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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Trustee Meeting Minutes - February 28th, 2012

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488


MINUTES
BOARD OF TRUSTEES PUBLIC HEARING
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2012
7:00 PM



PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reg Beliveau, Village Manager;  Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Ronald F. Kilburn, Sandy Kilburn, Connie Prouty, Richard Thompson, Al Kinzinger, Glen Gurwit, Jason Guyette, Betty Cheney, Peter Prouty, Jason Cross, Dan Chevalier, Travis Greeno, Anthony Russo and Channel 16.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

Neal Speer, Village President, welcomed all to the Board of Trustees Public Hearing and called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. He led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance and acknowledged our past, present and future service men and women. Neal introduced the Board of Trustees as well as Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, Leonard Stell, Chief of Police and Rick King, Fire Dept. Chief, to the public.

Slideshow Presentation of 2011 Projects:

Neal Speer read the Village Warning to the public. Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, presented a slideshow presentation of the various projects and events that happened in 2011. He started the show mentioning the March snowstorm and then the May Mudslide that took out power to all our electric customers. He showed pictures of the Water Treatment Plant upgrades including the new lagoon that was installed and a fire hydrant installed at the Plant for fire protection. Next was the new roof at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. He mentioned the State Inspection that the WWTP had and successfully passed as well as the UVM Phosphorus Pilot Program being conducted with the new cheese plant and WWTP.

Reg showed pictures of several water line and sewer line breaks that the Highway crew had worked on during 2011. He also told them about the water line break they were presently working on and that MVU had to cancel their basketball game because of it. He showed pictures of the aging pipes in the ground, some of them being made of wood and clay.

Next shown were pictures of the Unit #5 turbine being installed at the Hydro Facility. He explained that the voters approved the $1.4 million dollar project in 2010 and that installation is almost complete. He showed pictures of damage found while dewatering and how PC Construction fixed that damage and remained on schedule. He said Swanton Village Electric Department did an excellent job helping PC Construction with the work.

Next Reg showed pictures from the Fire, Police and Rescue Open House held in September 2011 and also showed pictures of a drinking and driving exercise done at MVU. Pictures of National Night Out, the Walking School Bus, installing the Northern Forest Canoe Trail sign and local students’ art work being displayed at the Village Office were also shown.

He showed pictures of Gary Bouchard, Highway Department, being presented with a plaque for 25 years of service to Swanton Village and a plaque for 45 years of service being presented to Henry Banyea. He operates the rake at the Dam site every day of the year, removing debris that collects at the dam.

Reg ended the slideshow showing numerous pictures throughout Swanton Village.

1. Public informational meeting to discuss the various departments and their budgets for 2012:

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, started off her presentation by showing the audience that Swanton Village has the lowest rates in the State of Vermont. She explained that for 600 kwh’s a Swanton Village ratepayer would pay $73.73 and a Vermont Electric Coop ratepayer would pay $116.31 for 600 kwh’s of energy. She stated that we generate about 80% of our own power and that helps keep our rates low.

She then explained the sales, purchase power and generation in the Electric Department. Lynn stated that our sales were down due to customers purchasing energy efficient appliances. She then showed the tax rate by each department showing a .00010 decrease in the General Fund, a .00320 increase in the Fire Dept., a .01903 increase in the Police Dept., a .00007 increase in the Highway Fund, totaling .02220 increase overall. She showed an example of a tax bill for a home assessed at $150,000 would be $978.45; a $175,000 home would be $1,141.53 and a $200,000 home would be $1,304.60. This amounts to an increase from last year to $33.30 on a $150,000 home, a $38.85 increase on a $175,000 home and an increase of $44.40 on a $200,000 home.

Lynn stated that Article 7 on the Ballot is asking for $8,000 for Village Park Enhancements. She said this will help purchase new park benches, new garbage receptacles and the replacement of some trees. This will add $7.67 to a $150,000 home, $8.93 to a $175,000 home and $10.20 to a $200,000 home.

She advised that Article 8 on the Ballot is asking for a new Fire Truck not to exceed $475,000, with approximately $150,000 from the Capital Reserve Fund being put against the purchase price. The estimated taxes are the Village’s portion only and will be a $17.02 increase on a $150,000 home, a $19.78 increase on a $175,000 home and an increase of $22.60 on a $200,000 home.

She also showed with all Articles passed the proposed 2012 tax bill for a $150,000 home would be $1,003.14; a $175,000 home would be $1,170.24 and a $200,000 home would be $1,337.40.

Neal Speer stated that the 2012 Candidates for 2012 were for a Village President, Ronald Kilburn and that he is retiring after 14 years as Village President; Chris Leach for Village Trustee for a three year term, Dianne Day, Village Clerk, for a one year term, and Betty Cheney, Delinquent Tax Collector for a one year term.

Neal asked if there were any questions from the public.

Village President Candidate Ronald F. Kilburn introduced himself and said he was asking for approval to succeed Neal Speer. He said he was reluctant to try and fill his shoes but he realizes someone needs to step up and contribute so as to maintain the rhythm established by Neal. He gave some background on his work experience and also read the thank you from the Village Manager’s report. He thanked everyone and asked for their support.

Chris Leach said he wanted to take the opportunity to say a few things about working with Neal Speer over the last 14 plus years. He said Neal has mentored other Trustees through this process over the years and said he has been a great leader, a team player and a people person. He said there have been numerous accomplishments on his watch including the new office system, having no union in place, great support within the departments that often help each other out. He said he has been involved with the Downtown Development as well as the Northwest Regional Planning Commission. He said Neal’s involvement with these committees have helped make this a better place to live and work. He said Neal has been involved with the Water Treatment Plant upgrade, new fiber optic cable project, several Electrical upgrades, the Memorial Building upgrade as well as working behind the scenes when hiring the new Police Chief and the new Village Manager. He said Neal has helped keep this a safe and lower cost place to live and that he has left the Village in great hands, with low taxes and the lowest electric rates in the State of Vermont. He thanked Neal for a job well done and presented him with a plaque from the Village Board of Trustees and Swanton Village employees thanking him for his dedication to Swanton Village.

Chris stated that he was running as Village Trustee unopposed and said he would continue to do a good job keeping this a safe, wonderful place to raise a family. He said he would appreciate everyone’s support for another three years as Trustee.

Neal stated that his father instilled in his children the importance of being a team player and that Swanton Village was a great community. He said we will continue to have a great team, that they’ve done a good job and said he appreciates all the past members of the Board as well. He thanked everyone for their support over the years.

2. Any Other Necessary Business:

Sandy Kilburn asked Chief Stell if they were accepting expired prescription drugs on Town Meeting Day. Chief Stell advised there will be a drop box for all unwanted or expired prescription drugs and that it would be manned all day by an officer.

Chris Leach mentioned he would appreciate everyone’s support for the Swanton Village Police Department covering the Town of Swanton on the Town Ballot. He urged everyone to vote yes on that article.

ADJOURN: Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Board of Trustees Public Informational Hearing at 8:00 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand Neal Speer, Village President; adjourned the Public Informational Hearing at 8:00 p.m.



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Ronald Kilburn, Village President                                Date


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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                           Date