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Subcommittee forwards Gardner–Winchendon veteran services agreement to full council
Summary
Corey Hasselman, director, presented an intermunicipal agreement (Item 11520) that would add the town of Winchendon to Gardner City’s veteran-services district and asked the Public Welfare Subcommittee to forward the measure to the full City Council for approval.
Corey Hasselman, director, presented an intermunicipal agreement (Item 11520) that would add the town of Winchendon to Gardner City’s veteran-services district and asked the Public Welfare Subcommittee to forward the measure to the full City Council for approval.
The agreement, which Winchendon Town Manager Bill McKinney signed on Winchendon’s behalf, would begin in May if the council approves it, providing two months of FY25 costs. Beginning in FY26 the town would pay $2 per person based on its population, with a 3% annual increase while the agreement remains in effect, Hasselman said.
Hasselman told the committee Gardner meets the state staffing requirements for a veteran-services district. "We do have proper staffing as well. We are required 2 full time VSOs and a full time administrator which we already currently have," he said, and added that an assistant director vacancy will be filled April 28. He said Winchendon currently has about 15 open cases.
Hasselman said most VA claims from Winchendon already come to Gardner because the former Winchendon veterans agent was not accredited; Gardner staff handle the VA claims work now. He described Winchendon’s chapter 115 case work as a smaller additional administrative task compared with Gardner’s existing workload.
Because chapter 115 warrants must be submitted in May, Hasselman asked the subcommittee to expedite the item to the council’s first May meeting rather than the second. He said he has prepared a letter to Gina Grama, his contact at the Executive Office of Veteran Services, requesting permission for Winchendon to join the district and planned to send it once Gardner’s council signaled approval to proceed.
The subcommittee voted to present Item 11520 to the full City Council for approval. The vote was taken by voice and recorded as affirmative; individual roll-call votes were not recorded in the transcript.
The subcommittee then adjourned. The item will appear on the full City Council agenda for the first May meeting; Gardner staff expect to seek Executive Office of Veteran Services approval as the next administrative step.
