First Term Accomplishments

Education

• Funded Schools $1 million over Net School Spending
• Broke Ground on new Elementary School – first elementary school constructed in the City in 100 years
• Purchased laptop devices for every student in Gardner Public Schools
• Gardner High School launched new manufacturing trade innovative pathway program.
• Waived the cost of Preschool to remove any financial barriers for families
• Launched “Here Comes the Bus” cell phone app to allow parents to see when their student’s bus is scheduled to arrive
• Increased access to Middle School Busing to students who live over a mile radius from the school
• $130,000 of grants given to Gardner Public Schools from the Williams-Rockwell Educational Gift Fund, chaired by the Mayor
• Partnered with Comcast to provide a special internet rate of just under $10 per month for students on free or reduced lunch services in order to provide affordable internet access to students during remote learning periods
• Provided free meals for all City residents under the age of 18 for two school years in order to make sure that students did not go hungry as a result of the pandemic.
• Re-instituted Elementary School Band in the FY2022 budget to help boost our schools music programs.
• Re-furbished the gymnasium at Gardner High School for the first time in two decades.
• Purchased new lockers for Gardner Middle School to replace the old lockers that had not been in use for years due to their size constraints.

Economic Development

• Demolition of the abandoned factory on Rock Street. This old wooden factory was a large fire hazard and was in danger of collapse and is now being developed into a pocket park to replace danger with promise. The land is currently being marketed by the City.
• Purchased the building on the corner of Main Street and Willow Street to make improvements to the intersection and improve the entrance to Downtown. Back in 2017, the bricks on the exterior walls of the building collapsed onto the adjacent sidewalks, and the building was in large disrepair. The City and the Gardner Redevelopment Authority are currently in negotiations for the sale of the property for commercial development.
• Working with a developer for the revitalization of the Rear Main Street area after years of being vacant. The plan is to construct a 56 unit apartment building with an event plaza and upgraded bicycle access to the Downtown to increase foot traffic in the Downtown area.
• Worked with developers to demolished old, condemned, dangerous structures on West Street, Pine Street and East Broadway that are currently either under construction for new development or in the process of being marketed for development.
• Worked with the Community Health Center on a new expansion for a new medical, dental, urgent care, and mental health facility in the City on Timpany Boulevard.

Infrastructure Improvements

• Paved more miles of roads than the City has since 1999
• Worked with Comcast to extend high speed broadband internet lines down Kelton, Stone, and Wheeler Streets.
• New water and sewer lines installed in the Downtown through a $11 million loan order to replace all lines installed between 1880 and 1935.
• New sidewalks, lighting structures, and crosswalks installed throughout the Downtown to increase ADA compliance and improve the visual appeal of the Downtown in a three year program utilizing Community Development Block Grant Funding.
• $40,000 upgrades done to Ovila Case Playground for new equipment
• New sidewalks installed in South Gardner
• Funded almost $500,000 in additional paving money for 2021 over what was done in the past.
• Obtained grant funding to add additional bicycle lanes in the City to connect Winchendon to Hubbardston through the City along the new North Central Pathway.
• Worked with National Grid to repair all streetlights around the City’s two Route 2 Rotaries and along Pearson Boulevard.
• Obtained grant funding to replace the old dam at Wayside Pond that was deemed to be in failing condition by the Commonwealth.
• Worked with state officials for the re-opening of the Pleasant Street Bridge after several years of it being closed.

Supporting Local Businesses

• Created Microenterprise Assistance Grants to provide support for local businesses who have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Over $300,000 were given out in support grants.
• Waived the cost of liquor license applications for 2021 to help local restaurants, many of whom had to be closed for a large portion of 2020
• Received Shared Streets funding to create new outdoor seating options in the Downtown
• Worked with Heywood Hospital on a new $35 million expansion of the Hospital to construct new operating rooms for the first time since the 1960s
• Received grant funding for a feasibility study to construct a new business and industrial park in the City in response to the remaining locations in the City’s existing business parks being filled
• Partnered with Gardner Square Two to install new banners throughout the Downtown area to highlight what businesses are in the City to those driving through
• Waived parking meters in the Downtown four times longer than usual to help local businesses during the Christmas Season

Improved City Services

• Migrated the Health Department and License Commission onto the City’s online permitting software to increase ease of access for the public
• Purchased new breathing apparatus for every firefighter employed by the City of Gardner for the first time in 20 years
• Purchased new hand held scanners that Police Officers can use to scan packages for the presence of fentanyl or other harmful drugs without the need of opening the package in which its contained
• Purchased new safety equipment for the Fire Department, including cold water rescue gear, slow release hydrant valves, and a safety windshield glass cutter.
• Migrated all operations in the City Treasurer’s and Auditor’s Offices to make all internal accounts payable processes paperless to increase efficiency.
• Re-designed the City’s property record card database to ensure that the information posted is the most up to date possible as soon as it can be.

Outreach and Transparency

• Created the Mayor’s Weekly Update video series to help keep the public informed about what is going on in the City
• Created new interactive “City Project Map” that will allow residents to see all active projects being performed by the City as well as obtain information on the project’s funding source, time line, and other information on what is going on.
• Worked with the Greenwood Swim Club to bring competitive swim meets back into the City
• Supported the continuation of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program from the USDA
• Created a Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator position in the City’s Health Department to help ensure that the City is doing all it can to combat the opioid epidemic
• Created Chair City Story Time series to help children in the City have access to story times while schools were remote and the library was closed to the public
• Hosted a virtual “Caroling with the Mayor” event to help provide cheer with a new version of a City tradition
• Facilitated new Senior Citizen Free Tax Preparation Service for the Gardner Senior Center when the program was in danger of discontinuing

COVID-19 Response

• Hosted a COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic in partnership with Heywood Hospital to give out over 30,000 doses of the vaccines from February through May 2021.
• Partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to host a mobile testing clinic to allow 427 COVID-19 Tests to be administered on top of the tests being done by Heywood Hospital and Community Health Connections
• Reopened Prospect Street School in order to allow Community Health Connections to move their COVID-19 testing center there to continue providing free testing services in the City after November 2020
• In order to prevent the situations we saw during the first surge of the pandemic, where medical staff were sewing shower curtains into medical gowns due to a shortage of PPE, we used our CARES funding, we also donated $300,000.00 of PPE to Heywood Hospital and Community Health Connections, to ensure they had the resources they need to give our residents the best care possible