Barre Finance Committee Reviews $500 Events Request, Utility Accounts Before Town Meeting

BARRE -- February 14, 2018, Barre Finance Committee holds wide-ranging pre-Town Meeting budget review with no formal votes. The committee worked through departmental budget lines at its February 14 meeting, debating a $500 request for portable toilets at a series of roughly 10 outdoor Saturday music events on the town common, with members split over whether the recurring expense belongs as a direct budget line or should route through a proposed new holiday-and-events subcommittee that has not yet been formally charged. A Youth Commission representative described regular Friday-evening programming for children ages 11 to 17, noting her treasurer had resigned and attendance skews younger than hoped. Members flagged a departmental utility account that had reached 98 percent of its $28,000 appropriation and said they were seeking an explanation from the town accountant and DPW Commission. The committee also noted that Barre did not advance past the first round of a Complete Streets grant, leaving an estimated $35,000 in sidewalk funds whose disposition remained unclear, and members discussed the town's solar power purchase agreement, which offsets an estimated 25 to 30 percent of electricity costs rather than eliminating them.