Barre Select Board Doubles Fire Permit Fees, Hires Interim Senior Center Director

BARRE — September 18, 2017 — Barre Select Board votes to double fire permit fees and appoint interim senior center director. The board voted unanimously Monday to raise fire prevention permit fees — including smoke detector, fuel storage, and LP gas permits — from $25 to $50 each, the first increase in many years. Town Administrator Andrew reported that a prolonged standoff with Charter Communications over fiber service to the new public safety building had been resolved with help from state Sen. Steve Brewer's office, with a contract expected imminently and a 120-day performance window to follow. The board authorized a managed IT services contract with Suzer IT for $19,197 through the end of FY18 — the only qualifying bid received against a $40,000 budget — and appointed Lorraine Leno as interim Council on Aging director at a prorated annual rate of $39,000. A motion to reorganize board leadership, prompted by a member's complaint that Chair Dr. Maureen Marshall had allowed a resident to make critical on-camera remarks about the member in her absence, failed for lack of a second.