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Gardner MA Mayor Michael Nicholson speaks of Moving On, Moving In, and Moving Forward in Weekly Update
Moving On: Mayor Nicholson reflected on Blue Moon Diner changing hands this past week, stating the new owners plan to “continue its operations and keep it going there.” On former owner Jamie Floyd, Nicholson stated, “We want to take a moment to thank Jamie for all of the work she’s done in the City of Gardner over the course of the past 22 years.”
Moving In: Eric McAvene formally moves into the Chief of Police office following unanimous confirmation by the Gardner City Council of a full 3 year appointment. The Mayor thanked those who showed up for the swearing in.
Balance Staffing Moving In: The staffing service will be located at 40 Main Street, Gardner. It had been in Gardner and relocated to Orange for a time and now is back in the Chair City.
Verizon Moving In: Ribbon Cutting has been delayed due to some final construction. Edward Jones has moved in and will have a formal ribbon cutting on September 21, 2022.
Moving Forward: Following the City Council vote approving the Mayor’s proposal to sell both the Prospect Street and School Street Schools, the City will move forward with the request for proposals bid process. It’s a unique process whereby the bid gets separate scores on how the property will be used and the bid price. The Mayor explained, “Basically what happens is the city has to score and award those properties based on the highest and best use of that property,and then has to go back and review the price proposals that are put in.” He continued, “So the properties are ranked both on the highest and best use, and then on the price proposals that are submitted for the purchase of the property. And then once those are all open, we weigh those out. But the highest and best use does carry more weight than the price in this process, to make sure that we are truly being able to get the most out of the property that we can, and we’re really protecting our fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers to make sure that we’re getting these properties back on the tax rolls in the most effective and efficient way as possible.”