I think these are some good questions we're asking and I think you know I I think I'd be supporting a cut at least to the op expenses this evening thank you further questions comments from the council Council tyus I just finally I certainly will support uh this cut and I think you know Council Mack I applaud your initiative to have a conversation with the solicitor I also U think it's important that certain conversations are had publicly and in the council chamber and I think uh many of the questions we have here this evening and some more that probably exist in our minds uh that we'd like to have a discussion with the sler on would be valuable to have in public and I just would leave that this uh Department maybe like we've done in the past with other departments to have a meeting to discuss some of these questions and all become more aware of it thank you thank you counselor further questions comments from the council uh I'm going to propose we take a straw vote on this item so the straw vote is on line 67 the proposed cut is $11,992 a yes vote will reduce the budget by $11,992 a no vote will keep the item as it is so we'll begin with councelor hlin yes councelor Brooks councelor Tio Munos yes councelor Heath yes councelor tyos yes councelor J lawitz yes counselor Mack yes councelor tone no councelor Carter Council Cormier yes and I vote yes so that would be eight votes to three Nos and again that's just a stra on the item to see where um we might stand which we can do during an informal meeting so again 8 yes to 3 no are there any is there anything further to report any proposed cuts from the pagewidth line 36 through 74 any questions comments from the council we'll move to page s the next page line 7 5 through 1133 anything to report or any proposed cuts from the council Council Brooks thank you madam president um I just want to point out that that my understanding the first line number 75 energy and utilities is where we're in uh listing the budgeted costs for uh maintaining the hel solder School The Waterford Street School and it does have PSS which is Prospect however we're not we don't own that anymore um I was asked that question and I'm just making clear that that that's my understanding that's that's where the classs are at this point in time Mr Mayor thank you very much mam president that is correct when this line item was put into the spreadsheet we at that time owned prospects free school and Helen may was under the opes of the school committee um that is now where is being paid up so just honestly changing the verbage of the title need to be changed but that's the money is being spent on right and I think the question was not so much on the title itself it was on where where where are we where are we hiding the class and we're not hiding the class they're right there yeah it's it's it's for the public to see yep thank you counselor anything further from the council okay we'll move to the next page line items 114 through 152 anything to report any proposed Cuts questions comments from the council seeing as there is none we'll move to the next page line items 153 through 191 anything to report any proposed cut Cuts or questions comments from the council seeing as there is none we'll move to the next page line items 192 through 230 proposed Cuts questions comments from the council anything to report Council Tios thank you madam president I'm just um just because I'm new with this what is in what is inside debt I I think I understand what outside debt is right that's loans but it's just I'm I'm just curious what inside what line item is it oh I'm sorry it's okay uh inside debt uh 200 line item 200 uh Mr Mayor thank you very much Madam president uh councelor your neighbor is probably going to be a lot more eloquent at answering this for you however uh this general laws of the Commonwealth dictate what is considered inside the city's debt limit and what is considered outside the city's debt limit uh the city is only allowed to borrow up to 10% of yearly Appropriations within 15% of equalized values uh under the general law of the Commonwealth so that's just for General debt that we take out however there are certain costs that do not fall into that category so for instance the debt we took out for the new school building is considered outside debt so that does not go towards the city's debt limit because there's certain aspects that are reimbursed by the Commonwealth and quite frankly the main difference is statute exempts it from what is there so it's still debt we're taking out it's just the law says if but that doesn't count towards that section of the law that's there um that's the very cliffnotes version of that um but our Auditors our our state state auditor our city auditor is here uh if you want any further Deep dive into that but that's basically what it is I get it thank you thank you appreciate it anything further from the council we will move to the next page line items 231 through 269 questions comments Cuts reports from the council councelor Heath uh thank you madam president um I'm looking at line number 232 um I've expressed this in the past but I'm looking at it and I'm looking at the difference in the budget and the question I have is is obviously it's it's different now because obviously last year we had to get the pool filteration system but the difference in it is it's about a $30,000 difference just off the top of my head in which line item um the overall Greenwood pool um basically I'm looking at the I I still don't agree with the pay rate that we give these um lifeguards uh $16 an hour with all their certificates all that and obviously you know like I just I don't know if that budget is and this is a seasonal thing is there anything that we can do and I just want to go on record that I'm fighting for these lifeguards cuz I just feel like you know bagging groceries isn't as important as being a lifeguard however the pay you know doesn't I I I just don't agree with the pay I don't think that the pay is worth the work I don't think that um being in you know saving someone's life at $16 an hour going through all our certificates and things that such and it's something seasonal it's open how long 10 weeks so it's not really I really wish that they would get a bump and pay I think it's a a honestly I think it's a drop in a bucket to go ahead and go ahead and raise that pay in which it would create a demand in lifeguards cuz again I said this before I'll say it again when I grew up lifeguards walked around like they graduated from Harvard you know I'm a lifeguard you couldn't tell them anything I mean maybe this is is when bayat was out but in the way it goes they still ran around like I'm a lifeguard this is what I do and everything else at $6 an hour it's not it's like they say it low I'm a lifeguard it's not they don't say with the chess so that's all I just don't agree with the pay and I think in the budget there's a way unless something happens of course um and I don't know exactly what the plans are cuz I'm not in that committee anymore and I didn't think from what I seen in the video it wasn't really spoke about during the committee meeting Mr Mayor thank you um the salaries for lifeguards right now $16 an hour is actually set by the ordinance so you have that ordinance separate that's included every year that the council has to re authorized on an annual basis um in the spirit of full collaboration with the city council if the ordinance does get changed to something different the administration have to go back and find a way to do something for the budget to request the appropriation to meet that however I will say that the reason why the pay rate was what it was at was based off a couple of factors one the revenue that the pool takes in on its own uh it is a very inexpensive option I think it's a dollar or two a day um additionally to the hours that the pool has is based off of the lifeguards that we can afford so if we can have the coverage throughout the hours that we have that's where we're able to do it now there's certain things we can't do like there's weekend coverages and stuff like that that just we don't have the money to pay for those the life cards at the time with the pay rates for time and a half and stuff like that um and you're right too there were some Capital costs that were put into the pool that you know lead to the reductions the reduction in line 232 is based off of historical Trends on what was budgeted versus was actually expended um but there are certain things I mean we can certainly take a a deeper dive into looking at that um to see what we can do Mo forward with it all right ccor ma thank you I think the pool is such an asset to families in that I personally don't see it as a as a money maker for the city I think it's just a service that um I've mentioned this before that we should in selling seasonal passes for families to make it easier you know um when I stop there at the end of the season a lot of the lifeguards and workers would say you know we don't take Apple pay what can we do you know for people to do you know pay online um I think we need to increase the the weekend hours I mean um especially in the last couple years we've done wasn't available for swimming I love seeing that blue sign out there now this weekend I mean all those picnic tables were full there's nothing that makes me happier but there are some things in the city of Garder that have to be a free you know a service to the people that we have to take an expense for like the summer Recreation program okay and this is not as an exp large expense as a summer Recreation program and this is a 10 we program um and I do agree I life guards um and I I've mentioned this before like you know DCR they have an incentive program if you stay the season they you know get extra you know you been there in the personal years it's like, 1500 you've been there you know four or five years it's like 2,000 we have to do something um and when you look at this I know you know there are budget constrictions this is minimal you know when we look at all the taxes that we just put into place for the meal tax and the hotel tax you're not looking at a lot of money to offer service to our families and I think this is um just like extending Saturday hours at the library which is something also I'm proponed for these are things that we can offer our our residents and I think um it's a lot of B for and I think that that's something thank you counselor Council Brooks Council Brooks uh thank you madam president I guess I would say I'm not averse to what councelor Heath is suggesting um my concern is is the ramifications of doing it in the moment um it's a salary ordinance so it would be going to two printings so we could conceivably pass it as is tonight for first printing which would give the mayor a couple of weeks to figure out where we should put the hourly rate and what the ramifications are because my question is if you if you change the rate for lifeguards does that impact then the the playground program in the summer and all those other things so I'd rather not I'm concerned about doing it willing lnly right now and not have that total understanding of what the impact is thank you councelor c t president I would I would also suggest that maybe we take a look at uh surrounding communities and salaries that are being paid in surrounding communities before we make an across the board um assumption that we're not paying our lifeguards enough I do agree with Council Heath that they're very important but the bagger at the grocery store is very important as well um but to your point they do go through a lot of certificates I would suggest a salary study um for um our employees at the pool thank you councel councel tyos thank you madam president um I went down the wrong pipe uh it still is um in support of uh in support of councelor Max comment I have a question for the mayor it's not related to a specific dollar amount or line item here but it's related to the thing in the middle of what I consider two great assets to our community the outdoor pool Crystal the new Crystal Lake Park the Behemoth between them of the Greeno uh Greenwood indoor pool its demolition have you received an update I do believe it factors into the conversation around the salaries because it opens up more options for Revenue in terms of having vendor space under the Pavilion or making it a more desirable uh attraction to go to so um that would be something that I would also like to know if we're looking to invest uh similar to a the rec department program at the service committee meeting safety was a really big motive um for having the right ratios for the summer R program to increase their funding so I think it's a similar argument of uh safety for the Lifeguard pay have you received an update from the Community Development Office uh so the last update I received from Community Development was that mass historic did weigh in the process had completed with mass historic uh and we were moving over forward with fin approval uh to receive the funding for the demolition uh I was um planning at some point um over the summer to come up with an update for the Council on cdbg as a program as a whole um since that's what the last update meeting was about uh that way you can get a full you know before and after picture of uh where things stand right now but in terms of the pool itself uh the last I heard was that mass historic had completed their way into the program uh and now it was moving forward to the next stage thank you thank you counselor further comments questions cuts from the council councelor Heath uh thank you madam president just in now close eyes just want to respond to councelor Brooks over here and brought up a couple good points on you know I just wanted to bring light to it and obviously just go ahead and go with the first printing of everything um and then revisit it later um sooner rather than later to go ahead and see if there's something that we can do I just want to express my concern with that's all coun further questions comments I I agree with Council Brooks and I a lot of the sentiments that were shared here tonight as well um and I think I think we have one of the most beautiful spaces for Nao pool that I've ever seen and it's in such a historic part of the city um you know getting over the past few years being on the council and finally having it come through that we were able to do something with the um indoor pool um was kind of a you know a Shad of light in a way you know it's the historic building and there's all these things that went along with it a lot of thought went into this many studies many options were looked at um knowing that came it was it just such shed some light on the subject but I do think you know we should take a look at the um ordinance as as many of us have mentioned and we should look at the process and take some ownership of what we really want to do and how we can utilize it in the best way possible um but I think you know gardeners just we've been moving light lightning the last few years and I I think that that's one of those places that can really help Gardener shine um you know also going to high school in the 90s and living through all those state championships and I don't care where the trophies are we still you know it's just it's a thing you know it's exciting to have that part glow and it means a lot to a lot of people who live literally all over the world and I just think it's kind of a nice place to come back to so I Echo a lot of the sentiments here but I do think we should take our time and look on it and I appreciate uh councelor Heath's um you know step forward to to bring it back into light as many of us have expressed in in the past but um more so moving forward I think something that we should do further questions comments from the council okay next page line items 270 through 308 Cuts reports questions comments from the council see as there is none next page line items 309 through 347 report Cuts questions comments from the council Council Tio Munos thank you madam president uh line number 317 um the conservation Agent salary I'm just wondering is that a part-time position M president or full time uh mayor nson thank you uh line 36 317 and 326 if you add those together that's that position's uh full salary that's why if you look at the compensation ordinance itself uh that lists the actual uh total compensation package in the end that the employees receive uh but since that person's title is conservation SL planning agent uh they work for both the conservation uh commission and the planning board so it's half and half thank you appreciate it Mr May thank you counselor further questions comments councelor did you have no I'm good further questions comments I have sorry coun uh thank you madam president uh so similar well similar question for um line 336 for the assistant director Community Development um I assume that the rest of the salary for that position is with the Redevelopment Authority is that comes out of the cdbg grant so a large portion of the cdbg grant goes to funding positions in the Community Development Department um that's why again if you look at the compensation scheduled ordinance that's included in the packet for this evening uh you'll see that the director of Community Development is just over $100,000 uh the clerical the pro budget project manager Financial admin for the Department makes a lot more than um $2,600 that's there uh the economic development coordinator that's fully Cityside uh but there most of the positions except for the economic development coordinator and the conservation PL planning agent are funded out of the Community Development block grant but they only allow us to fund certain things if we have seed money for that in the operating budget itself so that's where there's a certain percentage of that in the operating budget thank you Mr Mayor thank you counselor further questions comments from the Council next page line items 348 through 386 C questions comments I just have Council Brooks I just have one comment on 349 um that uh salary is currently budgeted for three members if we increase the number of members on the board to five then there will be have to be an increase it's it's negligible but it's it's going to come it's worth mentioning yeah thank you councelor further questions comments Cuts reports councelor tunos thank you madam president uh line number uh 373 local building inspector uh went up by 50 about 56,000 is that because we've added an inspector I assume it goes from a part-time inspector to a full-time inspector so okay yeah thank you so that's two so there's two full-time local inspectors in that lineup okay thank you yeah it was a inspector and a half yeah thank you Mr Mayor further questions comments from the Council next page line items 387 through 425 reports Cuts questions comments from the council counselor books uh thank you madam president U I was asked a question about uh line 422 Public Safety communication director that that was not in the budget that has actually been moved to the dispatch uh department so it's on a different it's it's a funded position it's just gone to a different department that changed happened uh the dispatch direct I'm sorry M presid should rest commission may um the when the dispatch Department became a separate division of the police department when they they have with the civilian dispatchers when it almost regionalized a couple years ago the systems manager so the it uh Personnel of the police department was promoted to run the Dispatch Center so when that happened the dispatch director's payline item the title just changed from you know systems manager IT personnel to dispatch director but it was still up in police and not down with dispatch with the rest of the division that they oversee so now the entire division is all together into one thank you thank you councelor further questions comments okay next page line items 426 through 464 yes madame president Council Brooks uh thank you again I've been asked the question on line 426 about the deputy chief and why there's been an increase and I believe the person was looking at the FY 23 actuals and comparing it to 24 and 25 uh 23 was a partial year for that position so it's not a full Year's pay partial years pay uh the other question I was asked having to do with parking meter maintenance which is uh line 438 that's a description that's also in the treasurer's budget um in checking it out the treasurer's office pays for the maintenance of the meters and the meters itself uh the police department pays uh some fees uh for software and what not to do the enforcement on the parking meters so it's it's the same description but it's covering two different uh expenses thank you thank you counselor further questions comments reports cuts from the council okay moving to the next page line items 465 through 503 any questions comments cut reports from the council seeing there is none next page line items 504 through 541 reports Cuts questions comments from the counselors councelor T thank you madam president I'm just curious about the way that it's um listed the uh 519 um as oppos so there's uh 512 says Captain salary right and then it goes down 515 private salary and wages 518 Lieutenant salary wages and then this 519 which kind of lumps is that just a summary of the I'm just wondering why there's a separate line there Madam president uh mayor Nicholson thank you uh that's what it would be if we were to bring Staffing up to National Fire Marshall standards oh I see so if you notice in the actual mayor's budget column it's been Zed out the departments were asked to show if we were to get to what most optimal efficient outcome of the department would be what would that be uh for the police department and the fighter department they went to the national standards that's why if you looked in the police department budget it also included I think eight additional officers to make us get closer to that uh FBI standard right now we're budgeted for 33 officers in the police department and uh FBI standard said we should be around 52 uh so that's why that difference is there this would get us to National Fire Marshal standards thank you you're welcome thank you thank you counselor further questions comments from the Council next page line items 542 through 5 580 questions comments reports cuts from the council okay next page line items 581 through 619 reports comments questions cuts from the council Council Tio Munos thank you madam president um just curious about the overtime under Public Works uh 59 5 um seems to do a uh the both the department and the mayor's budget suggest the 50,000 but then 2024 was 80,000 is that is there a reason for for the difference there a lot of the overtime budget was reduced just to help balance the budget however at the same time a lot of the overtime that's been paid by the Department of Public Works has been you know it's a salary appropriation so it's been paid for out of the vacancies that we have in the Department of Public Works that are at the top so we can use any salary appropriation for salary costs since overtime and general wages are both salary expenses basically the vacancies are paying the overtime thank you wel thank you Mr Mayor thank you counselor further questions comments from the council Council Towers uh just for the other counselors awareness in our Public Service committee meeting uh we had talked about this engineering and public works department at length and there's uh just a few items I want to point out for line items 58 two Professional Services line items 586 uh EPA npdes uh you notice there's a larger Department uh request on the mayor's uh budget and as the mayor stated the uh the wish list so to speak from the department heads the department um the engineer uh city engineer Oliva just wanted to bring to the council's attention you know we have various uh storm water treatment and other EPA regulations coming down the pipeline that uh we will have to figure out how to fund in order to sustain various standards just wanted to point that out for the other counselors did you mention a timeline on that counselor uh I don't know call chairman Sony did you remember uh I want to say it's fall I believe fall the mayor's noding his head back yeah so it would be something they would come back and ask for funding for Mr Mayor it's a bill we receive every fall that will probably going to receive for the next five calls so it's one of those if we were to pay up front that's what it would cost us but it's spread out over the course of the number Years thank you y further questions comments from councel next page line items 620 through 658 reports Cuts questions comments from the council thing there is none next page line items 659 through 697 reports Cuts questions comments from the counselors seeing that there is none next page line items 698 through 736 councel tyros thank you madam president I just wa because the rec department total budget is on this page uh even though most of its items are on the previous page uh I thank the mayor for his opening remarks uh I think the department of request is a large increase we had a lengthy discussion at Public Service uh subcommittee meeting on this budget um the director uh while there wasn't a ton of information The Narrative did provide some updates as to how big the program has gotten how successful it is I think uh you know I was supporting this increase because I do think that's about where uh a department budget would be for the amount of service they do provide over the summer uh add some reluctance due to the um the sustainability of of that growth in that program and I look forward to seeing the management plan uh that the mayor had mentioned mentioned and uh you know now fully support uh this budget increase thank you Council tyos further questions comments Cuts reports from the council uh I had spoken I remember with uh BR director Fort last year um and you know just regarding this budget and how much they were growing and seeing growth and so I'm glad that we are funding it and we are looking into keeping it going where it is it's it's providing a direct service to um children in our city and who live here and go to school here here and um it's the growth is just it's it shows that there's a need um and I just think that us being able to support that is is really important and that we found a way to do it is even more important so um as much as it is a huge increase and it is growth it's you know it's a biggest growth that we have in the budget uh I just there's a need there for and I think it's really important councel to I I definitely want to Echo what you just said and and think about it like this so when we look at school choice numbers when we're looking at a school committee budget and the CH children choose to go outside of garden Public Schools this is our opportunity to show them in instill pride in them to be Gardener residents to become Gardener Wildcats this is our future that we're working with in in molding and developing and and that's what we need to look at and that's the vision behind this program from a long time ago that we talked about 10 15 years ago and to see it come to fruition and to see it Thrive right now is exactly what Garder needs and so I fully support this increase thank you thank you and I also appreciate the counselor's um questions during the public service committee meeting of uh of um director Fort because uh it gave him a chance to really give all of the details of it and show that he cares about it he's passionate about it he's he's proposing this for a reason and I think um also with all of the funding that we had had for um our music program program last year for our younger students like you just see it it's getting filled students are participating they want it let's have it here for them we have a brand new elementary school for them um and you know kind of that whole Gardner Public Schools campus piece of it but I I did appreciate the counselor's U tyrus's comments and questions uh during the public service committee budget hearings because uh it just gave him an opportunity to elaborate more even though he had already provided the narrative and writing councelor Heath yeah I just want to go ahead and um speak on it because obviously you know I deal with a lot of the high school kids that are employed and they're mentors to these kids over there and and some of these kids aren't just you know regard as soon as some of them are outside kids that have like you said they've transferred over and found mentorship from some of these seniors um Captain on the football team and you know a lot of the captains that I know that go over there and they they Mentor these kids and you know during the season and everything else and this is a kid that oh yeah they won't call them you know they call them um uh I think they call them councel so like um you know it's it's awesome and it's you know something that I'm proud that we have here and I'm definitely in support of it further comments questions okay moving to the next excuse me page line items 737 through 775 reports questions comments from the council C thank you madam president items uh 766 and 773 um I understand that the uh City Engineers um pay a split among a bunch of the um uh divisions um I'm just wondering why it's listed twice under water and expenses is that additional engineering like kind of uh for for line 773 Mr may like consulting or something like that or is it the same also engineer salary I think that's the additional Engineers that we have to help with the Department that's there I think we could probably change the this is title of that L is po it is it is that used to be oh you know what that used to be that used to be the assistant director Public Works title that was put into the Enterprise account to help with assistant additional engineering with it that's what that was thank you for that that's why I changed from assistant director Public Works to senior civil engineer for the Enterprise account thank you thank you Mr Mayor thank you counselor further questions comments okay next page line items 776 through 814 reports Cuts questions comments from the council see Council tyros I just I feel the need to uh report that from our uh Public Service meeting um as an example of of good practice practice uh the upw director reported that uh for example the repist mains line item 781 uh you know we we' invested heavily in that in previous years uh where they actually televis uh they they Reign the pipes under the roads uh to help prevent leaks that uh you know obviously cost the city a substantial amount of money because it's uh water that we're losing in the system uh it it's providing better quality um service to the citizens and keeping costs lower and I think it it pays dividends actually uh due to the savings even though there's an investment and you can see that item is reduced this budget but uh that work still going on and um it was good to hear that uh smart management was going on so appreciate that thank you counselor further questions comments from the council okay next page line items 8:15 through 853 c t thank you madam president uh curious about line lines um 831 and 851 um in terms of uh the proposed budget like for for uh final cover maintenance under land forclosure why why was The Proposal 60,00 I'm just I'm just curious about that then the same similar question for repairs and maintenance 65 they seem a lot higher than what was budgeted it's one of those most optimal year versus what you actually need to do uh the departments were all ask you know give the best case scenario this year if money wasn't an object what would you like to do that front loads a lot of the work that needs to be done in both of those line items however because I mean these are Enterprise funds so they are only funded with the revenue that they take in themselves um repairs be allow if everyone in the city got a new totter to the solid waste account so that's what the repairs and maintenance goes for for that one or in solid um it's the landfill closure one the landfill closure but there was one you said it was 851 is repairs and maintenance for solid waste right I mean in terms of the landfill closure why would it be six like 60,000 what was that's the uh the engineering and monitoring we have to have for the amount of methane that's still being released from the we can um do every pay for everything all up front and then have a contractor just have go through and do that or um we have to continue to monitor it for 30 years after it's been closed so we probably have an additional 15ish left on that monitor okay thank you and the lee8 pumps also need to be repaired that's that's the big thing that's there the lee8 pumps um two of them are down so they need to be uh repaired fully so that would be the most optimal repair for them any Mr May thank you Council anything further questions comments from the council okay last page line items 854 through 889 reports questions comments cuts from the council councelor Mac I just want to make a point on um line 877 that the school department is coming to the end of their contract on Transportation um so we in the welfare committee meeting discussion with that u in when the school department did their presentation that we can expect um an approximate $1.2 million increase in transportation for next year um and again um fine item 880 for special ed Transportation cost at 1.5 is for approximately 29 students so just so people understand the expense that Transportation cost of the school department thank you counselor councelor tunos thank you madam president um line 864 I'm just curious about why why the uh there's a line for curbside waste pickup but there isn't an expense is it just kind of rolled into the other or is it just kind of why is that that's one of those lines that when the money comes in from the quarterly bills it goes into that line and then when we pay the bills it goes out of that line so it's one of those it's never really fully it it revolves to it more than it's there but it's one of those that uh it is basically reflected in the upper lines okay thank you Mr Mayor thank you counselor further questions comments okay that ends the budget review that covers all of the items listed on the FY 2025 budget review items and for the informal meeting's agenda does anyone have anything further to comment on the topic of the informal meeting in the council councelor General lawitz Madam president I just wanted to thank the mayor and all the department heads and their staff for all the work the putting together the um budget we have this year for the previous years obviously the information questions were asked um as they still were during the standing committee meetings but a lot of those were answered um in those narratives and we got a great idea of what um what type of things they'd like to be able to do to do in a perfect world that we can possibly strive for more forward thank you thank you counselor anything further from the Council on the topic of the informal meeting okay um for the public watching we do have a regular meeting at 7:30 this evening where we'll be have the opportunity to vote on the budget items um but hearing nothing further we will close this part of the meeting and reconvene at 7:30 for our regular meeting thank you everyone thank you Mr Mayor thank you Mr auditor thank you