Barre Select Board Moves Toward April Ballot Question on Prince River Dam Fate

BARRE — January 6, 2025 — Barre Select Board moves toward April ballot question on fate of high-hazard Prince River dam. The two-member board — Chair Maureen Vallon and member John Matter, with a third member absent — heard more than 90 minutes of testimony from Becky Bud of the Connecticut River Conservancy, who outlined the ecological case for removal including restored brook trout habitat across three projected miles of cold-water fishery, and from Lucy Allen, chair of the Barre Historical Commission, who presented historical photographs showing the Charles G. Allen Company devastated by Prince River dam failures in 1868 and 1938, with the 1868 flood alone causing the equivalent of $5.53 million in current-dollar damages. Matter read a draft non-binding ballot question under which a yes vote would direct the board to pursue town ownership and maintenance of the dam using state construction funding, while a no vote would direct restoration of the reservoir to a free-flowing river at state expense. The board took no vote on the dam itself, committing instead to finalize ballot language, send it to town counsel, and recruit a hydrologist to assess potential impacts on town drinking water wells before the April election deadline.