Barre Finance Committee Approves $20,000 Snow Removal Spending Increase

BARRE -- February 28, 2018, Barre Finance Committee votes to expand snow removal budget to $250,000 as winter costs mount. The committee unanimously authorized an additional $20,000 in overtime spending and raised the snow removal expenses ceiling by $100,000 at its February 28 meeting, after Town Administrator Andrew reported that cumulative expenditures had already reached $150,129, exceeding the prior $150,000 cap, with a $55,000 bill still pending. The committee also spent considerable time debating whether to consolidate shared administrative staff hours across the Planning Board, Conservation Commission, and Zoning Board into a single department budget line, and heard a $1,000 annual contribution request from Rich Jankowski of the Mass Central Rail Trail organization, which has completed 20 of a planned 30 miles between Barre and Sterling since 1995.