8 Areas Focus of Public Service Committee in Gardner MA
Listen to the entire meeting on any device. CLICK PLAY.
Inflation is still impacting the budget for the City of Gardner. However, many areas are being level-funded and non-union salaries are being increased by 2 percent. The Public Service Committee heard from Dane Arnold who gave one example: Line painting which was $18,000 came in at $35,000, nearly double. If he could have all the funding he really wanted, Arnold said he’d ask for another one million dollars for road surfacing expenses and he does have some big ticket items coming up regarding DPW facilities. Mayor Nicholson says the City is rotating working parking meters in to more used areas. Annual parking meter revenue used to be $90,000, now it’s about $30,000. The Mayor stated he won’t look at buying new meters until free cash is certified in November of this year.
The Committee heard reports regarding Public Works, Engineering, Conservation, the Airport, Water, Sewer, Recreation, and Municipal Rec. The Gardner City Council has a series of scheduled meetings coming up regarding the budget and its approval.