Council President Kazinskas Handles Disruptors with Class at City Council Meeting
During the Gardner City Council Meeting of May 20, 2024, supporters of defeated formal Mayoral Candidate Kimberly Blake attempted to illegally disrupt the proceedings. The Council President took a recess to handle the matter off camera after stating, “We can discuss at the end of the meeting, but right now we can’t disrupt the purpose of the meeting. Thank you.” and then resumed the proceedings after a few minutes. Meanwhile, Paul DeMeo disrupted the proceedings with flashes from a camera. He was not rebuked. (Publisher’s Note: DeMeo operates a Facebook Group in which he continually posts inflammatory negative statements about Gardner, public officials, Media outlets, and various people. When challenged about the truthfulness of his postings, DeMeo bans the individuals from his group.) Listen to the meeting on any device, CLICK PLAY.
Regarding Helen Mae Sauter School Property
Councilor Brad Heglin spoke about the Helen Mae Sauter School property which the City Solicitor advised must remain under the jurisdiction of the School Committee due to deed restrictions and for which the School Committee is seeking an outside counsel’s opinion. “I just want to also add and make sure that we stress to the city and that we as City Council members that these two properties don’t continue to fall into further disrepair. So that while we seek these legal opinions and further information, hopefully we can still get our ad hoc committee set up and the city can look at options both for school uses and or private uses.” Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson advised, “The school department has contracted with the services of Attorney Christine Tree to provide an opinion to the city to show what options are available for the city, if there’s any way out of the deed restrictions that are there, if the deed restrictions are permanent, if so, what the impacts of that are in the long-term plan. So that report will be coming out soon once attorney Tree is able to complete that review and go over relevant documents.”
Stabilization Account for Capital Improvements
Councilor George Tyros spoke in favor of the proposal stating, “As one of the Council’s representatives on the Capital Improvements Committee, I fully support this measure. There’s a long list of capital improvement projects that the city just hasn’t gotten to because the funding was not there. There’s a long list of outdoor pools, buildings, things like making the bathrooms more ADA and modern in City Hall and other buildings and roofs and such nature. This is a great thing to establish and it will allow that committee to make some good decisions on improvements in our community.” The account was established by unanimous approval. A similar item establishing a stabilization account for the schools also passed unanimously.
Zoning Board Increase in Members
A measure increasing the number of Zoning Board members to 5 was adopted. It will go in to effect if passed again at the next meeting.
Budget Matters were granted more time without objection.
An informal City Council meeting was held prior to the regular meeting. Councilors received a presentation on the School Budget from Superintendent Mark Pellegrino and Mark Hawke. Listen on any device. CLICK PLAY