SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
120 FIRST
STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
MINUTES
BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2012
7:00 PM
PRESENT: Neal Speer , Village President; Chris Leach , Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard , Trustee; Reg Beliveau, Village
Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Mark Rocheleau, Chamber of Commerce; Ronald
F. Kilburn and Channel 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all
motions carried unanimously.
1. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, January 23,
2012 Meeting and the Minutes from Monday, January 30, 2012 Meeting:
2. Approve and
Accept the following Warrants: Warrant #375 for $496.08; Warrant #376 for
$64,502.77; Warrant #377 for $198,821.10; Warrant #378 for $67,695.17 and
Warrant #379 for $440.96:
3. Chamber of Commerce Request for Burn Out
Competition at Annual Car Show July 28, 2012:
Chris Leach asked Chief Joey
Stell if he had any concerns regarding the request of the Chamber to hold a
Burn Out competition during their Annual Car Show. Chief Stell stated that
burning out on a public highway is an illegal act and he couldn’t in good
conscience give his approval for this competition. He also stated that the Town
of Swanton has an Ordinance in place prohibiting the burning of tires and said
this would violate that Ordinance as well. He said the smoke that would hang in
the air would violate the Clean Air Act and he feels it shouldn’t be allowed to
take place.
Eugene LaBombard stated he
thought the Car Show would go forth well attended without the Burn Out
competition. He stated he would not support it. Mark Rocheleau asked if they
could block off a section of road so it wasn’t open to the public during that
time by putting barricades on both sides. He asked if that would eliminate the
public highway concern? Chief Stell stated they would still have the air
quality issue. Reg stated just by blocking off a road doesn’t change the status
of that road. Eugene stated he watched that video and there was a lot of smoke
generated. Neal Speer stated that the bottom line is it is illegal to allow it
on a public highway and then you still have the air quality issue and
Ordinance. More discussion took place regarding this issue and the consensus
was that the Village was too condensed for this type of activity. Neal stated
that for the last two years the Chamber has had a great Car Show and wondered
what this would do to the area residents upset about the amount of smoke. He
said they had a good reputation and why jeopardize it for a burn out show. Mark
stated it was worth asking for and he knew there would be some legitimate
concerns and said he understood how they felt. He thanked the Board for their
time and exited the meeting at 7:25 p.m. The Board agreed that the negatives on
this issue outweighed the positive so declined the Chamber of Commerce’s
request to hold a Burn Out Competition during the Car Show.
4. Informational Meeting
Preparation:
Reg Beliveau stated he had
about 70 slides showing the years projects to show the public at the meeting.
Chris Leach stated they would go through the Warning and discuss each line
item. He said the Fire Chief and Police Chief would be present to discuss their
department budgets to the public and that Lynn would answer questions regarding
the other departments.
Reg stated it will be nice to
show the slideshow for the year’s major projects. They discussed holding an
Open House at each plant when the projects are complete. Adam stated they’re
showing what’s going on and that the residents don’t realize how much is
happening. Chris mentioned there were a lot of electrical upgrades as well and
it’s nice to explain what this means to the ratepayers. The Board was happy
about meeting the week before the vote instead of the night before.
5. Any Other Necessary
Business:
Eugene LaBombard stated he
would need an Executive Session to discuss signing the Town Contract for the
Police Department.
Any Other Business: Chief Stell advised the Police Department would be
holding their second Citizens Academy on Wednesday evening, Feb. 15, 2012 and
that this is a seven week course to be held on Thursday evenings after this
first meeting and will be held at 6:30 P.M.
The topics to be covered will be the History of the Swanton PD, Domestic
and Sexual Violence, Administrative Procedures, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement,
Narcotics and Violent Crimes, Motor Vehicle Law, and School Resource Officer
Responsibilities.
He also said that Sgt. Rich
has put together a Free Skating Day at the Highgate Arena on February 28th
from noon to 2 p.m. He said there will be free busing from the Complex to the
Arena and that this is for kids in grades 3 through 8. He said it is up to the
parents to get the kids to the Complex and they will be bused to the Highgate
Arena for skating. He said there are chaperones available and this event has
been sponsored by the following local businesses: TDI Repair Facility,
Missisquoi Amateur Hockey Assoc., Swanton Village PD and Terricel Transport. He
said TDI owners Herb and Lynn Bartemy will cover the cost of admission and
skate rentals for the students and chaperones and Terricel Transport owners
Mike and Dianne Begnoche will bus the students to the Arena and back to the
Complex. He said the children must be at the Complex by 11:30 a.m. and will
need to be picked up no later than 2:45 p.m. He said permission slips will be
needed to take the bus to the event and the slips can be picked up at the front
office.
Chief Stell also advised that
on Town/Village Meeting Day the Complex will be a drop off for all unwanted
prescription medications. He said they would have a table set up and would be
showing a video as well. He said the DEA will properly dispose of all
medications dropped off. He said they had some brochures to hand out and that
they have sent them to the area schools for the kids to bring home to their
parents. The brochures are “How to Protect Your Medicines at Home” and
“Everything You Should Know About Rx Medicine.”
Any Other Business: Reg advised the Board that the Village had received
a request from Sharon Laureau of Milton to put a food cart snack bus in the
Village Park on Friday, Saturday and Sundays from June through October. Chris
Leach stated that different vendors have asked in the past and were told no and
said he didn’t want to infringe on local businesses. Neal advised she contact
the Chamber of Commerce to see what events they had planned and if vendors were
needed for any of those events. The Board agreed they didn’t want a food cart
set up in the Village Park all summer long so declined this request.
Any Other Business: Reg advised the Board that the Unit #5 control panel
was going in and a representative from Osburger would be here so that hopefully
the turbine would be in operation for February 24th. He said there
was some preliminary things to work out and then it should be ready to go.
Chris Leach stated he would like an Open House at the Hydro Facility as well
maybe this fall.
Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard stated he was concerned about
spring coming and the drinking fountain in the Park being turned on. He said
some people were taking way too much water over the last few summers and that
is not the intent of this drinking fountain. The Board discussed putting a hand
spring loaded handle in instead of having a faucet that a hose can be attached
to. Reg stated there is a water meter on this fountain and said they would
install the hand spring loaded faucet and would keep an eye on the water usage.
The Board agreed with this decision.
6. Executive Session to
Discuss Contracts:
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to enter into Executive Session to Discuss Contracts at 8:07 p.m. Adam
Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
Chris Leach made the motion
to exit Executive Session at 8:45 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN: None.
ADJOURN: Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular
Board of Trustees meeting at 8:45 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being
no further business at hand Neal Speer, Village President; adjourned the
Regular Board of Trustees meeting at 8:45 p.m.
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Ronald Kilburn, Village
President Date
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date