[0:10] Good evening and welcome everyone. My name is Patricia Hart.

[0:13] I have the honor of serving as mayor and it's my privilege to welcome you to a

[0:19] regular Gardner City Council meeting.

[0:21] Tonight is Wednesday, September 2nd in the year 2026.

[0:24] We'll open the meeting with the roll call, starting with Councilor Holmes, please.

[0:30] Hi there, Kendall Holmes from Riverview Drive down in South Gardiner representing

[0:34] District 4.

[0:35] Hello and good evening.

[0:37] I'm Shawn Dolley, District 3, and I reside on Lincoln Avenue.

[0:42] Good evening and welcome. I'm Veronica Babcock.

[0:45] I live on West Street and represent District 2.

[0:48] Good evening, everyone, and welcome. My name is Debra Kimball.

[0:52] I live on Prairie Street and I represent District 1.

[0:55] Uh, good evening and welcome.

[0:56] My name is Patricia Hart and I have the honor of serving as mayor.

[0:59] Good evening everyone, my name is Tim Cusick and I serve at large.

[1:02] Good evening and welcome, my name is Russell Greenleaf,

[1:04] I live on Cobsey Avenue and I serve at large.

[1:06] Hi, I'm Marc Cone, I live on Karen Drive and I serve at large.

[1:11] I'm Thomas Hill, I'm city manager for Gardner.

[1:13] Alissa Landis, deputy city clerk. Uh, please join us in the Pledge of

[1:19] please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

[1:19] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[1:25] United States of America and to the republic

[1:26] for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,

[1:30] with liberty and justice for all.

[1:32] All right, before we take our formal public comment time,

[1:36] we did get correspondence over the last today or so of a group of folks that want

[1:42] today or so of a group of folks that want to

[1:42] talk about bow hunting in the high-density residential neighborhoods.

[1:48] And so they, they want more time,

[1:50] they would like more time than the public comment time.

[1:54] So I'm going to ask council if they'd be willing to add a new business for H,

[2:00] I guess it would be,

[2:01] to talk about bow hunting and have them share their thinking on that,

[2:07] their concerns. Everybody okay with that? I see all Heads nodding. Yeah. Okay.

[2:12] All right. So we'll do that.

[2:15] So now we'll open up time for public comment for anything that is not on the

[2:19] comment for anything that is not on the agenda.

[2:19] Now that we've put that on the agenda,

[2:22] is there anyone here who would like to speak on a matter that's not on the

[2:27] speak on a matter that's not on the agenda?

[2:28] All right. City Manager Hill, did we get any correspondence?

[2:32] We did not.

[2:33] Okay.

[2:34] All right.

[2:34] We'll close public hearing— time for public comment, move on to public

[2:38] public comment, move on to public hearings.

[2:39] We don't have any public hearings this week, so we'll move on to new business.

[2:43] And our first item of new business is a mayoral proclamation for Mr. Robert Abbey.

[2:48] So we'll invite Robert to come forward, please.

[2:51] Where would

[2:55] you like me?

[3:03] To the front.

[3:04] I'll give you my seat.

[3:11] All right, so it is my honor to issue this proclamation to thank you for your 15

[3:16] years of really remarkable service in the city.

[3:20] I feel like we should have done this sooner.

[3:23] I never like doing things when people are on their way out, but, but It— you—

[3:29] it's well deserved, and we're really happy to do it to celebrate you.

[3:34] All right, so I have a proclamation.

[3:36] Whereas Robert Abbey has long enriched the city of Gardner as a devoted resident and

[3:42] tireless volunteer, and whereas for more than 15 years Robert has generously shared

[3:48] his talents in service to communities throughout Central Maine.

[3:53] And whereas Robert's exceptional community service includes supporting neighbors

[3:59] through the local soup kitchen, volunteering at the Maine State Museum,

[4:04] enriching the arts through participation in the community band and Johnson Hall

[4:10] events, helping renovate Johnson Hall—

[4:13] I think it was the destruction part of the renovation right there—

[4:17] caring for the Palmer Fountain, preserving local history and the community archives.

[4:23] Thank you.

[4:24] Advancing downtown revitalization, park improvements,

[4:28] and the beautification of public spaces, and delighting local children.

[4:33] Whereas Robert has strengthened and beautified the Gardner community through

[4:39] beautified the Gardner community through his

[4:39] service as president of Gardner Main Street,

[4:43] chair of the Streetscape Committee and Gardner's Gardeners,

[4:47] chair of the Parks and Public Places Committee,

[4:51] a member of the Tree Committee and Historic Preservation Committee,

[4:56] An honorary member of the city's Buildings and Grounds Department,

[5:01] orchestrator-in-chief of the Palmer Fountain Restoration,

[5:05] conductor on the Polar Express, and a dear friend of Santa Claus.

[5:10] Whereas Robert's devotion to the greater Gardner area extends beyond the formal

[5:16] service to the everyday acts of care that strengthen the community—

[5:21] watering plants and trees, Clearing weeds from brick sidewalks,

[5:26] painting railings and pools, tending parks, removing litter,

[5:31] and of course the cigarette butts,

[5:33] and rolling up his sleeves to help wherever he is needed.

[5:38] And whereas, through these enduring contributions,

[5:42] Robert's unwavering dedication has improved Gardiner's neighborhoods,

[5:47] improved Gardiner's neighborhoods, businesses,

[5:48] public spaces, and civic life.

[5:50] Now therefore, I, Patricia Hart, Mayor of the City of Gardiner,

[5:55] Together with the City Council, hereby proclaim Wednesday, September 9th, 2026,

[6:01] as Robert Abbey Day in the City of Gardner. And I didn't even cry.

[6:08] Uh, I'll have you talk from up here. And I'll give you the microphone.

[6:12] Congratulations. But before you do, at this time,

[6:14] I'd entertain a motion to adopt the proclamation.

[6:16] Thank you, Mayor. I move to approve the mayoral proclamation for Robert Abbey.

[6:20] Motion made by Councilor Greenleaf, seconded by Councilor Cone. All in favor?

[6:24] That's unanimous.

[6:25] Nobody voted against. So bear with me. This is my last hurrah. I made some notes.

[6:31] I'm at the point in my life where I walk into a room and I go,

[6:36] what did I come in here for? So notes.

[6:38] In 2011, when I first showed up here, I was working at Mount Desert Campground.

[6:44] And Martha, my partner, and I had been looking at houses in Maine.

[6:49] Now, because we're from Massachusetts originally, we were looking on the coast,

[6:55] of course. And then she called me up and said,

[6:58] I'd really like you to look at a house in Gardiner.

[7:02] I go, Gardiner's in central Maine.

[7:04] Central Massachusetts.

[7:05] No, not that Gardner. It's one with— has an I in it. So I said, well, where is it?

[7:11] Well, you know how everybody tells where Gardner is.

[7:14] It's just off the rest stop on 295.

[7:17] Has nothing to do with what Gardner really is like.

[7:20] So I came and I parked at 79 Elm Street.

[7:23] Woman came running out saying, do you want to see my house?

[7:28] Sure.

[7:29] So we did, even though there was no realtor present.

[7:33] And I loved the house and That's the short story.

[7:36] So we ended up there and it's been amazing.

[7:39] I called Martha back and said, the house is great.

[7:42] And I was sitting in what I think was Dearborn Park,

[7:45] but I didn't know the parks by name at that point.

[7:49] I was impressed by the facades and the preserved architecture and the ambiance of

[7:54] the street and the river and the parks. I said, this is it.

[7:58] She said, what are you talking about? I said, this is Bedford Falls.

[8:03] And it truly is. I mean,

[8:04] I tried to convince Mike Michelin for years to do an outside—

[8:08] there's an outside version of It's a Wonderful Life. And we have a river.

[8:13] We have a savings and loan. We have a story to go with it.

[8:17] And we actually have an angel named Clarence. A real person.

[8:21] He doesn't like you to know that. But he's real and he's a great volunteer.

[8:26] And he is aware that he's named after that angel.

[8:29] I want to thank some people and I want to just run through this part quickly.

[8:34] City staff is always willing to help. I've never been turned away.

[8:39] You don't have people say you can't ask those kinds of questions.

[8:43] In Gardner, they want to know more.

[8:45] Gardner Main Street, City Council, always backing the projects, downtown business.

[8:51] And a diversion, because I just thought of this today when I was in the room trying

[8:56] to remember what I was supposed to be doing.

[8:59] Anybody remember Daniel Lane from the Village Jeweler?

[9:03] Yes.

[9:03] Oh my. Our assignment from Gardiner Main Street was to go interview 5 business

[9:08] owners, each board member. I got Daniel Lane. I didn't know Daniel Lane.

[9:13] I knew the store. I went in. I said, would it be okay?

[9:17] I'm from Gardiner Main Street and I'd like to really chat with you about your

[9:22] business and your time in Gardiner. He goes, Get out of my store. I said, why?

[9:27] I don't have solicitors. So I left.

[9:29] One day, maybe a month later, it was pouring rain on a Tuesday.

[9:33] So you know what Water Street was like.

[9:36] It was abandoned.

[9:38] He was sitting behind the counter.

[9:40] Now, Daniel is not the nice guy who's out front at Village Jeweler.

[9:45] He's the guy in the back who owns it all.

[9:48] I went in and said, I was here the other day,

[9:51] but I really love to talk with you about your time in town as a businessman,

[9:56] the business itself, what Gardner's like.

[9:59] 3 hours later, I knew everything about his family, about his business,

[10:04] about his life, and the almost complete history of the Russian Orthodox Church.

[10:10] That's the downtown business community, and they are so important.

[10:15] I want to thank Rotary.

[10:16] Rotary does so much, and they always do exactly what they say they will do.

[10:22] The Tree Committee I'll say some more about that in a minute.

[10:26] I want to welcome Thomas Hill and family.

[10:29] Mayors Harnett and Hart, they were great to work with.

[10:33] They encouraged us all the time.

[10:35] Patrick Wright, Melissa Lindley from Gardiner Main Street.

[10:39] Melissa's still honchoing things from City Hall.

[10:42] She's going to take over our signage project. Dawn Thistle and Jody Clark.

[10:48] And Dorothy, from whom I learned all the history I could about this community.

[10:53] And Dawn is a friend and a confidante. She's also a good witch.

[10:58] Should I explain that or not?

[11:00] No.

[11:01] All right.

[11:02] She helps with Halloween.

[11:04] I've had good volunteers all the way along,

[11:07] but I have to single out the heads of public works I met regularly with.

[11:12] Tony with Jerry, and I meet with John.

[11:14] And John is really very interesting because he does everything he says he will

[11:20] because he does everything he says he will do.

[11:20] He does it. And he does it rapidly and on time.

[11:23] The only time I think I startled him was when I went in for one of the meetings and

[11:29] I said, well, I should tell you that I was really bored this weekend,

[11:34] so I scrubbed the ceiling of the gazebo. And he just looked at me.

[11:39] The kids shake up their sodas with the bottles,

[11:42] and then they take their thumb off and it goes— and it goes all over the ceiling.

[11:48] It turns to goo. It kind of needs it now, John. I looked the other day.

[11:53] We practiced something that Patrik taught us called tactical urbanism.

[11:58] It's not just an accident the way committees came and did things.

[12:02] It's out of Bates College, so it's a main product Here it is,

[12:06] How to Hack Your City with Paint, Planters,

[12:09] and Pop-Up Parks and Prove Change Is Possible Now. The emphasis is on now.

[12:15] You don't ask for permission. You get it later. We never had to ask forgiveness.

[12:20] We often came to city council with a project underway, and we'd get support.

[12:26] And we'd sometimes get immediate funding. They'd say, let's fund some of this.

[12:31] The city always said, do more.

[12:33] And so there aren't many communities where you can invent your own committees and

[12:39] then find support. I want to mention 3 things really quickly: the fountain,

[12:44] the trees, and Johnson Hall.

[12:46] The fountain was an important project for us partly because it was a rescue.

[12:51] It had been beautifully redone in 1977 by some of Dorothy's associates and Statue

[12:57] made for that occasion.

[12:59] There is one funny story beyond this, and Dorothy will deny this.

[13:03] A 9-year-old son of the artist was here when they were mounting Lady and the Birds

[13:09] on her pedestal. Now, I've talked to this. He's a grown-up man now.

[13:14] He said, well, we were all ready to bolt her down on the pedestal,

[13:18] and somebody came out of the church and said, you're going to have to turn that—

[13:24] Pedestal.

[13:24] person around. As you know, the Lady is not wearing clothes,

[13:29] and the church apparently objected.

[13:32] So they willingly turned it around, bolted her down,

[13:36] and now the church has a very different vantage point.

[13:41] But Lady appropriately looks out over the whole vista of the Common.

[13:46] When it was redone a couple of years ago, everybody was on board.

[13:51] Rusty was a right-hand person on the fundraising.

[13:55] I got to say, we thank Rotary, KSB, Peter Prescott, the Davis Family Foundation,

[14:02] Robinson Fund, and the other one, Coombs, and Public Works.

[14:06] And the $180,000— we came up a little short.

[14:10] Guess who found the remainder of money in a budget?

[14:14] The city.

[14:17] So the city provided manpower and guided the whole process.

[14:21] Lady went to Public Works to be protected while they tore everything apart.

[14:27] And everybody asked me, where's the fountain? Where's the lady?

[14:31] I said, she's at a secure location. We didn't tell.

[14:35] I would say that the most recent committee other than the Parks Committee that came

[14:41] to be is Dorothy's Tree Committee.

[14:44] Jessica Lowell, who was then a reporter for Gardner for the KJ, is a great person.

[14:50] She's fun. She called me, and she'd called to get the straight story on something.

[14:56] She said, so I hear that Gardner is clear-cutting its common. What?

[15:01] Well, it was in a fashion.

[15:03] All the old diseased trees were being taken down because they were hollow in the

[15:09] middle. They had decreased production.

[15:12] Yeah.

[15:13] They were just in— the last time it had been pruned was in the ice storm of 1998.

[15:19] And now reforestation has come thanks to Dorothy's tree committee.

[15:24] Are we up to almost 40 trees?

[15:27] 33.

[15:29] 33 new trees planted in the last 5 years or so on the Common, at the waterfront,

[15:34] and in other places.

[15:35] But be advised, Dorothy has her eye on a linden tree that is by Roger Bintliff's.

[15:41] And it has a sidewalk that goes like this because it goes up and over the roots.

[15:46] And she knows that the DOT did say at one point, and it's written down, well,

[15:51] we could just have a slight rise on the new sidewalks and just preserve that tree.

[15:56] And she will not forget that.

[15:58] Right.

[15:59] One last story about Johnson Hall.

[16:01] This really sums up everything that happened here during Heart and Soul.

[16:07] And everything that's happened since.

[16:09] Yes, I was part of a group called the Doctors of Destruction.

[16:14] It was 4 grown men with Sawzalls.

[16:16] And Mike gave us permission to demo floors 2 and 3.

[16:20] So we removed about 10 tons of wood, pipe, debris, junk, oil burners, stovepipe.

[16:26] Everything you can think of went out back.

[16:29] And while tearing down the ceilings on the 2nd floor, they were tin over—

[16:34] Plaster over lath. We were hauling away on a section of it, and Charlie Batchelder,

[16:40] who's a very funny person if you know him,

[16:43] was standing at the end of the section we were working on.

[16:47] All of a sudden, it took its own life and just started shearing off,

[16:52] and it dumped on top of Charlie.

[16:55] He simply stood up and said, were you aiming for me?

[16:58] We weren't.

[17:02] The last session of Heart and Soul was at Gardner Area High School.

[17:07] Some of you might have been there. Lots of people were there.

[17:12] It was after several years of hard, hard work.

[17:15] We had to make a task headline for the years of work. So we discussed it.

[17:21] What the headline ended up being was Johnson Hall Fully Restored.

[17:26] And everybody cheered and clapped and felt so good.

[17:30] And then we sort of went— Can we do this? Guess what? Here's a quote from Downeast.

[17:36] In 2011, Downeast had an article that I read. It was called The Heart of Gardner.

[17:42] Lots of interviews with people, lots of comments from John Shaw.

[17:47] And this is what they summarized it as.

[17:50] He said, Gardner is a small city on the Kennebec, keeps making big plans,

[17:56] and this time they might even come true.

[17:59] Wow.

[18:01] In 2021, the same magazine chose Gardner as one of its 5 favorite small towns.

[18:08] So thank you all because you were all part of this. Nobody succeeds alone.

[18:14] I had a lot of help. And I would do it all again, maybe in another life.

[18:20] Thank you all.

[18:21] Thank you.

[18:31] So Robert, if you're going to do it again, please come back to Gardner.

[18:34] Okay. All right. Thank you very much for those remarks.

[18:40] It's really great to walk down memories and really understand just how

[18:46] many people contribute to the richness of this community.

[18:52] All right, and the next item on our agenda is consideration of an outside

[18:59] consumption permit for Johnson Hall.

[19:02] City Manager Hill, any background on this other than what's in our packet?

[19:09] No, it's very straightforward.

[19:11] They would like an addendum to their existing work,

[19:14] and it's been reviewed by city staff.

[19:16] There's no objections, no issues that we discovered. Pretty straightforward.

[19:21] All right, thank you. Any questions from council?

[19:25] Anyone prepared to make a motion to begin discussion?

[19:29] Councilor Greenleaf.

[19:31] Thank you, Mayor. I move to approve the outside consumption permit

[19:35] application for Johnson Hall for an event on October 23rd and 24th,

[19:39] 2026.

[19:39] Motion made by Councilor Greenleaf, seconded by Councilor Babcock. Any

[19:45] seconded by Councilor Babcock. Any discussion?

[19:45] All in favor, please record a unanimous The next item on the agenda is

[19:51] The next item on the agenda is consideration

[19:52] of accepting the City Council meeting minutes from August 19th.

[19:56] Anyone prepared to make a motion? Councilor Cusick.

[20:00] Thank you, Mayor. I move to accept the City Council meeting minutes for 8/19/26.

[20:05] Motion made by Councilor Cusick, seconded by Councilor Kimball. Any discussion? No.

[20:12] With our thanks to Thank you to our deputy clerk.

[20:16] All in favor, please record a unanimous vote.

[20:20] The next item on the agenda is consideration of changes to the sewer

[20:25] consideration of changes to the sewer discount

[20:26] program. Do we want to invite our clerks forward to talk about their proposal, or—

[20:32] Yeah, thank you. I was gonna ask Denise, our finance director, to step up.

[20:39] She and I can answer this.

[20:41] Um, this was a discussion point that had come up— well, should I continue?

[20:48] Yes, please.

[20:49] This is a discussion point that had come up in one of my first meetings,

[20:54] was to re-examine our sewer assistance program,

[20:57] and it hasn't been updated since 2017, I believe. Is that correct, Denise?

[21:01] Yes. Yeah.

[21:02] So maybe we could overview a little bit of the Thank you, Your Worship.

[21:06] We've come up with 3 different scenarios you might consider,

[21:09] and so the idea today is not to vote on something,

[21:12] but to have a bit of a discussion on the merits of potentially increasing the

[21:16] program or other ideas that might be out there so that we can then take it back to

[21:21] the ordinance review committee and consider what,

[21:23] what to present to council to consider as a final potential option.

[21:27] But the idea on this was to look at the fact that prices have risen significantly

[21:31] over the years while our Sewer discount program for economically disadvantaged

[21:36] residents has not changed since 2017.

[21:38] All right, thank you. Welcome.

[21:40] He said it all. Hello, Denise Brown, Finance Director.

[21:45] Yeah, our sewer bills have gone up about 80%.

[21:50] And as City Manager Hill said, the discount program amounts have not gone up.

[21:57] So some people— we've seen a reduction in people participating,

[22:03] and they probably just don't feel that it's substantial enough.

[22:09] So currently it's $25 per quarter, I believe, is the discount.

[22:15] Yes.

[22:16] Does that scale up? Can you give us a little overview of that?

[22:19] Sure.

[22:21] Let me get to this page here.

[22:25] So we have about 20 individuals who receive the

[22:32] $25 a month discount,

[22:36] which is for citizens who are between the age of

[22:43] 65 and 75, and about 20 citizens who receive the

[22:50] $45 Per quarter reduction for anyone over 76

[22:56] years old. It is based currently on 70% of the

[23:03] median household income,

[23:07] and we used to have 63 participants,

[23:12] and it's gone down to 40 participants.

[23:18] Okay.

[23:19] So we came up with a few options for council to

[23:24] think about. We, as I said, the,

[23:28] the quarterly base rate has increased by 80%.

[23:34] So I simply added 50% onto the current $25 and $45.

[23:40] And you can see the numbers.

[23:44] Excuse me.

[23:45] I also did a model with a 75% increase and a model with

[23:52] 100% increase. We also would recommend that we change the

[23:59] ages from 65 to 75— from,

[24:03] from 65 to 75 to 62 to 72 for the for the smaller

[24:09] discount, and from age 76 and older to 73 and older for

[24:17] the higher discount.

[24:19] And you can see what the impact to the right with each of

[24:27] those scenarios.

[24:29] Thank you, Denise. Yeah,

[24:31] and we also were recommending Potentially an option to tie it to the Social Security

[24:37] COLA on an annual basis so that you don't have to review it in the future.

[24:42] It would get a modest— I think it was 1.8% increase this year for Social Security,

[24:48] for example. And the idea of playing with the ages and playing with the income

[24:54] levels was to expand it in terms of eligibility.

[24:58] So going from, you know,

[24:59] a certain median income level to a A slightly more generous median income level

[25:05] allows people who come in and say, oh, I'm right on the cusp, I don't qualify,

[25:11] I make a little bit too much, allows a little bit of space there for residents.

[25:17] And then lowering the age was specifically tied to the retirement age.

[25:22] People are allowed to collect federal benefits at 62.

[25:26] So we felt that was a good entry point as well to consider.

[25:30] And again, these are all considerations for your debate,

[25:34] but The current ordinance does outline, you know, 65 and specific amounts,

[25:40] so we could take it back and move forward.

[25:43] The overall— we did some, some very general numbers that are not in here,

[25:48] but there's about 1,500 accounts on our sewer program currently,

[25:53] which are households that are receiving services.

[25:57] If we assume the average household size in Maine is 2.26 people per household,

[26:02] the reduced revenue at the basic level would shift about $4.85 in cost to the

[26:08] would shift about $4.85 in cost to the rest

[26:08] of the accounts. So increasing this program would result in other people

[26:14] program would result in other people paying

[26:14] $4.85 more per household.

[26:16] Per quarter or— I think the number we looked at was per quarter.

[26:21] Yes, I could get back to you if that was per quarter or annually. Thank you.

[26:26] So the burden would shift to the ratepayers, not the taxpayers?

[26:32] Correct.

[26:33] Yeah.

[26:34] And it's not— it's interesting because it's not a— we're not giving money away.

[26:39] We're reducing the revenue on the program by— with this, right?

[26:43] Because we're giving a discount on what is normally revenue to the city.

[26:47] So we're not increasing taxes to pay for it,

[26:50] but it would increase the overall sewer rates slightly per, per account.

[26:54] And then in terms of other towns who are sharing the service,

[26:58] they would not be impacted because this would be a Gardner-specific impact on the

[27:02] revenue and their revenue.

[27:04] Okay.

[27:04] Their rates are calculated locally based on an interlocal agreement that we have

[27:11] with them, which is based on their usage of the system.

[27:15] So you say there's 1,500 accounts,

[27:18] 1,500 ratepayers in the sewer program at the moment? Yeah, in Gardner.

[27:24] That have sewer service?

[27:25] That have sewer service.

[27:26] Yeah, total number of people, not quite sure because it's per household.

[27:30] And so I just quick math, 5 times 1,500, $7,500. I see $22,000 here.

[27:35] Is this total and we need to just look at a net number to come up with

[27:41] this?

[27:41] Per quarter.

[27:41] Per quarter?

[27:43] Yes, $7,500 times 4.

[27:45] Oh, times 4. Okay.

[27:46] And again, the numbers, these were suggested amounts, like a 50% increase.

[27:52] So we showed the numbers, 75% increase, show the numbers, 100%, show the numbers.

[27:58] It could really, I mean, it could be anything that you feel is Potentially

[28:03] anything that you feel is Potentially fair,

[28:03] or it could be nothing if you feel, you know, the program can't handle it.

[28:09] But as a recommendation from us, since it hasn't been increased in 9 years,

[28:14] we felt a 50% minimum is reasonable to consider.

[28:17] And that would move the discount per account per recipient from $25 to $37.50

[28:23] account per recipient from $25 to $37.50 at the

[28:23] entry level. Still fairly modest.

[28:28] Any questions for our finance director or city manager?

[28:32] Comments?

[28:36] Comments, sure.

[28:37] Mayor Hart, I certainly appreciate the kind-hearted thoughts behind this

[28:44] proposal, but it seems to me as if With a discount program like this,

[28:51] we're shifting the burden over onto young families with children,

[28:57] who use a lot of water.

[29:00] We're shifting the burden over to somebody who happens to own a house in town,

[29:07] who is quite income challenged, but happens to be 35, or 40 years old,

[29:14] or 50 years old. And,

[29:16] we're shifting the burden over to older people who might live in an apartment

[29:23] that already has sewer and water paid for as part of their rent. Mm-hmm.

[29:30] So, it's—

[29:32] this strikes me as the land of unintended consequences in pushing up rates for other

[29:39] people, and not just those of us who We're fortunate enough that— well, so well.

[29:46] It's a little bit more.

[29:48] We're pushing rates higher on people for whom it is a real burden.

[29:54] And, that kind of troubles me in general with this program.

[29:59] I just spent several years as treasurer of the water district,

[30:04] and in the sale of water among our towns. You pay what you pay.

[30:10] There are not discounts for being elderly, or having a limited income.

[30:16] And, it's like that with most utilities.

[30:20] And, I think that's probably the more fair way for us to do things,

[30:26] and perhaps look for savings elsewhere within our wastewater treatment

[30:32] within our wastewater treatment operations.

[30:33] Other thoughts from council?

[30:35] When we, when we looked at this in 2014, we put a committee together and we had,

[30:40] remember, the city manager,

[30:42] someone that had a young family that used a lot of sewer and water,

[30:46] with someone that was retired, and I think we had a city councilor too,

[30:51] and they really went through the issues I think we need to get some people in whose

[30:57] shoes to try and talk through specifically.

[31:00] This is always an awkward setting to have a good discussion because we have to go

[31:05] through the chair. So I don't know if anybody would be amenable to that.

[31:10] I just have a good mix of people that would be impacted in different ways to

[31:15] would be impacted in different ways to look at

[31:16] this. That makes sense. We appreciate all of this. I think it's time.

[31:21] It's absolutely time to be looking at this.

[31:28] May I ask a question?

[31:31] Uh, sure. You have to use the microphone, please, Lisa.

[31:35] Hi, Lisa St. Hilaire, 63 River Ave.

[31:37] I'm just curious if there's about 1,500 accounts and on average 2-point-something

[31:44] people per account, it's about 3,000 people. Population of Gardner is what,

[31:49] people. Population of Gardner is what, 6,500?

[31:50] So almost half the city's on the program.

[31:53] So that's my question, is half this, you know,

[31:56] how much of the city is on the program?

[31:59] So the 2.26 number is the average in Maine.

[32:02] Yeah, it's just, it's just a curiosity.

[32:04] It seemed like it seemed high when I started doing that math,

[32:07] like half the city's on the program.

[32:09] We have a large number of households with septic.

[32:12] Yeah, yeah, thank you.

[32:14] And by program, that's the number of people who are In the sewer,

[32:18] use the sewer services, not the number of people receiving benefits.

[32:23] We have about 20— I think it was 40 total households currently who are receiving

[32:28] assistance.

[32:29] That makes more sense. Thank you.

[32:33] Any other thoughts? Councilor Greenleaf, go ahead. Thank you, Mayor.

[32:38] I would certainly be in favor of a committee looking at this and then maybe

[32:43] committee looking at this and then maybe bringing

[32:43] recommendations to ORC with what they And then ORC can look at the numbers and go

[32:49] from there.

[32:49] Yeah, in the past we skipped ORC just because it was a numbers change,

[32:54] but we could certainly send it to ORC.

[32:56] I'm fine either way, but I do think it's time we look at this.

[32:59] It's been 9 years and everything continues to go up.

[33:02] I think it's time to at least take a look at it.

[33:04] Denise, you left before we could say thank you.

[33:12] I can reach out to council members separately and see who might be interested

[33:16] separately and see who might be interested in

[33:16] engaging, or I could reach out and just organize a group myself.

[33:20] We could take care of the discussion.

[33:22] As a— someone who hopes to own a home,

[33:24] who has a family who uses a lot of water every day, I appreciate the comments,

[33:29] of course. I think all of it does need to be considered quite clearly.

[33:33] Thank you.

[33:36] Anybody else? No, we're good.

[33:37] All right.

[33:37] Thanks, everybody. The next item on the agenda is possible amendments to the land

[33:44] use ordinance to allow drive-through establishments in the planned industrial

[33:51] commercial district to the Ordinance Review Committee.

[33:56] So I thought I saw— oh, there you are.

[33:59] I thought I saw—

[34:01] We have our code enforcement officer here tonight.

[34:03] Good evening, Council. Chris McNeil, code enforcement.

[34:07] Good evening.

[34:07] So that title's slightly misleading.

[34:10] There was a request made of the city that we allow restaurants with drive-throughs

[34:15] on a particular lot on Brunswick Avenue.

[34:18] Most of outer Brunswick Avenue is zoned planned development,

[34:22] which does allow restaurants with drive-throughs.

[34:26] The particular lot which recently hit the market Yes.

[34:30] The lot in question is in an old subdivision at the intersection of Market

[34:35] subdivision at the intersection of Market Lane and

[34:35] Brunswick Ave. That particular lot was zoned as part of the Market Lane Business

[34:41] Park. So, it was zoned PIC, which does not allow restaurants.

[34:45] The potential buyer who made this request is arguing that since the rest of Outer

[34:51] Brunswick allows them,

[34:52] can we change the zoning of this particular lot to be Planned Development

[34:57] particular lot to be Planned Development instead?

[34:58] Instead of PIC. Alternately,

[35:00] if you guys don't want to alter the zoning and new zoning maps and all that,

[35:05] the other option is to, as the agenda item says,

[35:09] allow restaurants with drive-throughs in PIC. PIC's the business parks, pretty

[35:14] PIC. PIC's the business parks, pretty much.

[35:14] Either way would, would, would work to make this change,

[35:18] just different methods of achieving it.

[35:21] There aren't a lot of lots in PIC that are currently still developable.

[35:26] A lot of them have been developed or sold, or—

[35:29] so making a change in uses to that zone is not going to have that large of an

[35:35] impact.

[35:35] Thank you. Questions from council? Anybody want to make a motion?

[35:41] Motion to send it to ORC, or we do our vigorous head nodding, I guess,

[35:47] for this. But there's a— there is a proposed motion here.

[35:52] Councilor Cusick, go ahead.

[35:55] Thank you, Mayor. I move—

[35:57] I move to task the Ordinance Review Committee to review a possible zone

[36:03] change for City Tax Map 011, Lot 039, 040, 041, 042, 043,

[36:09] and 044 from PIC to PD.

[36:13] Motion made by Councilor Cusick, seconded by Councilor Cone.

[36:17] I just had a question. We don't usually tell ORC which lots to rezone.

[36:22] We usually say work the issue.

[36:25] Yep.

[36:25] Um, would anybody— and we don't usually vote on this.

[36:29] We usually just say send it, send the issue along.

[36:33] Um, are people okay if we— Councilor Cusick, I know you made the motion,

[36:38] but can we Would you mind if we undid listing the lots? It's really specific.

[36:44] There's a—

[36:45] just, we want to go through, but do we need a certain section?

[36:49] I mean, so what are we sending to ordinance review for? Just one?

[36:54] I mean, there's specific lots here, but are they going to know what if we did—

[36:59] what are we sending them?

[37:00] ORC will know what the discussion is.

[37:03] A broader Directive for ORC,

[37:05] something along the lines of to examine the zoning around that intersection,

[37:10] maybe more appropriate.

[37:12] To review the zoning around the Market Street and

[37:18] Brunswick Avenue section of 201. How's that? Okay.

[37:25] That gives them more leeway to do their work. Thank you.

[37:28] Councillor Colley-Urquhart. Are you good with that change?

[37:32] All right, any discussion?

[37:35] Nope.

[37:36] All in favor, please record a unanimous vote. Thank you very much.

[37:39] Thanks, Chris.

[37:40] The next item on the agenda is,

[37:44] is a request for and reappropriation of the FY 2026

[37:49] funds. So City Manager Hill.

[37:55] Thank you. Yeah, thank you.

[37:57] So in FY26, there had been a decision on the Public Works operating budget to move

[38:03] $50,000 from what had been proposed for paving into a special revenue account

[38:08] restricted to the Arcade parking lot project.

[38:11] That $50,000 was not spent in FY26 and remains on the So at the last council

[38:16] meeting, we discussed the Arcade parking lot project,

[38:20] and we noted that across all accounts, including TIFs and other budgets,

[38:25] there's approximately $1.4 million potentially earmarked for that or other

[38:30] potentially earmarked for that or other projects,

[38:30] which means this $50,000 that we have in the special revenue account marked only

[38:36] the special revenue account marked only for

[38:36] the Arcade parking lot is— Is dwarfed by— The rest of the funds there.

[38:41] But since that funds— since the funds were not spent last year,

[38:45] what we'd like to do is have those reappropriated to the current Public Works

[38:50] operating budget to be spent to handle making the Arcade parking lot suitable for

[38:56] plowing this winter,

[38:57] as well as a few other existing projects in the city that we could tack on to the

[39:03] current paving work that's being done.

[39:05] We're looking at a few outstanding paving projects, sidewalk project,

[39:10] and a few other areas in the city that have high traffic and outstanding needs.

[39:15] And Public Works Director John Cameron has worked with our contractors to look at

[39:21] potential costs. So it's basically we're asking to unlock $50,000 that's sitting

[39:26] there that will not create a new tax burden,

[39:29] but could be spent immediately because we have capacity to handle a few projects

[39:35] that the community's asked for.

[39:37] Thank you.

[39:38] All right, welcome.

[39:39] Hello, Public Works Director John Cameron.

[39:42] Um, yeah, we definitely have a few projects that we'd like to take care of.

[39:48] Um, and this money would just go to those that we've already kind of earmarked.

[39:54] We'd like to get them,

[39:55] and I talked to the contractor that we had doing our paving this year,

[40:00] and that money would cover said projects,

[40:03] and he was Actually contacted me earlier today and asked me how things were going

[40:09] and looking because he could possibly get here as early as Friday to get started on

[40:16] a couple. An opening in the schedule could be our benefit.

[40:20] Great, thank you. Questions from council? Councillor Holmes.

[40:25] John, what, what will we do down at the arcade parking lot?

[40:30] The arcade parking lot, to make it plowable for this year, is basically a

[40:35] plowable for this year, is basically a Band-Aid.

[40:35] Um, right now—

[40:36] Anything beyond filling potholes?

[40:38] A little bit more than filling potholes up along the edge of the back of the

[40:43] buildings where there's actually some— I wouldn't call it a puddle,

[40:48] it's more of craters at this point,

[40:51] because those last year were beating up the plows.

[40:55] pretty bad and trying to make sure we didn't move the manhole basins when we're

[41:00] trying to plow it down there.

[41:02] This will make it so we can protect our equipment and plow that area and keep it a

[41:08] lot less ice down there this year. It would help tremendously.

[41:13] Anybody else? Questions? No?

[41:16] All righty, so our action here is To— we have a motion.

[41:22] The motion, uh, Councilor Babcock, please.

[41:26] I move to approve transfer and reappropriation of $50,000 from the FY

[41:32] reappropriation of $50,000 from the FY 2026 Arcade

[41:33] Parking Lot Special Revenue Account to the FY 27 Public Works Operating Budget.

[41:39] Motion made by Councilor Babcock, seconded by Councilor Kimball.

[41:44] Any discussion? Nope. All in favor? Please record a unanimous vote.

[41:49] Thank you.

[41:50] Thank you.

[41:50] Thank you, John.

[41:51] All right, the next item—

[41:54] the next item on the agenda is establishing an EMS regional

[42:02] cost share analysis advisory group.

[42:06] Thank you. Yeah, this one is specifically from me in discussion with Our partners on

[42:12] the ambulance committee,

[42:14] several councilors who are engaged with the ambulance committee,

[42:19] interested in the ambulance committee.

[42:21] I would like to form a short-term task force to examine the current structure and

[42:27] costing arrangement of the ambulance service,

[42:31] which serves all the regional communities that we're engaged with.

[42:36] Thank you.

[42:38] I know Councillor Greenleaf is currently on the ambulance committee.

[42:42] They're well aware of the partners and the discussions there.

[42:45] But the idea really is to pull together a group of people who can help me analyze

[42:50] exactly where we want to go and how we can keep the ambulance service solvent in the

[42:55] future, but also ensure that partner towns are carrying a fair share of the cost and

[43:00] Gardiner's not liable for more than it should be liable for.

[43:03] Okay.

[43:04] And just looking at the future with the chiefs and with political leadership and

[43:09] with city staff saying, this is where we want to take this huge regional project.

[43:15] And I've now been city manager for almost 3 months.

[43:19] Woo!

[43:19] And I think in that period, looking at the ambulance service in particular,

[43:24] what I realized is our ambulance service out of here serves 25,000 people.

[43:28] people across 200 square miles as one of the largest emergency services in the

[43:33] state. And so I think having a real strong idea of where Gardner wants to go before

[43:38] we hit the next budget cycle,

[43:40] so then we can start working with partner towns to ensure everyone's on the same

[43:45] page and we reach, you know, strong agreements for the future, I think is a,

[43:49] is a critical thing to do. And right now is the right time to do it.

[43:53] So I'm proposing a temporary task It's a task force that will have 3 or 4 council

[43:58] members on it, so it would have to be a publicly noticed meeting and committee

[44:03] publicly noticed meeting and committee kind

[44:03] of task force. So, yeah, I need your permission and authority to do so.

[44:08] The group will not be authorized to expend funds.

[44:11] It will not be authorized to make changes to structures.

[44:14] We do have the ambulance committee, obviously, which is appointed,

[44:18] so I think it would be more the advisory committee to help look at the future of

[44:23] where we're going with things from the Gardner perspective.

[44:26] Thank you.

[44:30] Questions from council? Councilor Greenleaf, go ahead.

[44:33] Thank you, Mayor. Not a question, but a comment.

[44:35] Having served on that board for a number of years,

[44:37] this isn't something that just came from Gardner.

[44:39] At our last ambulance advisory board meeting,

[44:41] the partner towns that we have that make this service work—

[44:43] because we could not do it without them— are all on board with this.

[44:46] They realize the cost of everything has gone up.

[44:48] They appreciate the service we do,

[44:50] and they're willing to look at this and see if they need to pay more.

[44:53] They're willing to step up and do that.

[44:54] I'm not saying they're going to fund the whole thing,

[44:57] but they are willing to look at this and want us to do so to try to balance this

[45:00] want us to do so to try to balance this out

[45:00] for everybody so we can provide the services needed.

[45:02] So this isn't coming just from Gardner.

[45:04] This is the 7 other communities that are in favor of this as well.

[45:07] Thank you. Anybody else?

[45:10] No.

[45:11] Anybody prepared to make the motion? Councilor Dolley.

[45:18] I think my iPad just went dead, so—

[45:25] I moved to have the city manager establish EMS regional cost share analysis and

[45:32] advisory group in accordance with the discussed scope of work for December 31st,

[45:40] Thank you.

[45:41] Motion made by Councilor Dolley, seconded by Councilor Cohn.

[45:45] Any discussion? All in favor, please record a unanimous vote.

[45:50] Thank you.

[45:51] Thank you. That's a big task ahead to look at all that.

[45:57] Okay, so our next item that we added at the beginning of the meeting is a

[46:04] discussion on BOE Hunting in high-density residential neighborhoods.

[46:11] As long as you use the microphone.

[46:18] Welcome.

[46:19] Good evening, Council. My name is Lisa St. Hilaire. I live at 63 River Ave.

[46:23] I'm here tonight with my neighbor Helen Stevens.

[46:26] Helen Stevens, 128 Dresden Avenue.

[46:30] Recently, several neighbors on Dresden Ave were approached by a bow hunter seeking

[46:36] permission to hunt on their land,

[46:38] and that's these woods up here between Dresden River Cottage and Kingsbury.

[46:43] Um, it's our strong belief that based on city code and state hunting laws,

[46:48] that hunting of any sort, including archery and bow hunting,

[46:52] shouldn't be allowed here. I've got quite a long letter here.

[46:56] I'll just go through it pretty quickly.

[46:59] Currently, the land use ordinance defines hunting as a passive recreational activity

[47:05] allowed in all zones within the city,

[47:07] and we come to you this evening to request that hunting, including archery hunting,

[47:13] is not allowed in certain zones,

[47:15] particularly places like HDR that are highly populated.

[47:19] This could easily be accomplished by adding a note to the use chart in Chapter

[47:24] adding a note to the use chart in Chapter 7 of

[47:24] the land use ordinance under Rural uses, passive recreation.

[47:29] And of note, I sit on the land use ordinance and the land use ordinance

[47:33] ordinance and the land use ordinance board—

[47:34] what are we, land use ordinance committee— and the ordinance review board.

[47:39] Gardner City Code has some discussion of firearms,

[47:42] but this doesn't include bows or crossbows, but slingshots are included.

[47:47] And so that's kind of a— Should bows and crossbows be included?

[47:51] Um, the city code also defines areas within which firearms may be discharged or

[47:57] within which firearms may be discharged or may

[47:57] not be discharged. Mostly, I think that's South Gardner.

[48:01] It was a little hard to understand the boundaries listed in the city code there.

[48:06] But discharge of firearms outside of this restricted area,

[48:10] which might be the area we're in,

[48:12] indicates that a dated and signed written permission is necessary to discharge any

[48:18] firearms. on another person's property, and that has to be updated yearly.

[48:23] Firearms may not be discharged within 400 feet of a dwelling or structure,

[48:28] nor may a projectile from a firearm pass within 400 feet of a dwelling or structure

[48:34] on somebody else's property, and that distance is increased for schools.

[48:38] State rules from the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department for archery equipment

[48:44] near dwellings and buildings state 100 yards, so that's 300 feet.

[48:49] It's a little less than the cities for firearms.

[48:52] What's interesting statewide is that in the 2023 legislative session,

[48:56] I think that it changed in 2024,

[48:59] is that you don't get a bow hunting license anymore. You get an archery

[49:03] license anymore. You get an archery license.

[49:04] And that archery license includes crossbows.

[49:07] So somebody could be bow hunting on your land, and that could be crossbows.

[49:12] Um, and we think that the flight distances and velocities for arrows and bolts out

[49:18] of these crossbows is incompatible with an area zoned high-density residential.

[49:23] Typically, people hunt for deer with a 50 to 70-pound compound bow,

[49:28] a 45 to 50-pound recurve bow,

[49:30] and state rules indicate that the minimum crossbow hunting weight is 100 pounds.

[49:35] And then there's a whole lot of specifics here that I'm not going to read out loud

[49:41] regarding velocities and distances that arrows and bolts can travel,

[49:45] but they can travel up to 1,200 feet and at a velocity of up to 270 miles an hour,

[49:51] which is higher than the projectiles fired from a slingshot.

[49:55] Though bow hunters are typically careful, they miss.

[49:58] And a hunter in these woods could inadvertently shoot something into

[50:03] inadvertently shoot something into somebody's

[50:04] yard, hit somebody, hit the house, hit a person, hit a pet.

[50:08] And we also believe it's important to consider that deer struck by an arrow

[50:13] typically travel some distance before they die.

[50:16] The distance a deer travels after being hit will depend— how big is the deer,

[50:21] how much terrain, how much adrenaline, all of these things—

[50:25] but it's quite likely that that deer could travel from a place where permission was

[50:31] granted to hunt to a place where it was not.

[50:34] And if that wounded deer travels to a place where it was not granted permission

[50:39] place where it was not granted permission for

[50:39] the hunter to be, That hunter is not allowed by state law to come onto that

[50:44] allowed by state law to come onto that land to

[50:45] get that wounded animal.

[50:47] So it's quite possible a wounded deer could end up in somebody's backyard.

[50:52] And there's some specifics here about how, you know, if you hit a double lung,

[50:57] how fast they drop, you know, how many feet do they travel. But they tend to

[51:02] feet do they travel. But they tend to travel.

[51:03] They don't tend to drop.

[51:04] Okay.

[51:08] And I don't think any of us want a wounded and dying animal to show up in their

[51:13] backyard. This whole area, these woods back here, it's about 30 acres.

[51:17] Helen and my property about cut it in half.

[51:20] To the south of us is the hospital,

[51:22] has a large property around the Alzheimer's unit.

[51:25] And to the north of us, one person has granted hunters permission.

[51:29] It's this lot up here in the corner. But nobody else has.

[51:33] And Chief Seabold knows that people have been posting their land recently because

[51:38] there was a fire out in those woods, um, on Lot 10.

[51:41] It's Susan Prew's place,

[51:43] and she got hot to trot and got all the neighbors to post their land no

[51:47] neighbors to post their land no trespassing.

[51:48] So a hunter will have to ask them permission to hunt there.

[51:52] So it just, it just speaks to the larger issue that this is HDR, high density.

[51:57] Should you allow hunting? Should you allow bow hunting? It's not anti-hunting.

[52:02] It's not that we shouldn't allow hunting in rural areas of the city.

[52:06] And it's not to say that you can't, like,

[52:09] have an archery butt in your backyard and do target practice. That's your property.

[52:14] You can do what you want.

[52:15] But you're hunting an animal that's going to travel across your property boundaries.

[52:21] You're using projectiles that are going to travel across the property boundaries.

[52:26] And they're kind of tight back here.

[52:28] Um, We have big lots because it's an unbuildable area of ravines, gullies,

[52:33] unbuildable area of ravines, gullies, streams.

[52:33] I don't know what's going on over here or up here,

[52:36] but I suspect that's the same thing.

[52:39] So I just think it's something that the council should consider allowing or

[52:43] disallowing hunting of any sort, including archery, in HDR and possibly other zones.

[52:49] You know, you certainly wouldn't allow it in traditional downtown or any of those

[52:54] kinds of places. Anything?

[52:57] It— when you look at this area, these lines don't exist.

[53:02] When you look at this area, it is all open woodland.

[53:07] It is bisected by streams, very steep gullies, which is why it's unbuildable,

[53:14] it's undevelopable. But people look at that and go, oh my God,

[53:20] this is so beautiful. It's all open woodland. And it is.

[53:25] But the reality is— this is the reality.

[53:29] It is a patchwork quilt of private property.

[53:33] And anybody knows when you hit an animal, you know,

[53:38] maybe in the movies it falls over dead.

[53:41] But in reality, it does not just fall over dead.

[53:46] Nobody in that area owns enough property to give permission to hunt in,

[53:53] in that area, um, safely. And that's the reality.

[53:57] One of Lisa's neighbors, uh, I think said it very well.

[54:02] He said he's a hunter, but he would never hunt in there because it's too tight.

[54:10] And then he might have to kill a deer in somebody's backyard.

[54:16] And that's another whole problem to deal with.

[54:20] And the other thing is bow hunters, or archery hunters, as the state now calls

[54:24] archery hunters, as the state now calls them,

[54:24] are allowed to carry a sidearm,

[54:26] but they're not allowed to use the sidearm to dispatch a wounded animal.

[54:30] So you have to wait for the animal to die.

[54:32] So your recommendation is that we send it to the Ordinance Review Committee

[54:37] to take a look at the city ordinance, match it up with the Yep, yep, yep.

[54:42] And I know we have some more immediate things that we're going to do.

[54:45] We're going to post our land and talk to some of the neighbors.

[54:48] And I think the chief of police might talk to the person who granted permission,

[54:52] because as Helen noted, when you're back in there, you can't tell.

[54:55] I know where my property line is,

[54:57] but the property line kind of angles off at a weird southerly direction,

[55:01] but the ridges all go at this weird northerly direction.

[55:03] And it's very confusing whose property you're on once you get back in there.

[55:07] And I can't imagine that somebody who doesn't know those woods would know whose

[55:11] property they were on.

[55:12] And bow hunting starts Saturday.

[55:15] Yeah, that's—

[55:18] it really is for us. It's a public safety issue.

[55:22] We really do not want anyone back there bow hunting with a compound bow or a

[55:28] crossbow, for God's sake.

[55:30] So on that issue, City Manager Hill,

[55:32] I think Chief Pillsbury worked with the folks involved today.

[55:36] So that's taken care of for Saturday, correct?

[55:39] But so what we can do tonight is see if we get some vigorous head nodding to send

[55:45] this.

[55:45] Yeah. And I don't know if firearms need to be redefined in the land use ordinance to

[55:50] include archery equipment or not. I mean, should firearms include slingshots?

[55:55] You know, as somebody who lives in a biggish lot,

[55:58] I'm a little peeved I can't shoot my .22 to kill the woodchucks that are bothering

[56:03] me. But I'm not allowed to, right?

[56:05] So should, should archery equipment be in there too?

[56:09] Thoughts, thoughts for you guys. Thank you for your time.

[56:12] Yeah, thank you.

[56:15] Thank you so much for adding us in at the last moment for the agenda.

[56:19] Truly, we appreciate it.

[56:20] Thanks for coming and for your presentation.

[56:23] It, it certainly is a pressing public safety issue.

[56:27] So for sending it to the Ordinance Review Committee, any objections?

[56:32] No, everybody's good.

[56:34] Okay.

[56:35] All right.

[56:35] Can I ask a question?

[56:36] Yeah, go ahead.

[56:37] You folks have done some research.

[56:40] Are you saying that it is legal to hunt in

[56:43] high-density residential?

[56:45] Currently, it is not legal to discharge a firearm.

[56:50] Okay.

[56:51] But archery isn't included firearms.

[56:54] Gotcha.

[56:54] Currently legal for archery hunting to take place in HDR.

[56:59] Okay.

[57:00] I was hearing you right then. Thank you.

[57:02] State law does allow with the permission of the landowner and with stipulations on—

[57:07] Yeah, the caveats about within 100 feet, 100 yards of a residence.

[57:13] You can be within 100 yards of a residence if that owner has given permission or an

[57:19] adult in the house has given permission, according to the state rules.

[57:25] And the folks I talked to at IF&W—

[57:28] Discharge of a firearm?

[57:30] Correct.

[57:31] In our high-density residential?

[57:32] Correct. Oh, that's actually not clear. It's not within 400 feet of a structure.

[57:38] So that, that's actually not clear to me. Yeah.

[57:41] And the folks at IF&W told me I should invite the game warden in.

[57:45] I'm like, yeah, I don't I think that needs to happen right now.

[57:50] We will send it back to you and your committee.

[57:53] Thank you.

[57:54] All right.

[57:55] So we are good with that.

[57:57] So the follow-up there is that will get added to ORC's list. Thank you all.

[58:03] So I think that is all of our new business.

[58:07] Before we get to the city manager's report, I just want to say, Robert,

[58:12] this is a really special last city council meeting.

[58:16] Sewer and deer and— and what else did we have?

[58:20] Fire and liquor license, which we always have, right?

[58:24] Perfect.

[58:25] So thank you.

[58:27] All fun stuff.

[58:29] All right, City Manager report.

[58:31] Thank you.

[58:33] I'll be brief today. I just wanted to mention a few key moments upcoming.

[58:38] One is to welcome all the students back.

[58:40] Schools did start this week, and I think we have some teachers as well.

[58:45] Yeah, congratulations.

[58:47] And it's been really enjoyable to see my own kids enroll in Garden Area schools.

[58:52] Really, really nice.

[58:53] We have, just so everyone does know, on Wednesday the 9th,

[58:57] the water will be off on Church Street,

[59:00] so that will impact City Hall most of the day.

[59:03] Hopefully it'll be back on by the time City Hall opens at noon on Wednesday the

[59:08] City Hall opens at noon on Wednesday the 9th,

[59:08] but it will be off from Mechanic to Dresden.

[59:11] We've been told by the water district today.

[59:14] On the 12th of September, we're having a library book sale.

[59:18] I encourage everyone to come and support. It's from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM on the 12th.

[59:24] And on September 15th,

[59:25] We will kick off the comprehensive planning public event week at Johnson Hall

[59:30] planning public event week at Johnson Hall at

[59:30] 5:00 PM. Doors will open 5:30 for community feedback engagement session,

[59:35] hopefully fun, good, enjoyable discussion.

[59:38] So I would encourage everyone to attend that as well.

[59:42] And I've left some information there.

[59:44] But yeah, from my side, I just want to say thank you.

[59:48] I think the coming few weeks will be quite heavy with events across lots of

[59:53] different things, and I've noticed different organizations are all starting

[59:58] different organizations are all starting to

[59:58] cross-schedule each other as well.

[1:00:00] So I think there's a lot going on in the city, um,

[1:00:03] but a lot of really interesting discussions and exciting things to be

[1:00:08] discussions and exciting things to be engaged with.

[1:00:09] So thank you. Great, thank you. Councilor updates, starting with Councilor Cone.

[1:00:14] I just want to thank the department heads for all the work they've done.

[1:00:18] Great work for the city manager and I appreciate the citizens bringing things

[1:00:24] appreciate the citizens bringing things before

[1:00:25] us to consider.

[1:00:26] Thank you. Councilor Greenleaf.

[1:00:28] Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to again thank department heads, but also, um,

[1:00:32] thank Johnson Hall for the waterfront concerts.

[1:00:34] We started with rain, we ended with rain, but in between were some great nights,

[1:00:37] and it brought a lot of people to Gardner.

[1:00:39] And appreciate the fact they do that for the citizens and for the ensuing

[1:00:42] communities, surrounding communities.

[1:00:44] Hear, hear. Councilor Cusick.

[1:00:47] I just— quick shout out Shout out to Public Works.

[1:00:50] Thanks for cleaning up some bushes on West Street and paving in a couple driveway

[1:00:56] lips on Maple Street.

[1:00:57] Got a couple calls from the residents, very appreciative for that. Thank you.

[1:01:02] I'll step down.

[1:01:03] All right, Councilor Kimball.

[1:01:05] Thank you.

[1:01:07] Thank you for the department heads.

[1:01:10] And you've been here 3 months, that's really a lot. Uh, and thank you to John.

[1:01:15] I, I need to speak to you about— I had a person call about their street, and the,

[1:01:22] uh, John was so good to talk to me about it.

[1:01:25] And I talked to the lady, and she was very pleased but very disappointed also.

[1:01:31] But there's only 2 people on that street that has a problem with it.

[1:01:36] Everybody else doesn't know anything about it.

[1:01:39] Okay.

[1:01:40] about it. So, but it's Dean Street.

[1:01:43] So, yep, but she was very kind and thanked me,

[1:01:48] and John was helpful.

[1:01:51] That's it. Wonderful, thank you. Councillor Babcock.

[1:01:54] I think it's a John night because I was going to thank John as well because I had

[1:01:58] some residents concerned about paving issues and speed on Washington Ave and

[1:02:03] Brunswick Ave and, you know, everywhere.

[1:02:05] So I just appreciate— I reached out to you and city manager quite a bit last—

[1:02:10] this past month, so thank you for taking care of those things.

[1:02:14] And it seems like everybody's happy, or they met with you.

[1:02:17] I haven't heard otherwise, so thank you.

[1:02:19] Nothing to add.

[1:02:23] All right, thank you. Councilor Holmes.

[1:02:26] And all is well in South Gardner,

[1:02:28] and I just feel guilty I have nothing to compliment John And the rest of you too,

[1:02:34] really. We do appreciate you all. But thank you.

[1:02:38] Thank you. Uh, go ahead, Councilman.

[1:02:41] I do want to thank the fire department.

[1:02:43] They had a good stop on Pope Street, um, a couple weeks ago,

[1:02:45] and we're fortunate that we have them here to do that. So thank you, Chief.

[1:02:48] You're here.

[1:02:50] Yeah, I agree with that for sure.

[1:02:52] And in the woods, the fire in the woods too, that was kind of scary for folks.

[1:02:59] So I would just echo what everybody said. We love our paved street, Mr.

[1:03:05] Cameron, on High Holborn. It's beautiful.

[1:03:08] I keep thinking it's rained because the street— when I look out the window,

[1:03:14] it's dark, but it's just beautiful.

[1:03:17] Councilors, I just want to ask real quick, October 7th,

[1:03:22] we've got a couple councilors that can't make it.

[1:03:26] Can everybody else make the meeting on October 7th so we can sort that out. 3, 4.

[1:03:33] Okay.

[1:03:34] Okay. And Councilor Holmes, you good?

[1:03:36] Okay, great.

[1:03:38] Thanks, everybody. And welcome back to school.

[1:03:41] I love the banner that says, you matter to us.

[1:03:44] I think that was Healthy Communities of the Capital Area,

[1:03:48] but I'm really appreciative that they,

[1:03:50] that they did that for our school staff and students,

[1:03:54] and hopefully all the teachers everywhere take heart in the positive messages from

[1:04:00] the community. So with that, we have a couple executive sessions,

[1:04:04] and what we'll do is we'll clear the room and we will take Executive Session B

[1:04:09] first, if everybody's okay with that,

[1:04:12] and then we'll take Executive We'll take it to session A and we'll come out and

[1:04:17] vote, I think.

[1:04:18] Congratulations, Robert.

[1:04:20] Congratulations.

[1:04:21] Thank you, Robert.

[1:04:22] We're not coming back on the camera,

[1:04:26] but we will come out of session and we will vote and the

[1:04:32] minutes will reflect our vote.

[1:04:35] Thank you.

[1:04:35] The meeting minutes.

[1:04:40] He'll do it.

[1:04:41] I'll do it.

[1:04:42] Yeah, thanks, Alyssa.

[1:04:43] I know they're here somewhere.

City Council

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