City of Gardner officials introduced Amy Juhas as the new assistant director of community development and planning; staff said she started July 7, 2025. The committee also heard that a new business manager, Iris, began the prior Monday and that the department is fully staffed for the first time in recent memory.

Staff said Juhas brings experience at HUD and the City of Newton and that she has helped the department organize digital filing for CDBG documents and improve project narratives to align with HLC expectations. The department said it has standardized public social service contracts (2024 round) to set quarterly reporting expectations and to clarify documentation required to demonstrate services for low- and moderate-income (LMI) beneficiaries — including demographic reporting on race, ethnicity and economic status when applicable.

Why it matters: clearer contract requirements streamline payments to non-profit service providers and help the city meet HLC’s documentation standards when submitting invoices and beneficiary reports. Staff listed several social-service providers in the 2024 CDBG bucket, including GEM, the Community Action Center (CAC), and Voices of Truth; staff said most providers welcomed the clarity.

Other staff work: the new business manager completed an inventory of businesses on industrial-zoned parcels for the North Central Chamber within days, identifying vacant parcels and active business contact details; staff said they will expand that inventory to commercial parcels next.

Status and next steps: staff plan to bring the new business manager to a future committee meeting so she can introduce herself, and to use the improved filing and contract templates to speed future CDBG closeouts and payments.

Ending: committee members welcomed the hires and said clearer contracting should reduce delays in getting funds to service providers.