##VIDEO ID:cPemz1lBdlA## the Public Safety Committee to order please call the rule counc cor presc pres all right first item on the agenda review and approval of meeting minutes for December 15th 2023 January 12th 2024 February 5th 2024 March 15th 2024 April 16th 2024 May 17th 2024 and June 21st 2024 have a motion I make a motion to accept all seven sets of minutes as presented second uh motion by counc Harden second by councelor Heath to accept the minutes as presented all in favor I I opposed motion carries next item on the agenda is departmental updates we will start with the building department one C all right so I will be as brief as possible get a few bullet points um building department uh status of the department overall is still pretty healthy uh we had we hired one local inspector um as you know we struggled to hire an inspector last year hired one local inspector our other local inspector resigned and moved on to the town of winchington so we're still kind of back in that same boat still looking for another inspector um the new inspector we have has caught on really fast um he's doing a great job he's trusted out there in the field um really good so but we are still looking for for another inspector to be staffed um appropriately um complaints overall throughout the city are up about 40% from last year um those complaints are involve zoning complaints chickens working without permits um various types of zoning violations neighbor on neighbor complaints um that takes up a a fair amount of time um away from the building side performing those investigations um we have made one of my things that was on my agenda when I first took office was is to bring the city into compliance with periodic inspections um we're seeing great success with that now uh we're focusing primarily on the higher Hazard areas um areas where people congregate so churches schools dayc carees uh things of that nature uh we're really close to having the entire city into compliance with those with those types of areas and then we'll start transitioning on to like multif family housing things like that uh so we've actually made um some really good progress in that area um accessory dwelling units is something that's going to be coming down the line next year in February so the housing Bond bill has Rewritten the rules for accessory dwelling units uh throughout the state of Massachusetts we are in the process of rewriting sections of our zoning ordinance now in order to comply with those um towards the end of October we'll get some more guidance from the state uh but that's going to change our zoning significantly throughout the city uh but you know we'll give updates on that as we as we get more information and and we work through that process but that'll have to go to zoning uh I'm sorry go to council for for approval to write that in definition of quick a accessory dwelling unit is so an accessory dwelling so that's the technical term or the legal term for it in-law apartment is is what what people mostly call it um in-law apartments are intended to and they're designed to have a child or an in-law or a parent Liv in them um those requirements are going to be removed um plus we're going to have um they're going to be permitted by right in residential districts so um how exactly that gets written is something that we're still still working on so we're still waiting on some guidance from the state but uh we'll start seeing more and more of those um appear either accessory in in an accessory structure or within the primary dwelling of the building um but that entire section of the Z will have to be Rewritten to accommodate that um the new building code is in effect now took effect uh October 11th there's a concurrency period through the end of the year uh where contractors can use either the new version the 10th edition or the 9th Edition uh January 1st it's the 10th edition only um we are in a great position now to be able to enforce a new building code having purchased all the new code cycle already so the entire department has has a new code cycle uh the only thing that we're waiting on is the mass amendments to be released once those are released we'll purchase those and then we'll be we'll be in a good spot to to enforce a new building code um but there there are some significant changes in there as well um the mdts and the trucks when we upfitted the trucks um that was one of the things I came to council for for that for the funding for that um that has proven to be a huge success for us um the feedback that I'm getting from the inspectors is only positive uh it allows them to do their entire job remotely from the field um they everything they have access to in the office they have access to on the field um so it's it's allowing them to do their entire job right from the truck if if need be um it's really critical when they're following up on complaints and Performing those investigations they can do everything right there and have all the information um so that's that was invaluable investment for us and that's the new standard moving forward um open gov continuing to add additional uh applications and forms and tweak the ones that we have um to make it as user friendly as possible for for the public um the overall feedback for that is has been pretty good uh but that's that's our primary format for for um permitting and communication with with the building department um and another department so we're still adding more and more uh monthly uh monthly to that um still in need of a new code enforcement vehicle we have one that is nearing the end of its useful life probably has about one inspection left in it so that's something that we're um we're going to continue to to come back to uh to council 4 as as we get towards the end of the year um so that's that was on my proposal last year uh it's going to be on it again this year uh we're looking primarily hybrid um maybe electric as we're looking at some of the electrical improvements around City Hall um whatever is most cost effective for for the city and whatever is the best fit is is what we're ultimately going to be looking for um our snow removal equipment that we got for City Hall uh maintenance that is a D um that's going to increase the maintenance Department's ability to uh ensure that City Hall and the grounds here are clean and free of debris and as safe as possible for for our our constituents coming in um that was a a significant investment along with all of the LA Lawn Care Equipment uh that we have we've gotten really good feedback on on how the city on how at least the property looks uh so we're looking forward to implementing that new equipment and getting that into into use and um keeping this place clear and safe um that's all I got for you guys any questions yeah I just had um thank you um but I just had a quick question about the building cods uh what's the biggest changes um not all of them just like the biggest and you said significant yeah so some of the significant changes are going to be to um periodic inspections um the the types of structures that get inspections they're adding we're adding uh types of structures so additional residential structures short-term uses of residential structures are added in there for periodic inspections um sprinkler requirements currently um for boarding houses congregate living facilities um things of that nature um sober homes is kind of the the common vernacular for that the fire department can order sprinklers on those buildings now um in the new code the building department can order it and it's retroactive back to 2017 so 2017 is when we implemented the taxation on those on those types of homes so now both both agencies will be able to order the sprinklers on it um so that that's a big help for us as well um lots of how big you can can build a structure height and area requirements are changing as well um but the bulk of it is going to be in chapter one which is which is the enforcing uh section awesome and then um as far as like the in laws are they going to be required you know kitchens bathrooms yeah so so an accessory dwelling unit by nature is designed to have full um living arrangements independent of the primary dwelling or principal dwelling so bathroom kitchen um sleeping areas can be in the form of like a studio apartment where you kind of have the living room and the and the sleeping area um the language currently is uh or what it will be is 900 ft or half of the principal dwelling whichever is smaller so you can have one by right more than one by special permit we don't know who the special permit is going to be by uh so I think the state's leaving that up to the municipalities to um to write that probably going to be zoning uh zoning board for that um the biggest change is currently the owner of the property has to submit an authorized letter stating that they will reside in one of the two dwellings they no longer have to do that so now the owner is no longer required to um to reside in either dwelling all right well uh thank you for the explanation I just feel like there's going to be some people at home who are going to hear and they're going to want details yeah rather you get a bunch of emails you explaining it would be a lot better yeah sure so question um so that's that's really just the tip of the iceberg um there's there's still more to come I I I've got to stress that um it hasn't been ironed out we have we have the guidance um we will still have to write it into our zoning um essentially it is it's by right uh currently it's by right within the principal dwelling and by special permit in an accessory structure it's no longer going to be the case um so but there are other health code requirements and DPW requirements Etc that that will have to be implemented um so there there's still more to come on that uh we should have that towards the end of the year awesome thank you all right thank you back up to uh police morning Council good morning [Music] uh we've been it's been a busy summer uh for us a lot of programming through our community policing program and uh community outreach um schools the school year has been a a busy one to start um uh currently we are I attended a graduation yesterday Academy graduation for um one of our officers out in hoolio that brings us he starts Monday that brings us to one short uh we are currently this we um the interview I'm sorry the uh cover letters and resumes closed tomorrow today excuse me for our first position outside of civil service um we have I believe 12 uh applicants so far uh we haven't looked through them yet or anything like that we're just still accepting they close today so we'll be taking a look at those probably the start of next week and there's a potential we could be at full staff possibly by January by the beginning of January which we haven't been at it in over 5 years so um I won't Jinx that or anything but um you know it's uh we're hopeful of that so um see we are I'm I'm currently attempting to to train the entire department in CIT critical incident it's a mental health piece um helping um what the the issue was is that the officers the training they receive in the academy and the training they receive in the street there's there's some gaps there for mental health training uh we're trying to bring that up and I want to bring it up across the board for the for the entire department because we do see a lot of um mental health pieces in the calls that we go on um so I want to make sure our officers are adequately prepared for for what they're seeing now and um this CIT program we work with Open Sky and uh CSO and it's been I I feel it's been very successful so far um a lot of the officers who are trained in they learn a lot of the pieces that we don't learn through the academy like how to speak to somebody or how to talk to somebody in crisis things like that um and and again I I think so far it's been pretty pretty successful for us um so Personnel wise police side we're good uh training is is is good um we're hosting another CIT class here uh week before Thanksgiving uh that should bring me up to over half the department trange at this point in time um so we're getting there it is a 40-hour class so it is a kind of a financial piece to it too so we're kind of Staggering it in the best we can um grants we just applied for and I uh a body camera Grant uh this is something that's kind of been on our radar for for the last few years um we are the currently only agency in this area that does not have body cameras I think it's an important piece um transparency obviously accountability um but I think I think in general it's it's a best practice uh and I we're we're we have a a demonstration the week after next with one company we're we're again we're getting bids at this point so we'll probably be coming to the council for supplemental funding um shortly uh to fund that it's not an inexpensive endeavor but I think it's worthwhile for the community so um you'll be hearing more about that in the the coming months so um we received um additional money from Shannon in addition to the almost $50,000 we normally get from them that provides uh funding for a lot of our programs committee Outreach programs we're um going to be doing some more programming down at Old English Village to assist in public housing um some programs for the kids down there things like that uh Lieutenant chowski is working on some programs now down there so we're pretty happy about that we received a m another new Municipal Road Safety Grant um part of the piece is is U of the funding is um equipment and we receive a lot of requests for uh flashing signs I'm I'm sure you do as well from some of your constituents uh we're doing the best we can um they're they're not cheap uh this grant will give us two so so we're going to try to figure out some areas where we receive the most complaints and put them in those areas some of the issues with that though is you need sun to charge the batteries so you can't put them in a shaded area things like that so but we're working on that um again I I've said this before Fleet our our Fleet is in decent condition um but we're seeing a lot of computer related issues with the new cars uh reprograming things like that that has to go back to the dealers so um our the line item for my vehicle maintenance is definitely seeing it seeing the hit um we just received one of our new Cruisers uh we're waiting for one unmarked and and another fully marked coming in as well but uh supply chain issues I'm not it's still it's still an issue uh budget wise our our overtime is we're about a little under 40% through our overtime budget uh for the year we have obviously been short we have collective bargaining um agreements that we have to comply and and and honor so overtime is is uh it's always a concern but we do have other supplemental areas um that we can like Shannon does does offset that as well so we do get money to offset some of our overtime spending through grants um with uh overtime with overtime in regard I haven't had to come back for any money um because I haven't been at full staff so I've been able to move money around through salary uh that probably won't be the case this year um I may be at some point later on in the fiscal year I may be coming back depending on the circumstances so I just want to prepare everybody for that um building is again it's a 10-year-old building and the stuff that that was put in initially on the initial build is starting to fail uh we're seeing we're seeing stuff you know if we just replace sensors uh when you walk in the room the sensors pick up the mov in the room and they turn the lights on um they were installed obviously to um if people forget to shut the lights off we we it's it's our spending on energy so um those are starting to fail and if they fail the lights don't work so we see issues like that um air conditioning replaced an air conditioning unit on top of the building uh again a pricey uh fix some other minor issues and just it's still on Capital Improvement but the restuck and painting of the building needs to be be done and it was recommended 5 years we're at 10 I just we just want to make sure it doesn't get fall off and and getting forgotten about because the building does need to be maintained um dispatch is we're we're short three right now um it's we're we we hire we interview constantly just about for those positions it's it's a tough job um the training is tough and not everybody makes it through the training so um we do see a lot of turnover in the initial stages of of of U the dispatch position so we are pretty much in a rolling cycle of interviews um and we don't see the applications that we we were before either so um we're trying to get there but dispatch is is is definitely a concern for Staffing uh animal control we have one am control officer out on um FMLA right now for a little while uh other than that things are pretty static down at the shelter and with animal control steady with staff um and we're currently hiring two um inim control attendant um facility attendance down at the anim control facility um I think that's about it any questions or concerns or thoughts question this um that you speak of about the mental health sure CIT I have a son that has since he's been 13 has you know severe mental health it's under control at times it's very hard if you're not used to dealing with that so I commend you for doing that because um he has used to live in lemonster and then he's here and he's um he's had some you know interesting encounters with some not here sure others um and so I I want to say that's a great idea thank you well I I think what we were seeing is there's a lot of like officers are trained a certain way and they need to be trained in other ways as well so when you're dealing with somebody who appears to be uncooperative or U difficult a lot of times it was because they were being difficult but now we're taught to look at it a different way like maybe there's something else going on here should we look a little bit deeper ask other questions things like that and and um I'm I'm hopeful that you know it's going to give us the tools we need to to really kind of take our ourselves to the next level with that type of thing you know we really I'd love to see um co- response clinicians with officers responding to mental health calls um I would love um love to to see that um obviously you know financially that's it's a it's a bite um we can look for grant funding for that but I I really think having trained clinicians responding to calls with officers obviously safety piece of it as well you know we wouldn't expose a civilian to to dangers that we didn't have to but um I I think having a trained clinician to treat you somebody in Mental Health crisis is a huge asset for us huge asset for us so I mean my officers aren't clinicians but I'm trying to get them closer to that that level that's kind of there's a lot of it around I you know I'm retired now so I drive around with my son to get them out and there's a there's quite a few and if you don't know you know if you're not trained in mental health issues you think these people are just difficult difficult but they're not no you know no autism is is is a perfect example right um somebody could appear to be being difficult but it's part of what what's going on with them you know and and and you need to understand that so and we're we're getting there we're getting there we're trying to you know get ourselves up to where we need to be to you know to be effective for the community um yes thank you so um I was actually you in touch on the CIT too because I tell you um you know being able to understand or try to understand be willing to understand where people are coming from you know like that's a that's a great thing that you know when I grew up it was uh you know he's crazy that would be the same you just you know it is what it is just keep it moving but you know sometimes you know understanding why somebody might be quote unquote crazy is one thing and I mean you know like obviously besides counseling you know I do everything I do on the football teams and everything else I you know I'm a mental health counselor there 90% of the time because these kids they come into the sports and things like that to go ahead and relias of what may be happening at home and everything else so like you know they they comes at a certain type of patience and willing to understand that I respect those I respect you especially because you're putting it upon your officers to go ahead and be willing to understand because everyone's not the same and you know and there's traumas and things that trigger certain things so you know like you know that I you know I know an individual that could never get his driver's license and asked him why he's like uh you know state troopers boots make me nervous and he would never go take a state he would never he still doesn't have his driv license he's 55 years old so you know it's certain things that trigger certain things and the fact that you are willing to you know go ahead and have your officers be willing to understand that is great and that's another reason why the garden Police Department is one of the best departments in the state so you know um thank you thank you obviously I feel that way but you I certainly probably have a bias in that regard but I'm very proud of our officers um you know I the work they do every day I you know a lot of times even you know haven't been around it for so long I'm still in awe of how quickly they resolve things um how usually they resolve things in a it's the best manner um you know and and uh like I said the job is changed a lot in the 30 years that um and and one thing's for sure it's going to continue to change so we either got to we figure it out or we fall off so um but no I'm very proud of our our our department and our community I really am so thank you Tire okay I'll uh I'll start off with a Personnel update um and at this time at the time of this report all budgeted positions at the fire department are filled well um I don't believe that is a good reflection of the current situation though um that kind of paints a Rosier picture than there is um and it's certainly not a you know an accurate reflection of our situation right now so I'm going to go through some points here that um give you a better um idea of where we are so as of this coming Sunday we will no longer be fully staffed another firefighter has submitted his resignation accepting a position at another area Fire Department um I also have um two firefighters that are currently deployed on Military assignments um one was activated this month for a one-year deployment to Europe um and the second is expected to return in late January from a 15-month deployment um and he is a recruit firefighter and still has to attend the the mass recruit fire academy um so I'm not anticipating him being um in the mix as a full member of the firefighting Force till probably May of next year uh I also have um four firefighters that are currently on leave or working modified duty assignments um due to both on and off the job injur injuries and illnesses um they are all extended situations and at this time none have anticipated return dates um and I also have um three um recruit firefighters that were recently hired um over the summer um that are have started the massire academy recruit training program um they're at the sto campus um for this this time um the scheduled class graduation date is December 20th of this year uh so at that point they if they all successfully complete the program and graduate we'll have three numbers that we can put right into um into regular assignments and they will help to alleviate the Staffing situation um that we're facing right now um and on that um subject um the fire department overtime account um I've already exceeded the the budget for the year um the budgeted amount was $200,000 um as of this past payroll we are at $22 $2 4,182 um that's on the fire side of the budget um the ambulance side is in a little little bit better shape um having spent 36,000 of the 70,000 so we're about 52% spent there uh as is always the case the vast majority of the overtime expenses is for backfilling um contractually required Staffing positions um to keep all the trucks staff and rolling on the streets um there there has been some vacant positions so uh there will be some money that can be you know moved to cover some of the overtime but I uh just like the police said I I confident there will be a a free cash request coming at some point moving forward to to offset these these expenses um so it's it's there's kind of more of the same at the fire department we're battling Staffing all the time um the guys and girls are working a lot of overtime a lot of forced overtime um and they're they're tired um so it's it's just an ongoing challenge um on the grant side of things um I have completed and submitted the application for the fiscal year 2025 uh Massachusetts um firefighter safety equipment Grant uh based on population the maximum award amount that Gardener could apply for is $199,000 um most of the funding requested will be replacing older equipment that is either Beyond its service life or damaged Beyond repair um some of those items include multiple Links of of hose and a u multi-gas combustible and um hazardous gas uh meter um for detecting Natural Gas Propane other uh hazardous gases um we are also requesting a new thermal imaging camera which is the infrared devices that we use to um search and operate in zero visibility conditioned Smoke Filled environments um they're especially helpful when you're searching for victims in a smoke filled environment that you have no visibility everything kind of looks the same and you're going by feel and a thermal imager can help you identify a a victim um and uh we also applied for two two new items to us uh electric vehicle emergency plugs um which are um devices that plug into the charging port of an electric vehicle and they disable the vehicle um that prevents um unexpected movement or other power um being on in the vehicle um so when firefighters are either operating in an accident scene or a fire involving um a vehicle they can deploy this device and it secures the vehicle um and we are dealing with more and more accidents and fires um because of the increasing number of electric vehicles out there on the road and there is a lot of um unique challenges and safety concerns for public safety personnel working around these vehicles it's a a new animal and the batteries Pro uh give a lot of unusual challenges that um the methods and techniques of dealing with them are still evolving at this point so it's it's a real challenge um so the the total list of equipment that um we've applied for in this grant is um 22 lengths of inch and 3/4 hose 14 lengths of 2 and 1/2 in hose two of the emergency vehicle plugs uh electric vehicle emergency plug excuse me uh the thermal imaging camera and the multi-gas detection meter um the Fire Department application for the fiscal year 2023 FEMA assistance to fire fighters Grant the Federal afg grant program um which we've applied for repeatedly for new portable radios um again this year it was not successful um it made it out of um techn tecal review and into the basically it was approved for to be funded um but they ran out of funding before um we were in line for the the award so it was it was not funded um the application period for the fiscal year 24 um Grant has not opened as of yet they're saying November um so I will be um revising the application and submitting it again for um portable radios um the ones we are using now are now 16 years old um they're beyond their life expectancy um we're still using them they're still vast majority of them are still operating okay um but it's really becoming uh I mean that is at this point that's the the top priority item for the fire department as far as equipment goes hopefully hopefully this year we'll be successful with that Grant uh on the fleet side of things the the new ambulance was delivered in July and after local outfitting with equipment here and um licensing approval by the state office of emergency medical services um it was placed in service right around the beginning of September so it's on the streets now um that was a much needed um vehicle to take our 2018 primary ambulance and put that into a reserve status that was showing some had over 100,000 mil and heavy wear and tear from from six full years of service to the city um uh the new engine um is complete um we did a factory inspection last week on it um of course it was scheduled to be completed in July and there was additional production delays um but it is complete now um it's actually today it's going from the manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania to the dealership in Connecticut where they're going to do final uh equipment mounting and final inspections um I'm anticipating probably 3 weeks maybe 4 weeks before it's actually in the city and ready to roll uh and the new heavy rescue truck which is being assembled at the same suin Factory in Pennsylvania is running about a month behind that truck um they had additional production delays with that waiting for a generator waiting for other parts that um were delayed um but they have everything now and and it's moving forward rapidly now so hopefully hopefully December 1st or so we'll have that truck in the city and um the the contract for the new towel L truck has been completed and signed uh the manufacturer is a company called E1 out of Okala Florida and the local dealer is Greenwood emergency vehicles of attelboro and next week we have a pre-construction conference at the dealership in attelboro um to finalize all the construction details of the truck so the manufacturer at that point will begin ordering components the mode of the transmission um other outsourced components to uh be ready for assembly and they are still um on about a a 2 year delivery range for that truck uh as you've probably noticed we have a bunch of staging around via headquarters they have uh begun the roof replacement over there the city's insurance company Maya approved a full replacement of that roof following the the damage uh from the February Windstorm um they were originally scheduled to start around July 1st and there was delayed is due to materials and weather on other jobs the contractor was delayed on other jobs because of weather issues so they had to push our start ba date back um and they were also having trouble getting um getting the roofing products the roofing the the metal roofing um so they did begin um in September um and of course they've uh there's been additional delays they've encountered um things um that had to be addressed um and the first is there uncovering significant um unknown water damage to the substructure of the roof the taking the old metal roof off is kind of opening the proverbial can of worms and they're finding um stuff that was just not even known to be there um so obviously if you have substructure sheathing that is rot out you can't put new roofing material over that so they had to stop um and that is not part of the insurance coverage because it was existing damage so we had to um go through procurement for this and um just yesterday the a decam waiver was approved for the full procurement process so we can move forward with this as emergency repairs because the building is now open and exposed to the ments obviously we don't want to have more interior damage so um we can move forward and they they can they don't have to go through a a bidding process or advertisement process for the project we can just move forward with it um so that was approved yesterday um uh the second um issue that has basically halted work um is concerns about the existing roof sheathing underlayment that the the contractor has found that the original roof of course that was not installed properly there was deficiencies including not being properly secured down to the substructure which may or may not have contributed to the J the February failure or to past leaks and other issues we've had um and the basically the sheathing is not heavy enough thick enough to to properly install the new roofing material to it they've had to bring in an engineer to evaluate the structure to make sure the structure can support additional underlayment and um it's it's just kind of halted the whole project they they've done no work over there this week because of this um and of course that's pushing everything further back we're open into the weather the weather is not improving as we move through the month so they're they're hoping to have everything lined up um and be able to have everything approved and start moving forward with this soon um the the underlayment issues um the the rotted issue the rot that has to be replaced again is not covered under the insurance element so it's going going to fall back to the city we also had to have the chimney repointed which is a large brick structure um and that was that was also done under an emergency repair dcam waiver just before they started the project they found significant damage to it um and that was a $26,000 repair for the chimney the the raw issues are estimated to be no more than aox o imately $40,000 um and if that holds true that's you know that's $66,000 of unanticipated um costs with this replacement project that are not covered under insurance that right now I am paying out of the regular repairs and maintenance budget but there's just not going to be a way that I'm going to be able to handle all repairs and maintenance other repairs and maintenance for the building and my vehicles and everything else we have one repairs and maintenance line item in the budget and these the the the $66,000 for just the roof issues is is over 75% of that budget so I I anticipate some other type of funding um being pursued to cover this it's just it's costs we have to we have to pay for um hopefully you know um not much else is discovered when they continue the work but um it's a 50-year-old building and they're uncovering that the original installation of the roof was not proper so I I don't want to guess on what else they're going to uncover um and just a update on the the year so far for the fire department um so far we've answered just about 4,800 emergency calls for service um if that current Pace continues through the end of the year that um projects out to just over 6,000 calls um which would be an increase of approximately 5% over last year um so it's another another busy year that's my report all right question yeah I mean um thank you but uh you know when you started off I was ready to applaud when you said 100% And then just yeah um you know you said you had a couple um you know being deployed back and forth um you got one that's retired and you got another that's you have two that are going to other areas or is it one uh one one resigned to go to another area I've got four out on either modified duty or injury leave yeah and then you have the three in the academy three in the academy and two deployed yeah you know so I mean I was trying to do the math while I was doing it and I think that need are still be short not going to be 100% um you know obviously fightart needs help that's what it seems like and that's what I got out of what you were saying um and that's what I'm getting so that's all I got to say is I just fightart me so you know thank you for the updates you're welcome it it's just it's been challenging it continues to be challenging um and we're plugging our way through it trying to keep you know trying to keep everything staffed you seem very calm what your insights look like I know God bless you you got your hands full and um things are tough the first statement you gave was I was like that boy that's great that was right there yeah yeah good luck to you thank you thank you for the you're welcome work thank you last but not least Public Health good morning morning morning all right um so the health department is fully staffed as of about two weeks ago um we hired another Administrative Assistant um so our office is now completely full we actually had to chop our reception area in half to make room for the for the new higher so we're still looking for options as far as getting ourselves into a more appropriate space um which we had some some options out there but we're not real sure where they're at with like Waterford Street school or um finding some other office space in in City Hall somewhere um so we had um one positive Triple E mosquito sample that was taken on October 1st um they basically pull the mosquitoes by species and then test them um so I don't know if it was one mosquito or multiple um um and it was found in a species that mainly feeds on Birds um which is good news um spraying for mosquitoes wasn't advised or is still not advised because of the really small window that mosquitoes would be active would not match up with the timing of when the spray would be applied um so we just went out with some messaging just to tell people to take extra precautions and now with the temperatures those way they've been over the C past couple nights there's really no more threat from mosquitoes for this year but we'll be interesting just to see if it was an anomaly or if we get more Triple E mosquitoes in the area next year so we'll definitely keep an eye on that um the sampling is ended for the season and um there was one final round of sampling after the positive and that had no more positive results um we held let's see five Co and flu vaccine clinics at Hillside gar West Billa house Polish American citizen clubs and City Hall uh the clinics were pretty well attended um pretty evenly attended across all of the clinics um so we're we're happy with how that went um covid numbers are increasing um as they're kind of rolled in with all the other respiratory illnesses now like cold and flu so it's just it is the season for that um but we do have free covid tests available at the health department um and we'll try to keep ordering those to have those on hands as much as we can um we did have one fatal pediatric case of bacterial menitis in gardener um and fortunately it was isolated our we work with the massachusett public health network for our nursing services so they were able to Jump Right In and identify all the close contacts and get intervention treatments administered to anybody who who needed that so it was an isolated incident um for the landfill we just uh opened the bid invitation for repairing the landfill this week um the goal is to repair eroded let down channels that divert um surface water to the proper areas um so we're looking to complete at least one portion of it it has three to four sections of the landfill that need work so we're hoping to get at least one piece of that done this winter late fall um that project also includes replacement of some uh groundwater monitoring Wells that have been damaged for for quite some time um so we're now going to be repairing those so that we make sure we're monitoring the groundwater as as best we can um also out at the landfill and the transfer station our our loader um BW a turbine in the turbo so that was uh a $5,000 repair the loader has had transmission issues for no one really knows how long but for quite a while we were looking to get that repaired as well but that would be another $30 to $40,000 just for that so at this point we're looking to start setting some money aside and and we'll be needing a new piece of equipment out there at some point in the next probably year or two um so a new or used machine runs right around $24,000 and there doesn't seem to be a big significance in money savings with getting a used machine they still seem to be about $220 $200,000 for that um so that's coming down the line at some point um I'm still looking into facilities for the transfer station so um I got a couple PR preliminary quotes for like if I wanted to do a modular office uh it'd be around $140,000 for something like that um I also looked into a container office style building that would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000 um but we really do need to figure out some way to get some permanent bathroom facilities out there and uh just a better work environment for the transfer station monitor other than our our Tough Shed that we have going um let's see here um go on to food inspections um we had a few unrelated cases of Cy lowor pop up in August um so we did inspections at any of the establishments that were reported were the patients at um we didn't really find anything that could connect any of the cases together and um of all the foodborn illness's complaints that we received we haven't been able to connect any of those complaints to any actual issues at restaurants we will inspect for every single complaint that we get so um that was good news there um housing inspections we have been extremely busy with with housing complaints and um just this week with the temperatures we started to get a lot of no heat complaints um which are usually difficult to tackle cuz there's a lot of elements there whether someone has the funds to afford their heating oil or their systems broken just trying to help uh occupants and land owners navigate their way through that um we are also making some progress with the abandoned Housing Initiative as far as we have one property in town that we're trying to get in into a receivership so that it can be brought back up to sellable condition and then sold to a new property owner um so we're trying to work on more houses in town because we do have a lot of uh unoccupied buildings that are falling into disrepair that could be could be moved on to better owners or better uses so we're going to we're going to keep working on that and keep sending properties to the uh Attorney General's office to see if they would be appropriate for that program um I also just learned about um there's kind of a pilot program from the childhood lead poisoning prevention program um where they're going to be they're anticipating a fairly large Grant to DED uh units in certain communities so they're looking to start as part of a like a pilot program to Del a few properties in Gardener using that money um so we're going to be waiting on more information as far as that goes um but that would be fantastic news to get that taken care of we have had um a handful of children with elevated or elevated lead levels or elevated to the point where it's considered lead poisoning um so we are continuing to look at that um for prevention um Veronica our prevention coordinator is um did an overdose awareness event at Monument Park in August 28th um she did a project Redemption exhibit events on September 16th um September 8th to 16th she did the game changer workshop at the gardener high school on October 1st we were finally able to have our National Night Out that had to be rescheduled from August due to weather and then October 7th uh we held a domestic violence vigil and I think I think that is all I have for you at the moment questions no I don't really yeah I had a couple questions um we can clap cuz you're 100% staff now right I'm sorry we are yeah I was when you first got I was like oh I fell for this at first doing yeah so um so one of the things that you know just in my notes see that you basically said you guys may need a bigger office and know that down um just in my notes um but I just needed probably Clarity for the people at home you know I deal with sports I'm out there in the fields Triple E season do these mosquitoes have like clocks and they come out at night because they're like curfews why is that I think it's it's mostly related to air temperature and just their natural cycle of when they're active it's usually From Dusk till till a little bit after Sunset um so that is Peak mosquito activity time so it just it's unfortunate that it lines up with after school activities so it's just kind of the warmest nicest part of the day for him all right like to be honest with you I hate bus like last year the MS had made on the budget we never treated our yard M skos are out I never touch my pool like at all um I didn't even open the pool because of it like I just I don't like bugs and you just said that the the Triple E bug that came or that was found was a different species I didn't even know a different mosquito species sorry it just specifically for birds not specifically but primarily um they I mean will feed on people and other other animals but it's mainly historically known to feed like on birds I believe about by 80% of its diet comes from Birds um and you actually brought up another good thing is that we are part of the central Massachusetts mosquito control project um so residents of town can actually call them schedule uh free treatment they'll treat pools they'll do a spray of your backyard and it's at no costs so I would have known that last year I think s yep um one other thing um are there grants or you know have you looked into the possibility of getting grants to help with the cost of getting a structure for the transfer station I have been looking for Grants um haven't been able to find anything specifically for structures uh I did apply for a grant to get a shipping container just to act as U basically a small Swap Shop to just increase recycling in town um but I haven't been able to come across anything as far as that goes but I actually wrote myself a note to keep looking for those so we will do that for sure yeah that that was my only notes I mean I I didn't I don't know if there grants but I just happen to find out there's grants for weird things yeah there's a lot out there there grants for things that you know I mean then there isn't grants for things that you feel like they should be grants for so like you know I think it just if there was a possibility of getting help help us help you help you know so they had a very large um they call it a technical assistance grant for landfills but it and it was a lot of money but you had to be related to recy recycling only like building more recycling facilities or increasing your capacity it had to be all along those lines and there's just no way to to get it to line up to what we were looking for so we will keep looking I'm thank you yeah all right thank you very much all right thank you thank [Music] you all right Department updates is done old business item 11204 an ordinance to amend the code of city chter 600 entitled vehicles and traffic 624 entitled parking preview on certain streets edil street from El Street to war street so at this time we have now had a public hearing on this item um we referred this item came to us to room traffic we had public hearing we've now referred it back to traffic is now back to us uh to make a recommendation to the full city council um the last traffic meeting uh the traffic commission stood by their assessment U basically if someone complains about a street they go out and measure they make a recommendation based on the guidelines of the street uh according to the guidelines and measurements of the street there should be parking only on one side U but it is up to the city council to codify that so we can ignore the traffic commission or we can recommend and vote to codify this uh permanently right now it's just there on a temporary basis um uh between the DPW and the police department so I entertain any discussion to a motion on this item so I would like to recommend to make a motion to present this to the city the whole city council as a as presented is that what you're asking are you recommending approval of this item or you gu I'm I'm recommending approval I agree second a second all right so there's a motion by councelor Heath second by councel Harin to recommend approval to the full Council um is there any debate on the motion I will say that councelor TZ um did go along the street and basically asked everyone their opinion and he said he had about 50/50 split that half were in favor half or not mostly the complaints were about the signs and where they were located [Music] discussion okay well I think there's always someone that's not going to agree with it you know for whatever their reason is but um if the traffic committee accepted this and um I agree with it I'm I'm definitely yes with us yeah same here um from my assum the last time we met we were waiting to hear B on off my if I may um I believe the the last yeah uh the deputy chief had just previous he was going to graduate uh from the National Academy just before this when this discussion first came up um I do recall there were there was a petition and there were multiple people who spoke at the the public hearing on it um and my take on like I I understand the measurements I think you like I think it was 10 ft for each lane and then 8 ft on each side for parking to have both both sides of the road you can have parking on um the road I don't believe is wide enough under the you know the guy those guidelines um the way I kind of left it was it's their it's their neighborhood um but I also so it's kind of that balance like it's their neighborhood but this is these are the regulations like how where do you want to kind of go with it um you can access from both sides so it's not like there's only one way in one way out there's multiple access points for um edel street so again I understand the regulations but I also understand their need to keep you know their neighborhood the way they they like it so we only did hear from one side of that coin I I believe the the the people who do did not want it I don't believe anybody spoke in favor of it at that point I don't recall I don't recall hearing anybody that spoke in favor that um but I I I guess it's kind of that balance so another discussion so um yeah you just got a um big great point on the fact that you know obviously I just you know ask for it to be um put to the city council as a whole um for approval however if there really isn't any complaints and that's 50/50 in a neighborhood is not an emergency vehicle neighborhood am I right I I I think so edel Street you can access from from obviously from Elm Street or what Comey on the other side um so you you can still get from either side so if like there was a potential obstruction in the middle I mean the fire sheep could probably weigh in on this in terms of fire apparatus and ambulances and things like that um so if there were to be some type of bottleneck potentially on the off chance that there was a call or whatever else I I think you could access from the either side yeah and there's also a cross street in the middle West Street and I I I'm not aware of any issues that we've had up there with access so again I understand it's it's just the the neighborhood it's their neighborhood and if it's a problem but I didn't hear anybody speak in favor of I I didn't anyways so so again just reiterate uh what we're looking for here is a recommendation to the full Council um we can recommend the full counil yeah I would actually approve itend they don't approve it have a split vote yeah so I'm going to actually withdraw me my motion to um put it up front I'm going to suggest you keep your motion but you don't have to vote Yes that you recommend approval all right then that's great then I apologize so I I'll go ahead and go over this again I would like to recommend um uh 1204 to the city council as a whole for approval second all right all right so the recommendation for approval to the full city council all in favor I uh opposed I'm going to say no um so uh two in favor of the ordinance anyone against um and then we'll have that discussion there on Monday that's for any other new business well I have to all these gentlemen sitting here thank you for what you do welome it never goes unnoticed to the stress you guys must deal with on a day-to-day basis is amazing thank you so motion to your so move counselor he second counselor hard toour all in favor I oppos motion carries thank you everyone