A group of Barre City residents, frustrated at a city council decision to help a local business group buy a derelict building, has filed an open meetings complaint in an effort to stop the transaction. At issue is 143 Main Street, in Barre’s historic shopping district. Owned by Florida landlord Jeff Jacobs, the structure has been empty since 2010. The Barre Area Development Corporation wants to buy the building for $1 million in order to get its two adjacent downtown storefronts back into circulation again. On December 30, the Barre City Council agreed to grant the group $400,000 to help make that happen and gave it six months to raise the other $600,000 needed for the purchase. The $400,000 will come from Barre’s share of American Rescue Plan Act dollars it received during the pandemic. Barre, often called Barre City to distinguish it from neighboring Barre Town, has about 8,500 people and annual budget of about $12 million. Supporters of the proposal say replacing the building will improve the look of the city’s 19th-century Main Street. “That building is a freaking eyesore," said Jeffrey Tuper-Giles, who co-owns the nearby Reynolds House bed-and-breakfast. "I hate it." [content-4] Critics say the money would be better spent helping people whose homes were damaged by flooding in July. Barre City resident Ed Stanak, who signed the open meetings complaint, said some of his neighbors have struggled to replace heating systems that were ruined when their homes were inundated. “The city couldn’t figure out how to help these people out financially,” Stanak said. “And now we’re going to shovel $400,000 of ARPA money into the pockets of a millionaire landlord? That’s insanity.” Steve Mackenzie, vice president of BADC’s board, said his group isn’t happy, either, about paying so much for a building that will likely need to be torn down. He said the city has asked Jacobs for years to fix up the structure, which most recently held a Family Dollar, and BADC has tried to buy it in the past. Jacobs did not respond to a request for comment. Sometime in the past few years, Mackenzie said, Jacobs — a major property owner in Montpelier — had the building listed at $1.4 million. With Barre working to spruce up its downtown, and an agreement to sell for $1 million, it was time to act, Mackenzie said. “We’ve been talking about this for 15 years,…