Gardner City staff told the Economic Community Development Committee on Sept. 19 that staffing turnover at the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) had prompted outreach to neighboring towns for training on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) reporting and the Intelligrants financial-management system.

Director Stevens said MRPC’s fiscal representative gave two weeks’ notice and that the Town of Athol’s fiscal representative provided training to Gardner staff, including Iris Mensa and the assistant director, on CDBG bookkeeping and Intelligrants. Stevens said the training introduced Gardner staff to a range of contacts who may help answer specific entitlement-community questions the city faces.

Stevens reiterated a prior recommendation to maintain relationships with both MRPC and the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) for different planning and technical services. He noted MRPC is Gardner’s primary planning commission under city ordinance while CMRPC has additional capacity for some services despite current staffing pressure at the commissions.

The committee moved and seconded to place the regional planning commission item on file; the motion passed by voice vote. Committee members said they would be available to assist if Gardner staff encounters roadblocks with the regional planning commissions and asked staff to include any action items in future monthly updates.

Stevens and committee members also discussed potential uses of MRPC services beyond grant bookkeeping, including traffic studies for the traffic commission, and said they will include such coordination items in future reports to the council.