Barre Select Board votes to expand Senior Center partnership to New Braintree

BARRE — August 5, 2019 — Barre Select Board unanimously backs three-town Senior Center arrangement and fills planning vacancy. The board voted Monday to invite New Braintree into the shared Senior Center agreement already in place with Hardwick, with New Braintree's formula grant funds covering costs through the end of fiscal year 2020 and a population-based cost assessment — estimated at roughly $3,500 to $6,000 annually — to be set by April 2020. The board also unanimously appointed Ralph Rogers as alternate Planning Board member after a brief standoff over whether to await a Planning Board recommendation; Rogers had received 55 write-in votes in the April election, six fewer than the candidate elevated to the full board. Fuel contracts for number two heating oil, propane, and diesel were awarded unanimously to RJ MacDonald at a slight per-gallon increase from the prior year's fixed rate. Seven residents were appointed to the newly formed Age and Dementia Friendly Community Committee, leaving four seats still open.