Barre Select Board advances Hardwick senior center cost-sharing deal

BARRE -- February 4, 2019, Barre Select Board advances a cost-sharing formula with Hardwick for the town's senior center and approves a slate of appointments. Under the proposed fiscal year 2020 arrangement, Hardwick would be assessed approximately $19,675 of a roughly $71,000 total senior center budget, with Barre bearing $51,325, up from a combined effective contribution of about $15,000 in prior years when block grant funding is included. No vote was taken on the agreement; both boards signaled readiness to formalize amendment language at a follow-up meeting tentatively set for the 4th. The board also certified a 30-year useful life on a new fire engine, enabling a 10-year bond rather than the standard five-year maximum, and unanimously appointed 27-year Barre resident Paul F. Murphy to the 911 Memorial Committee, filling the seat vacated by Colleen Garton. Two conflict-of-interest disclosures for the Cannabis Bylaw Review Committee, from member Tom Donovan and alternate Hillary Buro, were read into the record and accepted without further action.