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CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE
WEEKLY MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor MacLean, Councilors and Department Heads
FROM: Scott Morelli, City Manager
DATE: April 9, 2010
RE: Weekly Memo
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Next Week's City Meetings are available on our Calendar
It has been a busy week here in City Hall.
- Last night, the Crematorium Committee heard further public input regarding the proposed crematorium at the Oak Grove Cemetery. The Council Room was packed with citizens and both “sides” brought up important points. The Committee will meet again on April 29, 2010 at 6 pm where they will begin to discuss what report and/or recommendation they will be making to the Council. I would like to thank the committee members for all of their hard work and diligence to date on this issue.
- In case any of you missed the article in the KJ this week, I am pleased to announce that members of our Fire Department recently raised $2,000 from local businesses and residents to buy two cardiac defibrillators for the Gardiner Area High School. This isn’t the first time the Firefighters Union has donated these life-saving devices to Gardiner schools. About three years ago they also donated a defibrillator to the Gardiner Regional Middle School. On behalf of the City I would like to thank our firefighters for being good citizens and taking the initiative to donate these devices and train people how to use them in the event of an emergency!
- The Library will be closed on April 15 and 16 to reassemble the displaced materials that resulted from the recent renovations. The good news is that on Saturday, April 17, the first 300 people who come to see the newly restored main floor of the library will receive door prizes. Based on recent statistics, the library will have no problem getting 300 visitors that day. I have just learned that in 2009 our library circulated nearly 115,000 items and that 66,000 people came through the library doors! Kudos to our library staff.
- I attended a Grant Writing workshop this week at the Maine Municipal Association headquarters in Augusta. While I was very much pleased to learn more information about obtaining grants for our community, I was even more impressed with the fact that the presenters mentioned Gardiner several times. We have been very successful in recent years in obtaining grants for a variety of projects and it was good to hear us mentioned as a community that takes advantage of and is successful at receiving state and federal grants.
- Speaking of grants, Gardiner is receiving about $20,000 from the Department of Transportation for pedestrian improvements within the downtown. ~ These funds are being provided to towns/cities with Main Street programs, so this just one example of how the Gardiner Main Street (GMS) program can be of great benefit to our community. Members of GMS, city staff, and the DOT will be meeting soon to discuss the exact improvements that will be made with these funds. Also, I would like to welcome new GMS Director Chris West to Gardiner. Chris started his new job this week and I look forward to working with him and others on our efforts to improve our historic downtown!
As always, I appreciate the opportunity to serve the people of Gardiner as City Manager.
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