Greater Gardner MA Local News October 2024
- Paving 10-8-24 (10/7/2024)
From City of Gardner: DPW Announces Paving Scheduled for Monday Postponed Paving work scheduled for Monday, Oct. 7th Parker Street will be postponed until Tuesday, Oct. 8th. due to the forecasted rain. Parker Street will be closed for paving from the Templeton Town line to Barthel Avenue & Waterford Street on Tuesday.
- Donald and Kamala 1 (10/6/2024)
Gardner Magazine Launches Ridiculous new Fictional Series – Donald and Kamala
Just like our Joe and Don series, this first episode pokes fun at America’s most unlikely brother and sister, Donald and Kamala. Listen on any device. CLICK PLAY.
Donald and Kamala – Questions and Answers More Episodes will follow.
- Council Matters (10/6/2024)
Transformer – Transformer Shortage has slowed down some construction projects nationwide. Gardner MA City Council Takes up Various Matters on Monday October 9, 2024
The City Council will review recommendations of the Finance Committee which met on October 2nd regarding various communications from the Mayor including property valuation changes, City Health Insurance costs, and a measure authorizing the Mayor to enter into a grant agreement with the Gardner CAC for use of a portion of the space at Waterford Community Center. Matters were discussed extensively. The Committee heard from the Mayor, Julie Meehan of the Gardner CAC, and Assessor Christine Kumar. Listen to the Finance Committee meeting on any device, CLICK PLAY.
Finance Committee 10-2-24 The Gardner City Council packet for 10-9-24 is about 380 pages due to the detail of the minutes of prior meetings. CLICK HERE.
Other Items Before the Council
Other items include the sale of 94 Pleasant Street, authorization for a 5 year contract for grant writing services, the November 5th election, various proposals for ordinance amendments to clean up the City Code, and a matter carried over since March regarding parking on certain streets – Edgell Street from Elm Street to Lawrence Street.
Transformer Easement
Also: The City Council will vote on whether to grant National Grid an Easement to install a transformer at 95 Pleasant Street. A shortage of transformers has held up construction work throughout the United States. The shortage is holding up further work at the Garbose Building as a transformer with a greater power rating is required due to increased electrical demands.
- Update 10-4-24 (10/4/2024)
New Christmas Tree replacing the former tree also damaged in a windstorm. Christmas Tree Lighting will be Sunday December 1st either in Lafayette Square or Monument Park. Video is embedded here if you’d like to see Santa Claus.
Gardner Mayor Gets Visit from Santa Claus during Weekly Update
Gardner Mayor Nicholson recorded this week’s Mayor’s Update at the site of the City’s new Christmas Tree which was donated by Candor Realty. Surprise guest, Santa Claus, the Toymaker, joined the Mayor at the end of the Update. Listen on any device, CLICK PLAY.
Mayor’s Update 10-4-24 Thanks: To “everyone who made our National Night Out such a big success in Gardner this past week.”, to “everyone who attended and helped put together last weekend’s fabulous Fall Festival and Oktoberfest.”
Events coming up: Annual Domestic Violence Vigil Monday October 7th at 6:30pm outside of Gardner City Hall —- Special edition Gardner Farmers Market Saturday November 23rd from 10am to 1pm in Perry Auditorium.
Special Art Exhibit: City Purchasing Agent Joshua Cormier has a special art exhibit at Levi-Heywood Memorial Library.
Fire Station Roof: Brand new metal roof being put on the building now. Covered completely by insurance, damage had been caused last winter by a 60 mile per hour gust of wind.
Demolition 73 Stuart Street: Work will take about a week or two to complete to demolish the building also damaged in same windstorm. Demolition will take place soon at the corner of Main and Willow as the former Rome building will be taken down soon.
- Paving – Fredette – Wilkins (10/4/2024)
Gardner DPW Announces Paving Schedule for Saturday and Monday
Saturday Paving
Saturday, Oct. 5th Fredette Street and Wilkins Road will be closed to traffic for paving.Monday Paving
Monday, Oct. 7th Parker Street will be closed for paving from the Templeton Town line to Barthel Avenue & Waterford Street.
This schedule is subject to change as it is weather dependent.
- Heywood Stakeholder Meeting (10/3/2024)
Listen to the Stakeholder Meeting on any device. CLICK PLAY.
Heywood Stakeholder Meeting 10-3-24 Heywood Healthcare Holds Stakeholder Meeting and Moves to Next Chapter
The October 3, 2024 meeting concerned the road forward for Heywood Healthcare as it exited Chapter 11 on September 30th. It was noted that Heywood achieved what only 5 percent of similar healthcare systems are able to do – coming out of bankruptcy as a stand-alone organization.
Dawn Casavant, Vice President Heywood Healthcare MC was Dawn Casavant who introduced everyone and later spoke about Heywood’s Community Services. Speakers were: Heywood President and CEO Rozanna Penney, Undersecretary Chris Harding of EOHHS , Kirby Lecey Division of Community Health, Jake Mastrandrea, Outreach Director for Congresswoman Lori Trahan, State Senator Peter Durant, State Representative Jonathan Zlotnik, – President of the Health and Hospital Association Steve Walsh, Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson, and Chairman of the Heywood Board of Directors Robert Chauvin. Listen on any device, CLICK PLAY.
Heywood Stakeholder Meeting 10-3-24 Heywood Healthcare is stronger with less debt, restructured commitments to achieve savings, and renegotiated payor agreements. During the next 6 months, Heywood is expected to negotiate a successful agreement with the developers regarding the incomplete Surgical Pavilion. During the past year, Heywood has added medical professionals and staff with a total of 100 new hires. It has made investments in the Obstetrics Infrastructure and restored the Mental Health Unit to full capacity. Heywood’s deep engagement with the community was also highlighted with 30 employees dedicated to delivering services outside the hospital walls such as school-based health centers, telebehavioral health services, and a myriad of community programs.
- Heywood 2107 (10/2/2024)
Editorial: Heywood Healthcare on its way towards Positive 200th anniversary
In just 83 years, Heywood Hospital will have been in Gardner 200 years. It is likely the future will include building modifications to reflect the advances of the time.
An exterior with rounded corners utilizing fusion energy for lighting. Operating rooms with state of the art equipment appearing to be straight out of a Star Trek episode. A landing pad near the emergency room for a high-tech flying ambulance. A modern interior with amenities right out of a dream.
This future will be made possible by a committed team who turned their unrelenting focus on patient care into a victory over a short-term, financial obstacle. A future of many hundreds of babies being born in the Maternity Center. A future of many lives saved in a Surgical Pavilion eventually completed after a short-lived wait and a subsequent expansion in 2044. A future with many varied suites for treatment of the ailments of the time. Parking issues solved with a futuristic expansion utilizing as yet unknown technology. Life-saving stasis chambers in the Emergency Room making even the impossible, possible. To the staff of 1907, today’s team in 2024 and today’s facilities would appear just as amazing.
A future made possible by the actions of today. Congratulations!
Werner Poegel, Publisher.
- Gardner Advantage (10/1/2024)
Working for the City of Gardner – The Advantage
Gardner Magazine spoke with Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson about “The Advantage” of Working for Gardner. Retention is high, but those who do leave often do so for promotions. Listen on any device, CLICK PLAY.
Working for Gardner – The Advantage With having a great reputation comes a downside of losing people who are “snatched up” by communities who appreciate Gardner’s culture of fiscal responsibility. The Mayor wished those individuals well. However, Mayor Nicholson also stated that Gardner is looking at “the compensation rates that we pay our people,” but acknowledged a responsibility to taxpayers as well. Nicholson stated, “We recently signed our contracts with the DPW union to increase their rates.”
- Nicholson on Water (10/1/2024)
Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson mentions in the short interview that $11 million was spent to upgrade the water treatment plant a few years back and a recent grant of $4 million was obtained by DPW Business Manager Chris Coughlin to do upgrades to the sewer treatment system. The City of Gardner also received $1 million in funding to replace its main water transmission line.
Path of Gardner Main Water Line An archive of water reports is maintained transparently on the City of Gardner website, CLICK HERE.
Gardner Mayor Nicholson Speaks About Gardner Water
Water is routinely discussed at subcommittee meetings. Gardner Mayor Nicholson spoke with us about Gardner water and some of the steps Gardner takes to make sure the water is safe for residents. Listen on any device. CLICK PLAY.
Nicholson on Water 10-1-24 Read the Gardner 2023 Water Quality Report for Yourself. CLICK HERE. Gardner spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in chemicals to treat the water. The City relies on outside vendors to help make sure the right amounts are used, right down to the fluoride incorporated to help prevent tooth decay.
Gardner Water Case
The Gardner Water Case will be coming up in October 2025. Gardner Magazine has discovered the following: (1) Gardner has 3rd party tests proving the safety of its water going back over a decade right on the City website (2) Due to previous unexplained failures of about 200 copper water coils in Gardner, local heating companies utilize a product with a different alloy to avoid any potential problem. (3) Occasional issues are still reported but it is unclear from what cause. (4) Gardner is defending the lawsuit. (5) Research shows that even the legal amount of fluoride which is used in water systems can cause corrosion to copper coils (6) Evidence about various systems documented on the internet indicates causation of corrosion can be from the inside out or the outside in with what can only be described as complete disagreement as to causation. (7) Next year’s proceedings are likely to be completely confusing as even experts disagree.
For those unfamiliar with the allegations in the case, this report from FIND LAW covers the topics. CLICK HERE.
- ZBA 9-30-24 (10/1/2024)
Parking Discussed at Gardner ZBA Meeting
The Gardner MA Zoning Board of Appeals took up matters concerning an update on 163-165 Pine Street, relief on a side yard setback, a single family house, and changing a two family to a 3 family.
Sounds simple enough, but the complexity of the issues required a meeting lasting almost 2 hours. The problem of parking was a large part of the various discussions.
Listen on any device, CLICK PLAY.
ZBA 9-30-24
Around the Towns – News
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In the Community
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