Finance committee approves agreement to process Winchendon veteran benefits; no new staff required

The Gardner City Council Finance Committee voted to authorize the administration to enter into an intermunicipal agreement with the town of Winchendon for veteran services covering fiscal years 2025 through 2027.

Committee members heard that the agreement would let Gardner’s regional veteran services office process Chapter 115 claims for Winchendon residents while Winchendon would continue to fund the actual benefit payments. “From a workload standpoint, it is not a huge lift for our office,” said Corey Castleman, director of veteran services, describing current operations and the office’s capacity after a recently hired assistant director began work.

The agreement uses a per-capita formula Gardner applies to other partner communities: $2 per person in the population, which Gardner staff estimated would amount to roughly $20,000 for Winchendon in the contract as presented to the committee. Committee members also discussed a cancellation clause and dispute-resolution provisions included in the draft agreement.

Why it matters: Gardner officials said the arrangement will expand access to veteran services for Winchendon residents without requiring Gardner to add staff, and will bring additional revenue to Gardner’s operating budget for processing claims. Castleman told the committee that Gardner receives 75 percent reimbursement for Chapter 115 claims from the Commonwealth and that Gardner “just provide[s] the services” to process paperwork while the partner community pays the benefits.

Committee discussion focused on staffing thresholds and administrative details. Committee members asked whether adding Winchendon would push Gardner past state staffing thresholds that trigger different service requirements; Gardner staff cited a 65,000-population threshold and said the city would remain below that limit with Winchendon included, leaving an internal buffer. Councilors also asked for formal evidence of Winchendon’s authorization: staff confirmed the Winchendon Board of Selectmen had voted to authorize their town manager to sign the agreement and that Gardner had received the town’s signed copy but had not countersigned it because the council’s approval was required.

Action and next steps: A motion to authorize the council to pass the measure was moved and seconded at the Finance Committee meeting; the committee approved the motion by voice vote. The agreement still requires final countersignature and any further approvals as specified in the contract before Gardner would complete execution.

Background and limits: Gardner officials emphasized that Gardner’s office processes claims and that the partner municipality remains responsible for the benefit payments. Committee members asked for documentation (for example, Winchendon’s vote or signature page) to be included in future packets; staff said they would attempt to provide that documentation to the full council before final execution.

The committee’s approval keeps the intermunicipal arrangement on track to be finalized after the required council action.