BARKER (WBEN - Brendan Keany) - The Village of Barker is attempting to rebuild, both literally and emotionally, following the destruction of their village hall and library to a fire early Monday morning.
Barker Library fire pic.twitter.com/GG6uKScaiP
— Niagara Co.Fire Wire (@NCfirewire) January 21, 2019
Barker Mayor Aaron Nellist tells WBEN that the village is taking a methodical approach in its attempt to rebuild.
"We have scheduled meetings every day for the foreseeable future," said Nellist. "What we're doing right now at these meetings is try to come up with an agenda to accomplish for the next day, and at this point, we're just taking it day by day."On Wednesday morning, a company is coming out to help the village retrieve the documents and data that were lost in the fire. From a planning perspective, they're simply taking care of the agenda items that need immediate attention.
"There's certain things that need to be handled immediately, and then there's the long-term recovery," he said. "It's the balance of the two that we're seeking to enact."Amanda Detchner serves as village clerk and treasurer, and she described some of the more pressing items on the agenda.
"Our short-term recovery is going to focus more on getting the proper equipment so that I can be fully up and running; right now, I'm kind of limited to emails and things," said Detchner. "We will get our accounting software reloaded, our tax software, our water billing, everything that we use to function on a daily basis - that's our short-term goal, to get that all functioning."There have been groups looking to raise money to assist in the rebuild and also a GoFundMe account to help rebuild the library, but Nellist says the building was insured and that will go a long way to helping recoup any expenses.
"Our building was properly insured and we hope that will be enough to replace what we've lost," said Nellist. "But, I wouldn't eliminate any funding source."Nellist did thank the community for their continued support, as well as the firefighters that battled the blaze.
