City Council - Regular Meeting

I call to order the Monday, October 20th meeting of the Gardener City Council. The clerk will now please call the role. Councelor Brooks, present. Councelor Craig Cormier, present. Council Dawitz, present. Council Harder, present. Council Heath, present. Council Heg, present. Council Kaziscus, present. Councelor Mack, present. Council Tony, present. Constant Munos present and President Tyrus present. Those who wish may now rise for the pledge of allegiance and opening prayer.

Mighty God, we thank you for bringing us together this evening. Inspire us to worthy deeds and sound decisions and direct us towards the attainment of good city government. We pray to bless and protect all the people of our city and the guide and inspire us that we may liberate in unity and harmony. Amen. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Announcement of open meeting recordings. Any person may make a video or audio recording of an open session of a meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium subject to reasonable requirements of the chair as to the number, placement, and operations of the equipment used so as to not interfere with the conduct of the meeting. Any person may intending to make such a recording shall notify the chair forth with all documents and exhibits used or referenced at the meeting must be submitted in duplicate to the city clerk as they become part of the meeting minutes pursuant to MGL chapter 30 subsection 20. Is anyone tonight recording the meeting? No response. Reading of minutes of prior meetings. We'll begin with the reading and approval of the June 6th, 2025 joint public hearing with the planning board minutes and the June 16th, 2025 regular meeting minutes. Councelor Cormier

move to wave the reading of the minutes and accept them as printed. Second. Motion by councelor Cormier, second by councelor Kazinskus to wave the reading of the minutes and accept them as presented. All those in favor I. All those opposed, no. Motion passes.

Public hearings. Item 11713, the FY 2026 tax classification hearing. I now declare open the public hearing. The public hearing notice reads as following. Notice of FY2026 tax classification hearing. Pursuant to chapter 40, section 56 MGL of the Gardener City Council will hold a public hearing on Monday, October 20th at 7:30 p.m. in the council chamber, room 219 at city hall, 95 Pleasant Street, Gardener, Mass. The purpose of the hearing is to determine the percentage of the local tax levy to be borne by each class of real property. The hearing will include the options available under chapter 40 section 56 of the Massachusetts general laws. The public is welcome to attend. This was posted on the city website on 1014 2025. We will now begin with a presentation from the mayor, Mayor Nicholson.

Thank you very much, Mr. President and counselors. Uh as you are very well aware uh this annual hearing is required by the general laws of the commonwealth to determine the factor for taxation of uh classifications of properties uh on an annual basis for us. Basically what this means is that the uh general law state that per the budget that was adopted by the council for the beginning of the fiscal year so the numbers that were adopted back in June uh that took effect on July 1st of this year uh the uh council now that we've gone through the process of certifying our LA3 which is our um certification of the qualifying sales by which the valuations of properties are to be used as comparable sales for different properties and again the general laws also require that those comparable bill sales be looked at in two calendar years prior to where we are now. Uh so the qualifying sales that are affecting this fiscal year in fiscal year 26 are those sales that took place in calendar year 2023 and the trends in the real estate market that took place in 2023. Uh the LA4 which then certified those valuations was then certified by the department of revenue and then the LA13 which then certified the values of new growth in the city uh was then certified. So this is our next step in the process of setting the tax rate for the fiscal year. Uh the administration just to start off the bat is still pushing uh and advocating uh for the continuation of a factor of one. That means we have a single tax rate for all classifications of property. Uh what that means is under the general laws we have various options to us and it's around six options to us. uh residential properties and open space properties must be taxed at the same rate and commercial, industrial and per personal property must also be taxed at the same rate. But what we have an option to do as a city is figure out the level in which residential and open space taxation is compared to commercial, industrial and personal property taxation on a varying level of about 25% each in each option. in a factor of one.

All of those classifications of property have the same tax rate across the board. In a split tax rate, which is what the other option is, uh there are uh ways in which residential property can be taxed higher than commercial, industrial, and personal or vice versa, where residential property and open space property is taxed at a lower rate. But in the end, we have an aggregate number of revenue that the city has to receive based off of what the budget was adopted for in June. So, it just determines how much of that budget number, the share is there. and to determine what the proportion is in that matter with the amount of uh commercial growth that the city has seen in recent years and uh the ways in which we've worked to cut back red tape, promote development, and show that we're open for business. That's the main reason why the administration is uh advocating for the continuation of a rate of one rather than uh doing what some municipalities and I should say a shrinking number of municipalities across the Commonwealth are doing and continuing with a split tax rate where the commercial industrial and personal properties are taxed at a higher rate. Uh it's something that really discourages businesses from even looking at a community. It's something that really uh sets if you if if a business or a company or a developer or any of uh you know those things that bring growth to a community are looking at a comparable between uh you know community A and community B. That's a factor that sets one community apart from another as seeing you know am I you know really subsidizing the other taxpayers if I come and open my business here. But at the same time we need that growth and we need that revenue and we've been consistently at a level of positive new growth. uh both monetarily wise in our annual budget seasons, which is how we've been able to do those supplemental budgets that we've been able to do in the past fiscal years, uh but also in just generating uh the general tax base that we have here in the city, our job growth, our retention growth, and we're really showing that we're growing as a city. Uh we see that in our real estate market. Our uh average um homes in the city of Gardener right now are on the market for around 5 to 7 days uh before turnaround. And a lot of that's because

they're waiting for the open house that's there based on the data that we're receiving from the multiple listing service, from our real estate contractors, uh, and our partners on feedback that we get from people. We know our population's grown by around 10 to 12% uh, in the last 10 years based off the census data that we receive annually. Uh, we know that there's a demand for housing that's out there. Uh, so we certainly don't want to look at the opposite option of a split tax rate. Uh, where, you know, housing and residential and open space property is higher than our commercial, industrial, and personal property. uh because that would further the issues of housing that we're seeing in the city based on the projections that we've seen. Uh so because of all of those reasons, the administration is continuing to advocate for that single uh tax rate moving forward. Included on your desks and passed out uh this evening and also submitted to the city clerk's office is a breakdown in the trends of valuations of the various classifications of properties that you see before you. Uh I do plan on talking about this more at a uh subsequent public hearing that I know the council is scheduled for a later date for uh the housing uh proposal that's currently before the council. Uh but I did that I included that there to show that uh we are working on addressing things of uh housing valuations and costs and things of that nature. But this is one way that we can work to do that on our annual basis is through this uh rate setting process that's there. I do also want to clarify too that this is not setting the specific rate for taxation for the city. This is simply determining what the percentage is born by each classification of property. The next steps from here after this uh classification is set is the city auditor will move forward with this uh tax recap uh recapitulation uh which is the uh word used by the department of revenue. Uh that will then be submitted for certification to the do once that's done the department of revenue will then set the tax rate for the city moving forward. When that's done we can then work on issuing the quote actual tax bills. Uh as you remember from previous uh iterations past, the first two tax bills for the quarters of the fiscal year for the uh July and the October quarters are set

are called uh estimated tax bills because we don't have this tax rate yet. And then moving forward from there in January and in April, that's the actual tax bills where we do have the tax rate. But again, the amount we collected is capped by what was set in the annual budgeting process. So it's just a sliding scale of what happens within that. Uh included in your packet uh from the city assessor's office and our city assessor Christine Kumar is here. Uh is the recommendation of the board of assessors as well who also voted to recommend a factor of one across all classifications of property. And then the required documents that uh the uh code of Massachusetts regulations and the general laws of the commonwealth require us to submit to the council annually as part of uh this uh classification setting process that includes a breakdown of the average single family tax bill uh for the year. The where we fall on average with var variable communities in the uh lo in the north central Massachusetts region. Uh the average single family home value trends in the area. our top 10 tax bill uh taxpayers in the city. Uh this does include our utility companies as they are a biggest payer of uh personal property taxation uh in the city and then a historic look at our uh tax rate moving back and the uh percentage that was born by the various classifications of property. And then lastly, the various options as was listed in the hearing notice uh that are available uh for the uh council to look at for the classification of properties. And that's what this paper is here showing the various the six different options that are there. But again uh the highlighted option is what the administration is uh advocating for with a factor of one. Uh the last thing I'd like to end on before if there's any questions from the council, I'm certainly happy to answer those. Is if you go to the FY25 average single family home values in Northern Worester County, I will say that uh this is based off of last year's rates as we are one of the first communities in this area in this region to be moving forward with this process. This is actually the earliest that we've been able to come to the city council on the administration side of things in order to move forward with this process and get the uh uh the

required processes moving forward for submitt to the department of revenue. So, these are off of last fiscal years. That's why you have FY25 is that most communities have not moved forward with this process in uh getting their valuations uh certified, their growth certified or uh getting an estimated tax rate for the fiscal year. Uh so, those are uh that's all of the information that I have for you this evening. I'm certainly happy to answer any questions as well as our city assessor uh who works in tandem with the city auditor on getting this process done uh as we move forward in the uh fiscal year processes that are required by the Department of Revenue and the Commonwealth. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mayor Nooks. Are there any questions or comments from the council? Thank you very much. Thank you.

Would anyone like to speak in favor of the petition? Would anyone like to speak in favor of the petition? Would anyone like to like to speak in favor of the petition? Would anyone like to speak in opposition of the petition? Would anyone like to speak in opposition of the petition? Would anyone like to speak in opposition of the petition? With that, the public hearing is now closed. Communications from the mayor. Item 1113, FY2026, tax classification hearing. Council journal.

Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, I'd like to make a motion to set the residential factor for real estate taxes at 1 for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2025 and ending June 30th, 2026. Second. Motion made and seconded by councelor journal and second by councelor Mack. Is there discussion? Councelor Kazinskus.

Thank you, Mr. President. I would just like to uh thank the work that was done on this by uh the mayor, the assessor's office as well as the auditor um to move this process in the most expedited way as it allows for the city hall staff to be able to get the information together and compile all of the um the tax bills and information to get to our residents um and um as early as possible and and in the most direct way. So, I'd like to thank them for uh their work on this. Thank you, Council Kazinskas. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I. All those opposed, no. Motion passes.

At this time, we will take a few appointments out of order. If there's no objection from the council, appointments committee. Item 11653, a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Jonathan Zlotnik to the position of redevelopment authority member for a term expiring August 21, 2030. Councelor Kazinskus. Thank you, Mr. President. The committee met with the mayor and the appointee and unanimously moved to recommend. Therefore, I move that the appointment be certified. Second. Motion made by councelor Kazinskus, second by councelor Heath to confirm the mayor's appointment. Is there discussion? Councelor Kazinski.

Thank you, President Tyros. Uh this goes along with uh item 11653 and also item 11657 as uh representative Zotnik is also um up for an appointment uh for the next appointment as well. Uh he has served as the city's representative to the um state since his first election in 2012. He has worked directly with the um mayor to navigate various state processes, programs, and initiatives to help further gardener's advance it advancement um enables us to work toward a stronger future and access funds that are uh essential for our city to run and work in the way that it does. And with the amount of ways that the redevelopment authority and the industrial finance authority, which is the next appointment, interact with various state laws, processes, procedures, and agencies, um, is going to be a large benefit to have them on these boards, and I'm happy to support this appointment.

Thank you, councelor Kazinskus, further discussion. Council Tone. Thank you, council president. Um, as the chairman of the Gardener Redevelopment Authority, I am going to abstain from this vote. Thank you, councelor. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I. All those opposed, no. Motion passes. Item 11657, a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Jonathan Zladnik to the position of industrial development finance authority member for a term expiring August 22nd, 2030. Council Kazinskus. Thank you, President Tyrros. The committee met with the mayor and the appointee and unanimously moved to recommend. Therefore, I move that the appointment be confirmed. Second.

Motion made by councelor Gazinskis, second by councelor Heath to confirm the mayor's appointment. Is there discussion? Councelor Brooks. Thank you, Mr. President. I just noticed this. The appointment is through August of 2030. So, that would make it a five-year appointment. Is that correct, Council Kazinskus? Mr. President, this particular appointment is five years. That is correct. Thank you. Thank you, Council Brooks. Further questions? All those in favor? I I. All those opposed? No.

Thank you, Council Sony. Motion passes. Item 11652, a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Judy Mack to the position of redevelopment authority member for a term expiring August 21st, 2030. Councelor Mack. Uh, yes, Council President. I will be abstaining and uh recusing myself from the next two votes for a conflict of interest. Thank you, councelor.

Councelor Kazinskus. Thank you, President Tyrros. The committee met with the mayor and the appointee and unanimously moved to recommend. Therefore, I move that the appointment be confirmed. Second.

Motion made by councelor Kazinskus, second by councelor Hughes to confirm the mayor's appointment. Is there discussion? Council Kazinskus. Thank you, President Tyrros. Councelor Judy Mack has served the city for decades in various roles and positions. From her time as a page at the Le Levi Haywood Memorial Library to her role as a teacher and guidance counselor at Gardener High School and now as a counselor at large, she has found many ways to serve the city and residents and uh move the city forward um into the forward direction. And I have um had uh the opportunity to serve with her on uh subcommittees of the council. She has served on various committees. She's chaired committees and she certainly has proven that um she will have a great perspective in her role on this board. And this also goes for item 11656 as she's up for that appointment as well.

Thank you councelor. Any further discussion? Councelor. Yes, President Tyrros. As for the same reason as the chairman of the guard redevelopment authority, I will be abstaining from this vote. Thank you councelor. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I All those opposed? No. Motion passes. Item 11656, a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Judy Mack to the position of Industrial Development Finance Authority member for a term expiring August 22nd, 2030. Councelor Kazinskus. Thank you, President Tyrus. The committee met with the mayor and the appointee and unanimously moved to recommend. Therefore, I move that the appointment be confirmed. Second.

Motion made by councelor Kazinskus, second by councelor Heath to confirm the mayor's appointment. Is there any discussion? All those in favor I I. All those opposed? No. Something abstains. Motion passes. Item 11643. A measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Joshua Cormier to the position of director of purchasing civil enforcement for a term expiring August 21st, 2028. Councelor Hegman.

Thank you, Mr. President. Uh the appointments committee met last week on this item. We are unanimously in favor of this reappoint. So I move the measure be confirmed. Second. Motion made by councelor Hegeland, second by councelor Kazinskus to confirm the mayor's appointment. Is there discussion? Councelor Heglin.

Thank you again, Mr. President. Uh we met last week again on this item. The mayor was very much in support of this reappointment. Um, and director Cormier gave us a really great and thorough highlight of what he and his department and office have been able to do. So, if you have a chance to go back and watch that, I would definitely recommend it. It was pretty insightful as to all the work that uh, purchasing and civil enforcement is up to these days. Uh, and that's in addition to some of his other roles in the city as like being our film leaison. Um, the department runs incredibly well, very smoothly. He's done a lot of work to streamline processes uh to move things to being electronic to save paper and money and time. He is clearly very passionate about his work in the city of Gardner uh and the role that he gets to play in overseeing contracts and purchases. Anything bought in the city goes through this office uh from the schools to the city at large and so they really do play a big role in our operations dayto-day. He has also gone through some extra uh qualification steps and he's received some extra certifications and appointments. Uh so he's very qualified to do the job and I'm happy to support this reappointment. Thank you.

Thank you councelor. Any further discussion? Councelor Tony. Thank you President Tyrros. I've known uh Josh for quite a long time and I can't think of a better person and I know that he thoroughly enjoys the position that he does and does it with all his heart and loves this city. And so, um, I'm in full support of this appointment for sure. Thank you, councelor. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I I. All those opposed? No. Motion passes. Item 11648, a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Philip Buzzeski to the position of youth commission member for a term expiring August 21st, 2028. Council Hegel.

Thank you, Mr. President. Again, the appointments committee met last week on this item. We read unanimously in favor of this appointment. It is a new appointment and I move the measure be confirmed. Second. Motion made by councelor Heglin, second by councelor Heath to confirm the mayor's appointment. Is there discussion? Councelor Heglin.

Thank you again. Uh so this was another great example of someone contacting the city to get involved. Uh we've had a good theme of that going this year and I think in part the appointments process and the mayor uh have really raised awareness of where we have openings and have generated that interest. So I want to give u Mr. Bizeski credit for that as well and thank him for his interest. He has been involved in a number of different youth programs from boy scouts and coaching coaching different sports soccer and football to name a couple. Uh he also worked for DCF for many years. Uh so he's no stranger to I think the struggles and hardships that a lot of youth can go through um and the range of demographics that we have in our city. I think he understands our our youth very well. uh brings a lot of passion and dedication. Again, if you get a chance, I would go back and watch this meeting. Uh it was clear how much he truly does care and I thought his testimony was incredibly moving uh and that he'll provide a really great perspective uh to the youth commission as well as find ways to bring positive opportunities uh to our youth. Um and so I look forward to supporting this confirmation. Thank you.

Thank you, councelor. Any further discussion? All those in favor I. All those opposed, no. Motion passes. At this time, we'll be taking a brief recess for the clerk to swear in the appointees. Good afternoon. I state your name.

I Judy and Matt do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and part impartially I will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of perform the duties on the guard of redevelopment authority according to the laws and the best of my abilities according to the laws and the best of my ability. Thank you. [Applause] Ready? I state two names. I, Judy, and Matt domly swear do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially that I will faithfully and impartially

perform the duties IDA perform the duties of IDFA according to the laws and the best of my ability. according to the laws and the best of my ability. Repeat after me. I state your name. I do solemnly swear

solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially that I will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of director of purchasing and civil enforcement perform the duties of the director of p of the purchasing and civil enforcement department according to law and investment abilities according to the law and investment liabilities [Applause] Ready?

Raise your right hand. Repeat. Repeat after me. I state your name. I, Philip Pessi, do so swear do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially that I will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of youth commission member perform the duties of youth commission member according to the law and the best of my abilities. according to the law and best of my abilities.

Congratulations [Applause] Resuming our agenda with reports of standing committees. Safety Committee item 11715 October public safety committee update councelor.

Thank you Mr. President. Uh on Friday the safety committee met with the four heads of the departments that we oversee which is health, building, fire and police. Um a quick update of each of those departments. Uh we started with the health department. The health department provided staffing updates which most notably was the resignation of public health director Blondo which is effective at the end of this week. Uh the transfer station supervisor also resigned as of October 15th and the addition of a new time full administrative assistant started today. Uh part-time administrative coordinator position remains open and Mrs. Deprima who is the assistant director will be the acting director in the meantime. She did stress that she hopes the open positions will be filled soon as they're having a hard time keeping up with inspections. Currently, there are two landfill projects that currently lack allocated funding. Uh the replacement of the leech pumps, which uh only one bid came in for about twice as what was expected. Uh and then the needed repair of erosion of the landfill cap. The contract for solid waste management with EL Harvey has been renewed to through 2031 following multiple negotiations with several different vendors. Uh their proposal will offer the lowest price in the service terms. Uh no foodborne illnesses or tobacco violations have been reported. Uh updated well regulations including PAS testing will taste take effect on January 1st and the arbor viral season is concluding with a low risk of triple E and Westnile virus and gardener. Uh they also held three vaccine clinics. Uh the latest being today. Uh and I believe there will be more in the future. uh building commission commissioner McDonald uh has uh finished her 30 days. She had given an update earlier this earlier last week. Um she gave an update in the meeting that uh her new assistant Tim is performing well as a local inspector. Uh there is a second full-time position that remains unfilled and due to this permit reviews are experiencing about a 3-week lead time and inspections have a

two to three day weight with efforts to reduce the ongoing delays. Commissioner recently hosted a web meeting with representative from Govwell as a possible replacement to open gov for uh permits in the city. Uh she felt it would streamline the permit process for both staff and residents. Uh myself and uh councelor Mack also attended that meeting uh that was presented by the goal representative. There is an ongoing planning for a scanning project to digitize records and commissioner stressed the importance of increased collaboration among city departments pointing out the need for earlier involvement of the building department to improve the permitting process. Uh the chief of police provided an update. The department has uh several existing openings and three upcoming retirements. So they are still struggling with uh overtime. Uh at this time they have three retirements coming between December and March. They have completed interviews and have pending conditional offers for three applicants. I believe uh department received a 30 $20,000 burn grant to make full-time the domestic violence advocate position and a $30,000 municipal road safety grant which will allow for added traffic safety signs throughout the city. Uh community outreach includes an October 18th drug takeback event and expanded teen center programming. Uh project highlights are the bodywn camera program that we voted on recently. Uh they expect to be operational by January 1st. uh and the emergency operations center for civil defense in the kitchen in the police department. The renovation and work is being done by Monty Techch cabin cabinetry. Uh they were facing a minor delay with ADA compliance. Uh but they expect that work to be done in the next few weeks. Uh dispatch staffing is stable with 11 positions filled and reduced overtime while animal control is fully staffed and a new officer is performing well uh and a well-maintained shel shelter facility. Uh the fire department had the best news. They are fully staffed with the three new recruit firefighters that has fullfully graduated and joined

regular shifts. One firefighter is on modified duty due to an injury, but overall staffing levels are stable. Uh so overtime costs were high earlier this year, but they've stabilized, so they hope it will remain that way. Uh the department is also currently waiting federal approval to proceed with the grant that was announced today for new radios for $363,941.96 to quote Chief Lgoy. um their radios are over 15 years old. Uh they were basically pirating them to keep them running. Uh so he has been hoping for this for a long time. Uh so we're very happy to hear that that grant has been awarded and that they hope uh once they get the go-ahad once the government reopens to uh move forward with this grant. Uh they said it's a four to six uh week six to 8 week lead time. Uh so they hope to have maybe by January 1st these new radios in service which will make them safer as well as uh improve the safety of the individuals that they serve. Uh additionally the council had approved funds to acquire a used ambulance from Westminster that will serve as a backup for the existing units as one of our ambulances is currently still out of service due to mechanical issues. Uh Westminster expects their new ambulance to be delivered hopefully by the end of the year at which time uh the purchase of that used uh ambulance will proceed. And the fire department headquarters roof replacement project finished on the outside. Now they are doing the inside uh where the uh apparatus garage um had suffered leaks from the old roof. Uh they're replacing that roof and the goal is to finish it so they can reduce the heating costs uh before the winter sets in. Uh, and that's it. Thank you.

I'm sorry if I missed there. Motion to place on file. Oh, can I make a motion to place on file? Second. Second. Motion made by councelor Cormier, second by council journal to place the update on file. Is there discussion? Councelor Mac.

I just want to commend all the departments that fall under the safety committee for all their hard work. Um, I myself um greatly appreciated the new uh building inspector's update. It was refreshing um to get information um like that because it's hard for us that you know serve on different committees to you know always be connected or informed of what's going on and especially where there's some facility work being done in city hall. Um you know when you think of building inspector you just think of outside of city hall. Um but I for one I greatly appreciate it and uh to the point that I'd love to see other department heads do that as well. and um so I just I just want to commend her in uh her early days of employment for doing that and um and and thank her. Thank you.

Thank you, Councelor Mack. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I. All those opposed? No. Motion passes. Finance Committee item 11700. A measure authorizing the city to borrow $6,911,028 for the Gardener Middle School, Massachusetts School Building Authority accelerated repair roof replacement project at 297 Catherine Street. Councelor Kazinskus.

Thank you, Mr. President. Uh leading up to a motion, I had asked several questions um about this item at our last meeting, and again, I um I think the finance committee committee did great work. I'm glad that they brought it to the full council. It is a large item. It's very complex. It's not something we run into often, but when we do have something like in front of this, it does go through school committee. It goes through the city council. And so, I did submit my questions to the mayor. Uh he did forward them on to director Hawk and the school department. And he did provide those uh answers to my questions and they are concluded in our packet this evening for all of us to have that information with a lot of additional information as well that I found to be really helpful on this item. Uh I would appreciate this level of information being put forward with the item to start. Um again a timeline has been provided. Um more information about uh what votes need to be taken when um what the school committee's um discussion and votes were on the item and um what the deadline was for the city council. It was stated that uh you know this was included in the city council pack in the fin and also at the finance committee meeting of a deadline of 90 days which typically are for these kinds of projects but it didn't say from when the date of a notification was or anything like that. So I appreciate the timeliness of this. We did just get answers to my questions as well as additional information only a few days ago. And I would uh motion to uh request more time on this item. And um that is my motion is to request more time on the item and to keep it on the council agenda.

Motion made by councelor Kazinska, second by councelor Heglin for more time. Is there discussion? All those in favor? I All those opposed, no. Motion passes. Item 11703, an ordinance to amend attachment E of chapter 8 of the code of the city of gardener, thereof entitled non-UN compensation schedule to add a position of assistant youth center director. Councelor Mack. Um I make a motion to send this to second and final printing. Second. Motion made by councelor Mack, second by councelor Dur allowance to send this item to its second and final printing. Is there discussion? All those in favor? I.

I. All those opposed, no. Motion passes. Item 11701, a communication from the mayor regarding the certification of the FY2026 LA-4. Council General. Thank you, Mr. President. And I'd like to take uh this item, item 11702, a communication from the mayor regarding the certification of the FY2026 LA13 as well. I make a motion to place both items uh on file.

Second. Motion made by councelor dur allowance and second by councelor hegland for item 11701 and item 11 1702 a communication from the mayor regarding the certification of the FY2026 LA-13 to place the items on file is there discussion council journalis the mayor did have presentation in regards to these earlier um these are related to obviously the certification of um new growth and valuations uh in the city but those like I said were discussed earlier today during the public hearing thank Thank you, council journal. It's further discussion. All those in favor, I I. All those opposed, no. Motion passes.

Item 11712, a measure relative to the November 4th, 2025 city election. Councelor Daw. I make a motion to adopt the measure. Second. Motion made by councelor Dow. Second by councelor Heglin to adopt the measure. Is there discussion? All those in favor? I.

All those opposed? No. Motion passes. Appointments committee. We have already taken up item 11653, 11657, 11652, 11656, 11643, and 11648 earlier this evening. We are now on to item 11649. A measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Francis Lemieux to the position of cultural council member for term expiring August 21st, 2028. Councelor,

thank you, Mr. President. Uh, the committee met with the mayor to discuss the appointee and I unanimously vote was given to recommend. Therefore, I move this appointment to be certified.

Motion made by councelor Heath, second by councelor Hegeland to confirm the mayor's appointment. Is there discussion? Councelor Heath. Thank you, President Tyrros. Uh, this reappointment was, uh, supported by the mayor's detailed endorsement highlighting Miss Miss Lemieux's previous service, which included over 10 years experience as an art teacher for Garden uh, for Gardener Public Schools and her continued commitment to supporting the arts and culture programs within the community. Please note that the general laws of the commonwealth only allow members of the cultural the culture council to serve no more than two consecutive terms uh three-year terms in which this is a reappointment. Uh therefore this will be our final um term on the council.

Thank you councelor Heath. Any further discussion? All those in favor I I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Item 11650, a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Kathleen Deal to the position of cultural council member for a term expiring August 21st, 2028. Councelor Heath. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, the committee met with the mayor to discuss the appointee and unanimously voted to recommend. Therefore, I move this appointment to be certified. Motion made by councelor Heath, second by councelor Hegman to confirm the mayor's appointment. Is there discussion? Councelor Heath.

Thank you, Mr. President. Uh the mayor's uh recommendation on Miss Steel's reappoint recognizes her successful track record on the cultural council. Her continued expertise, wealth of knowledge and networking is essential for the council. She has previously she has previous experience with the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce as well as the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation. Again, the general laws of the the general laws of the Commonwealth only allow members of the Culture Council to serve no more than two consecutive three-year terms. Uh, with this being a re reappointment, the second term will be a final term.

Thank you, counselor. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I I. All those opposed, no. Motion passes. Item 11668, a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Steven Cormier to the position of housing authority member for a term expiring August 22nd, 2028. Councelor Heath. Thank you, Mr. President. Committee met with the mayor to discuss the appointee and unanimously voted to recommend. Therefore, I move this appointment to be certified. Second. Motion made by councelor Heath, second by councelor Kazinskus to confirm the mayor's appointment. Is there discussion? Councelor Heath.

Thank you, Mr. President. Um, Mr. Cormier is completing his first three-year term on the board of directors for the Gardener Housing Author Authority. He has unique perspective that he brings to the table as he is a former firefighter and a member of the planning board. With that, Mr. Cormier's reappoint was recommended based on his previous effective service. He is confirmed to be a well-qualified member who provides important uh continuity and insight into the city's public housing needs and management. Thank you, counselor. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I.

All those opposed, no. Motion passes. Item 11664, a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Scott Hunton to the position of historic commission member for a term expiring August 22, 2028. Council Heath. Thank you, Mr. President. Committee met with the mayor to discuss the appointee unanimously voted to recommend. Therefore, I move this appointment to be certified. Motion made by councelor Heath, second by councelor Tony to confirm the mayor's appointment. Is there discussion? Councelor Heath. Uh, thank you, Mr. President. Uh, the committee recommended this reappoint acknowledging Mr. is it Huton?

Hon background and prior dedicated service in preserving and documenting the city's local history, which is a key function of the commission. Mr. Hon has been serving as a member of the historic commission since 2012 and the 13 years he has served in this capacity has done a lot of work to make sure the city's history is preserved and remembered for generations to follow. as a chair of the board of directors of the Garden of Museum. He has also helped with efforts to be collaborative in the functions of both of these organizations to be sure that they work together to tell the story of the city of Gardener.

Thank you, councelor. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I I. All those opposed, no. Motion passes. Item 11663, a measure confirming the mayor's appointment of Chris Perah to the position of historic commission member for a term expiring August 22, 2028. Councelor Heath. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, the committee met with the mayor to discuss the appointee and unanimously voted to recommend. Therefore, I move the appointment to be certified.

Thank you, Councelor Heath. Uh, motion made by councelor Heath, second by councelor Hegorn to confirm the mayor's appointment. Is there discussion? Councelor Heath. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, sorry about that. All right. So, um, Mr. Perah's reappoint was recommended due to his consistent and effective work on the historical commission. Mr. Perah has served as a member of the city's historical commission since 2008 and currently serves as its chair to his work as a surveyor. He has worked to bring that knowledge into the work of the commissions and has even undertaken the task of creating a 3D uh scan models of various historic buildings around the city. He has been a real asset to the city and has received excellent reviews from his fellow commissioners in his role.

Thank you, Councelor Keith. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I. I. All those opposed? No. Motion passes. Item 11698, correspondence from the mayor regarding a letter from the appointments committee regarding the use of the title department of inspectional services. Councelor Hegman. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh move to place the correspondence on file. Second. Motion made by councelor Heg, second by councelor Durowitz to place communication on file. Is there discussion? Councelor Hegman.

Thank you, Mr. President. just to provide some background on some letter head from our former former building commissioner during the budget um during some appointments uh processes and then his uh subsequent you know exit letter. Uh there was a title of inspectional services department uh but there was no other record of that department title anywhere else or in our city code or any ordinance. So, the appointments committee had voted to send a letter to the mayor who was not present at the meeting where this came up. Uh, just to provide some information if the building department had been changed uh in its name somewhere or if this was simply something that the department head had gone and done on their own. Uh, as it turned out, the department head uh had gone rogue uh and made this change not only in the letter head, but there's also decals on the vehicles. And the concern was that this would provide confusion um to residents and constituents in what can already be confusing sometimes and going for permits and trying to figure out what steps to take and how best to do things. The other problem being that some of the buildings that got this new uh decal also say are also to the board of health. So there was also the issue that this spanned and sort of changed the title for two different departments um whether intentional or not and I don't think the board of health really knew that that was taking place. So, we had put these questions. Some time went by. The mayor got us this information and uh you know, the committee felt it was worth addressing simply because I'm sure most of us in our jobs couldn't get away with changing a department um without any sort of authorization. And I think it just sets the right tone by making sure everyone is on the same page and running these things by the mayor. Um these processes are important and um you know, how we word things is intentional. And so, uh, while the vehicles still have those decals, my understanding is they are going to be changed, um, obviously that's the time and resources as well to to put those incorrect decals on there. Uh, and so I want to thank the mayor for looking into this. And, uh, with that, thank you.

Thank you, counselor. Any further discussion? Councelor Mac, on the on the vehicles, were they just the magnetic ones that can be made that can be easily removed? Okay. I just want to make sure nobody was doing painting on the vehicles without permission. Thank you. Thank you, councelor. Any further discussion? Councelor Keith. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to um thank my um committee member for actually catching this. Um this was oversight on my side as the chair of it. Um however, his background of being a teacher, he finds errors and um that came in very clutch to find this uh issue. So, I just want to go ahead and go say thank you again.

Thank you, counselor. Any further discussion? Motion's place on file. All those in favor? I. I.

All those opposed? No. Motion passes. There's no unfinished business. There's no new business. Councelor comments and remarks. Other council comments or remarks this evening. Council Tony President. in my update uh for public public works and public public works uh from the last meeting and I had mentioned several times we've had trees removed throughout the city and um when we do remove those trees from the sidewalks and and such um the stumps were ground down and they were left well uh since then and and we continue to work on this um they have been filled and seated and so I want to thank the public works department for the followup and um just let our residents know if there's issues, bring them up and we will try to see them through. So, thank you.

Thank you, council. Any further counselor comments or remarks? Council Kazinskis. This Saturday, October 25th, at Gardener High School, there's a haunted house from 5 to 8:00 p.m. The students do a great job. They work really hard and t the season to get spooked. So, I would definitely encourage residents to attend. Um they have a bake sale and a basket raffle and it's $5 for admission. So I just want to give a shout out to that because I know that they do a really good job and work really hard on it. Take a lot of pride in it. So that's all I have this evening. Thank you. Thank you council me.

I will piggyback on counselor Kazinskis and say in the morning at Garden High School they have their pumpkin palooa which is a long-standing tradition and that's something for younger kids who might not um enjoy a haunted house and they do face painting and pumpkins and all different types of crafts. So, for parents of young children, um I believe it's it's on the Garden of High School Facebook page. Um but I believe it's like 9 to 12 on uh Saturday. So, that's something for the younger ones. And I just for our senior citizens, um you know, our senior center has such wonderful activities and I enjoy getting the newsletter every month. Um but on Wednesday, October uh 29th at 1:30, they're having their Halloween party. Um, I believe costumes are optional, but you know, there's it's a lot of fun to go in costume. You do have to RSVP to the senior center, but I just want to put out there because our our senior center office so many great events and um that's a a kind of a nice icebreaker for people to go for the first time and and meet people. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further council comments or remarks?

I would just like to make a brief statement of appreciation to our department heads. I know as of recently we've been as a council requesting more information to make decisions and we've uh implemented templates. Uh I've heard positive feedback both from department heads and counselors on ways to improve that process. I think there's a great deal of value that's been gained from counselors bringing up summaries of department updates uh by the chairs and our meetings to the full council. I think uh it's a step in the right direction and I just want to appreciate you know these are individuals who go above and beyond. often our city assessor was here earlier this evening, well past city hall business hours to make sure that our tax classification hearing was a success this evening. So, thank you very much for that. Uh, are there any further councelor comments or remarks? Councelor Kazinskas. Well,

I guess on that note, President Tyros, thank you for providing the template and taking the feedback. Um, and it's really collaborative effort and um, I know it is, like you said, I think it is really appreciated. It's a nice way to streamline these things because there's a lot to provide in these updates and they're important to show um you know the oversight and the involvement that we can have to see how things are going. The departments work hard and it's good to hear about what they're doing. So, thank you for that. Thank you. With that being said, I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn after the closing prayer. So, move second. Motion made by councelor Tony, second by councelor Heath to adjurnn. All those in favor I I.

All those opposed, no. Motion passes. Aly father who seized over all as we adjourn. We thank thee for the opportunity of joint deliberation and action witnessed during the course of this meeting. Bless lord all who are gathered here and the people whose representatives we are and do thou attend to our common welfare until our next meeting. Amen. We stand a journ.