Barre Select Board defers Quabbin Huddle camera deal, vote set for next meeting

BARRE -- October 16, 2023, Barre Select Board delays vote on renewing Quabbin Regional's $5,000 Huddle camera agreement. Dennis Dextradeur, representing Quabbin Regional School District, asked the board to renew a memorandum of understanding that funds the district's Huddle Focus athletic camera subscription, used for live streaming, automated statistics, and collegiate recruiting film, out of Barre's roughly $500,000 PEG access fund. The original deal, struck around 2018 at $3,000 to $4,000 annually, lapsed in recent years; the full Huddle package now costs $11,000, with the town asked to cover $5,000. Chair Dr. Maureen Marshall and Vice Chair Mark Regienus both asked whether other Quabbin district towns would share costs; Dextradeur confirmed existing agreement language requires proportional contributions if other communities opt in. The board directed its town administrator to revise the 2018 memorandum with a not-to-exceed cap of $5,000 and return it for a formal vote at the next meeting.