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.