BARRE — The Barre Select Board voted Monday night to direct the town administrator to consult legal counsel on whether restitution may be pursued for taxpayer funds paid to a former Department of Public Works superintendent who is alleged to have been “double-dipping.”
During the Dec. 15, 2025 meeting, board members said the action follows a request from Massachusetts Inspector General Jeffrey S. Shapiro to examine whether money paid to the position was “earned or warranted.”
“We’ve been asked by the inspector general to take a look at that aspect and any feasibility of monies that were paid out by the taxpayers to that position that weren’t earned or warranted,” Select Board Clerk Richard Stevens said.
Although the individual was not named during the meeting, the discussion follows a prior Massachusetts Inspector General investigation involving former Barre Department of Public Works Superintendent Jason Pimental, who resigned in 2024 after the state reported that he worked hundreds of hours for the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority during periods when he was scheduled to work for the town, without taking corresponding leave time — a practice commonly referred to as “double-dipping.”
Board members noted that the issue had been discussed previously and was being brought forward again to determine next steps.
“We met about this a few months ago and we said we would bring it up again,” Stevens said, adding that there are “some other entities that we’re going to need to look at going down the road as well.”
The board agreed that the next step should be a legal assessment of whether pursuing repayment is viable and fiscally responsible.
“In keeping with what the inspector general’s recommendation was, I would make a recommendation that we have the town administrator at least reach out to counsel and look at the feasibility — what our obligations are and what our obligations might be,” Stevens said.
Board members cited public accountability in moving the review forward.
“The people in Barre certainly deserve an answer,” Stevens said. “They’ve been asking, and I think we just got to give them an answer whether it’s feasible, doable, or we’re just wasting money and time and forget about it.”
The motion passed unanimously without further discussion.
