Gardner City Council advances winter parking ban and non-union pay overhaul

GARDNER — December 1, 2025 — Gardner City Council moves winter parking ban and non-union pay overhaul toward final votes. The council voted 10-1 Monday to send to first printing an ordinance establishing automatic nighttime parking bans each January 1 through March 1, replacing the Code Red emergency-declaration system for those months; the lone no vote came from Councilor Mack, who called the December timing "unreasonable" given a required January 1 effective date. The council also advanced a sweeping non-union employee compensation ordinance — the first modernization of the pay schedule in more than 20 years, by Councilor Kazinskus's account — to second and final printing on a 9-2 vote after Councilor Hegland's last-minute amendment corrected a transcription error that would have underpaid two library maintenance positions; Councilor Brooks, one of the two no votes, estimated the ordinance adds roughly $185,000 to the annual payroll. The council approved $311,975 in free cash transfers for the stabilization account, landfill pump replacement, and landfill closure funding, and directed the Finance Committee to study an unresolved repayment structure on a $625,000 stabilization account withdrawal used to build a city salt shed.