Barre Select Board Approves Lions Food Drive, Tables Library Wage Dispute

BARRE -- March 5, 2018, Barre Select Board debates taking over its transfer station as contract deadline looms. Meeting without a third member due to a personal absence, the two-member board spent the bulk of its March 5 session arguing over whether Barre should prepare to run the transfer station itself before its contract with Solid Waste Solutions expires June 30, with one member warning the town pays $96,000 annually to haul sewer sludge that could be handled in-house for roughly half that figure, and estimating town-run operations could net more than $100,000 in annual bag-sale and sticker revenue. The board also tabled a library assistant wage authorization after determining that raising the employee's hours from 18 to 25 per week would trigger a benefits obligation, and heard a letter from the Christmas in Barre Committee, signed by Chair Sharon Proctor and six volunteers, announcing it would no longer hold its annual holiday-day events following comments at a January board meeting. The board approved a Lions Club food drive on the town common for April 21, signed the upcoming election warrant, and authorized two-step wage increases for employees identified as Joe Brown and Jim Sport.