Finance panel seeks insurance audit after Cook's Garage

Finance Committee · Meeting of October 28, 2026

GREAT BARRINGTON — The Great Barrington Finance Committee voted 5-0 to approve minutes and pressed the town for a full inventory of town-owned buildings and their insurance coverage after the Cook's Garage roof collapse. A member said the town had been preparing to sell the Housatonic building before its roof failed, while another member said "not once did I hear that building can't be insured" before the town's $500,000 capital stabilization fund allocation at a recent special town meeting. Members also discussed a dispute over roughly $50,000 in Southern Berkshire Ambulance Service equipment costs, with a member saying the town manager and Select Board Chair Steve Bannon believe the cost was included in the existing contract while the citizen petitioner disagrees.

Resident Vivian Orlovsky told the committee health insurance premiums could rise more than 9 percent. Resident James Garzon said his combined tax and sewer bill already tops $8,000 a year. The meeting adjourned unanimously at 7:56 p.m.

In the full story:

• Call to order and committee procedure
• Financial reports and technical difficulties
• Recap of the special town meeting and Cook's Garage
• Southern Berkshire Ambulance funding dispute
• Goals and objectives for the coming budget season
• Regional school assessment formula
• Public comment: taxes, transparency and health insurance costs
• Meeting schedule for 2027
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,551 words

Source: the Finance Committee meeting of October 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.