SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, June 11, 2018
7:00 PM
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Leonard “Joey” Stell, Chief of Police; Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator; Judy Paxman; Butch Patch and Ch. 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.
1. Call to Order:
Neal Speer, Village President, welcomed all to the Regular Board of Trustees meeting and called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. Agenda Review:
Adam Paxman stated he would like to move Item #8 to right after #5 so they can discuss it with the Chief of Police. Eugene LaBombard stated he would need an Executive Session to discuss personnel.
3. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, May 14, 2018 Regular Meeting and Public Hearing:
Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from the Monday, May 14, 2018 meeting and public hearing as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman stated the Marble Mill survey was prepped and ready to go out. Elisabeth Nance stated she would email the Board a copy of the survey. Motion carried.
4. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, June 8, 2018:
Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through Friday, June 8, 2018 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach stated the Village is purchasing a lot of power lately. The Board also asked about the JP Sicard payment of $31,220.84. Motion carried.
5. Chief Stell – Police Department Update:
Chief Stell informed the Board that as of last week the department was back to full staff. He said summer weather is here which means they are a lot busier and dealing with their highest call volume. He said recently they are seeing some dirty needles on the ball field at the Recreation Department. He said people are hanging out in the dug outs and throwing their used needles on the ground over there. He said they have discussed installing lights with the electric department to discourage that behavior there. He said on a positive note they now have a college student to help out this summer by riding the Rail Trail and Ball Field. He said it will be nice to have another set of eyes out there. Chris Leach stated they no longer receive the Police Department call log and asked if they could start getting it again. Chief Stell stated that was no problem and he would make sure they get it. Chris Leach also asked if the department could patrol Gallup Court a bit more. Chief Stell stated they ticketed 6 or 8 people recently for excessive speeding. He said some were driving more than 55 mph through the Village. Adam Paxman asked the Chief if he’s looked at the ATV ordinance that Highgate just put in place. He said he hasn’t and said he’s not sure what an ordinance would do about this. Adam stated if residents see ATV’s driving in the road or see speeders, video tape it and send it to the police department. Chief Stell stated he wanted to remind all residents that dispatching a firearm in the Village limits is not allowed. He said there is an ordinance in place regarding this as well as State laws in place. He said he had a resident last week shooting in the direction of the rail trail. The Board thanked Chief Stell for the update.
6. Discussion on Parking in Front of Cody’s Restaurant Area:
Adam Paxman stated people are parking in the 4’ space that is lined off between Cody’s Restaurant and Bob’s One Stop and he is ready to place a cement barrier in that space so they can no longer do that. He said this area is blocked off for a reason and it’s very dangerous and difficult to see past a vehicle there. Chief Stell stated some street scaping such as a whiskey barrel with flowers in it would work and would like nice too. Adam asked if they should erect a sign there stating “No Parking Here to Corner?” Chief Stell stated they would need an ordinance for that because they couldn’t enforce it otherwise. Chief Stell stated flowers would be more appropriate. Adam Paxman stated he wasn’t targeting anyone, it’s just too dangerous to park there. Chris Leach stated he would like it if the Post Office had a mail box residents could drive up to. He said that would clear up a lot of parking by the Post Office as well.
7. Village of Swanton Request a Line of Credit for the MVUHS Waterline Replacement Job:
Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into a Water Commissioner’s meeting at 7:31 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Dianne Day, Village Clerk, explained to the Board that Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, received documents for the MVUHS Waterline Replacement job from Union Bank with an interest rate of 1.96% for a one year term.
Chris Leach made the motion for the Board of Trustees to approve, sign and accept the Union Bank’s interest rate of 1.96% for a one year term for the replacement of the MVUHS water line and to also authorize Neal Speer, Village President, as well as the Board members to sign all necessary documents. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to exit Water Commissioner’s meeting at 7:33 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
8. Economic Development Coordinator Update:
Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, informed the Board that she has been working on the 2018 Bicycle and Pedestrian Program application and said she needs a letter signed by the Board that states the Village is committed to maintaining and improving the sidewalk once it’s installed. She said this sidewalk is 420’ long and will run from King Street to Brown Avenue. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to authorize the Board members to sign the 2018 Bicycle and Pedestrian Program application letter stating the Village is committed to maintaining the 420’ of sidewalk from King Street to Brown Avenue. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
Elisabeth also mentioned the sidewalk study regarding installing a sidewalk from First Street to MVUHS. She said this is badly needed and discussion took place on where to put this sidewalk, either on Route 78 to the school or up the trail area near the Frontage Road. Chris Leach stated he’s hearing that residents who live along Route 78 do not want the sidewalk to be in that location. He said they should look at alternate locations for this sidewalk. Neal asked how the Robinhood Drive project was doing and Elisabeth said everything is back on track there. The Board thanked Elisabeth for her updates.
9. Any Other Necessary Business:
Eugene LaBombard stated the new rubber dam will be getting installed this month.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated he wanted to thank everyone involved with the Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony on May 28th. He stated it was a pleasure to work with our local Vietnam veterans and said this was extremely overdue to them. He appreciated the community support and said the guest speakers were awesome. The Board agreed this was nicely done by everyone. Adam also stated the Chamber’s new swan would be delivered on Wednesday evening, June 13th.
Any Other Business: Dianne Day, Village Clerk, read a letter aloud that was sent to Reg Beliveau, Village Manager. It reads:
Hi, Reg and Kathy,
I can hardly believe it's June--and July will be upon us before we know it!
I wonder if Swanton has given any thought to a community forum -- or other information dissemination - around what marijuana legalization means for Swanton and its residents. My sense is that landlords, employers, parents, and business owners will have questions about what the law means for them.
One of our coalition members noticed that Burlington is having an event with speakers that include town officials and legal counsel; Caring Communities would be happy to help our towns with similar information sharing.
We'd also would be happy to help update park signage that prohibits tobacco to include vaping/e-cigarettes/cannabis/marijuana. This is something for which we can cover costs, so please let me know if you'd be interested in this.
Thanks,
Beth
Franklin County Caring Communities and Watershed Mentoring
27 Church Street Suite 2
St. Albans, VT 05478
The Board agreed that a public forum should be held to address this topic. Dianne Day stated she would inform Reg Beliveau of this and try and get one organized.
10. Public Comment:
Judy Paxman asked the Board if it was ok to have a performer in the Village Green during the upcoming Arts Spectacular Day to play for donations. She stated there is a section in the Village’s old ordinances that says “no begging” but wondered if playing for donations was acceptable. The Board stated they didn’t have a problem with that whatsoever
11. Executive Session (if Necessary):
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to enter into Executive Session to discuss personnel at 8:00 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
Chris Leach made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:38 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN: None.
12. Adjournment:
Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:38 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:38 p.m. Motion carried.
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Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date