Select Board, Finance Panel Recommend $500,000 Litigation Reserve
Select Board · Meeting of June 16, 2026
Great Barrington boards recommend $500,000 reserve over a contractor's $869,000 unpaid-invoice lawsuit. Meeting jointly, the Select Board voted 3-2 to recommend setting aside $500,000 in free cash for Article 2, while the Finance Committee voted a negative recommendation on the full $1 million as written; both boards backed a separate $200,000 from capital stabilization for legal costs under Article 3. Town Manager Liz Hartsgrove said a forensic audit, commissioned after she discovered unauthorized invoices within days of taking office in November, found road-project change orders expanded without sign-off to cover unrelated work.
"I don't think taxpayers should" have to cover it, said Finance Committee member Michelle, who opposed both articles outright. The boards also endorsed, item by item, a 250-signature citizen's petition funding $61,285 for Lake Mansfield lifeguards, $32,679 for a skate park monitor, $100,000 for the police department's co-responder program, and veterans' property leases, and voted 4-1 to give Southern Berkshire Ambulance Squad an additional $86,899.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,627 words
Source: the Select Board meeting of June 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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