This page is maintained by Swanton Village, Inc and is intended to be the official online posting of public meetings and minutes in accordance with Vermont’s Open Meeting law (Amended July 1st, 2014).

Monday, December 3, 2012

Trustee Meeting Minutes - December 3rd, 2012

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


REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012
7:00 P.M.


PRESENT: Ronald Kilburn, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; and Channel 16.

Ronald Kilburn, Village President, welcomed all to the Regular Board of Trustees Meeting and called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

1. Approve and Accept the Minutes from Monday, November 26, 2012 Meeting:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, November 26, 2012 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach wanted it mentioned that the $5 million dollar approved Water Treatment Plant is under budget at around $4.1 million dollars. He said this says a lot about the engineering firm and about the Village Manager’s role in this. Reg also said Brian Bishop was instrumental in keeping the cost down and he thanked the Board for their kind words. Motion carried.

2. Approve Village Warrants Through November 30, 2012:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants (#503-#504) through November 30, 2012 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked what vendor Cross Machine Inc. was for. Reg explained that was for repair to the rake at the dam. He said it is 24 years old and needs major repair and said that is going in the 2013 budget. Motion carried.

3. Transco Equity Call:

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, explained to the Board how Transco was formed in 2006. She stated that usually yearly equity becomes available for sale to electric utilities in Vermont. She advised that VPPSA purchases on behalf of the utilities because they can handle the cash flow and do not need voter approval to do so. She explained the quarterly dividends paid to the Village on this stock and said they also received credit towards their purchase power costs. Lynn advised there are 12 utilities purchasing equity through VPPSA with Transco. She advised the accounting principles are approved by the VT Public Service Board. Lynn said she is seeking Board approval to purchase $445,350 worth of equity and also permission to purchase any oversubscriptions if available.

Chris Leach made the motion to authorize Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager, to allow VPPSA to purchase on the Village of Swanton’s behalf $445,350 in Transco Equity. He also authorized the purchase of any oversubscriptions, if available. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

4. 2013 Budget Discussions:

Lynn Paradis advised the VLCT Workers Compensation and Property Liability Insurance increased by 8% for 2013 and she updated the numbers in all departments to reflect that. She stated that the Highway Department was up 1.8% for 2013; the Fire Department was up 16.5% due to the new truck payment. There are dispatching fees and insurance payments in this budget that have increased. She said this is a very tight budget and there aren’t many things he can influence. Lynn said she is waiting for more numbers from the Hydro Plant, specifically what it cost to repair the butterfly valve there. She said that Joe Letourneau is putting together a four year plan on the generators and said he would be purchasing a Preventative Maintenance Program for each one of our plants. Once all data is entered in the program you can print a repair and maintenance schedule on a daily basis. More employees will be involved in this.

Lynn said the Water Plant is status quo and said this will be a learning year due to the upgrade. She said she is also seeing a decrease in heating cost in the General Fund due to the insulation and new siding on the Village Complex.

Lynn advised there is a 5.1% increase in the Police Department. Chief Stell was present for this discussion and said that he is waiting to see if the Village receives the Town Police Coverage proposal for 2013 and is also waiting to hear back from MVU regarding the SRO (Student Resource Officer). Chris Leach asked him if the department was fully manned. Chief Stell said if they receive the Town Coverage for next year he will need to hire one full time officer. Reg stated that he worked with the SRO and MVU on their lock down and safety plan and said that their SRO Kevin Cleary puts in more hours there than he gets paid for. He said he can’t say enough good about him and said the students there need this relationship.0

Adam Paxman asked about the 11.5% increase in the General Fund. Lynn advised she brought the Park Maintenance labor up by about $7,000 because the crew is spending a lot more time there. Chris Leach asked if they were planning on asking for another $8,000 for park improvements for 2013. The Board all agreed to this. They discussed planting more trees, replacing light poles, adding sidewalks and a bike rack. They also discussed having a separate line item for Christmas decorations.

Lynn advised that overall the 2013 budget is up by about 5%.

5. Discussion on Water Transmission and Distribution Lines:

Eugene LaBombard stated they wanted to keep this item on the agenda. Reg advised they would be having their job meeting at the Water Treatment Plant next week. He said if they did the transmission line down the Waugh Farm Road, he would like to do some revenue projections for the Industrial Park and MVU. He said with Wal-Mart coming in they are hoping to draw more businesses to the area and he is hoping the infrastructure will be in place. Chris said this should be discussed further after the WTP job meeting. Eugene stated they should go ahead and ask for a bond to do this transmission line replacement. Chris said he would like to see what this would do to residential water bills first.

6. Any Other Necessary Business:

Ron Kilburn asked if the Village was having a Christmas party this year. He was told the Village has a Christmas dinner at the Complex each year. He said maybe the Town and Village could hold a Christmas party together next year. The Board liked this idea.

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau advised the Board about the Operation Happiness schedule being held at the Village Complex from December 8th through December 15th.

7. Executive Session (If Needed):

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into Executive Session at 8:27 p.m. to discuss Personnel. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:50 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.


ADJOURN: Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of Trustees meeting at 8:50 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand Ron Kilburn, Village President; adjourned the Regular Board of Trustees meeting at 8:50 p.m.





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Ronald Kilburn, Village President                                Date


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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                           Date