SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
INFORMATIONAL MEETING & PUBLIC HEARING
Monday, February 25, 2019
7:00 PM
PRESENT: Dan Billado, Chair; Joel Clark, Selectman; Gary Centabar, Selectman; Cathy Fournier, Town Clerk; David Jescavage, Town Administrator; Brian Savage, Town Administrator; Neal Speer, Village President; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Chris Leach, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Leonard “Joey” Stell, Chief of Police; Tim Girard, Fire Chief; Debbie Winters, Playground Fundraiser Coordinator; and Ch. 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.
1. Call to Order:
Neal Speer, Village President, welcomed all to the Informational Meeting and Public Hearing and called the Village Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. He then introduced the Board of Trustees.
2. Pledge of Allegiance:
All stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.
3. Moment of Silence:
A Moment of Silence was held for lost residents of Swanton Town and Village.
4. Agenda Review:
None.
5. Informational Meeting & Public Hearing – 2019 Village Annual Warning:
Swanton School District 2019 Update: Meaghan Conly stated she is vice chair of the Swanton School Board and said they have no budget at this time. She said Highgate, Swanton and Franklin schools have been told to merge and they are now dealing with law suits on that. She said at this time they have no legal authority to present a budget and said it is looking like a May 2019 timeline to be presenting one. She said there will be a meeting on March 21, 2019 at 7 p.m. at MVUHS and she urged everyone to attend this very important meeting. Don Collins said he is a school board member at MVU and said this is the most important meeting for our kids future. He said some real critical decisions will be made. Brian Savage said legislation was introduced to postpone the deadline to merge from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2020 and that didn’t pass. He said there is also a bill in place to abolish the State Board of Education of their duties because they are not elected officials and they are trying to tell elected officials what to do.
Fundraiser Presentation for Playgrounds Bricks: Debbie Winters thanked the Swanton Town Selectboard and the Swanton Village Board of Trustees for their continued support of this fundraiser. She said this fundraiser kicked off in August to rebuild the playground for the community. She said some of the existing equipment there is 20 years old and the swings are from the 1970’s. She said there are 624 kids in the school system and this is not just a school playground, it’s a summer gathering place. She said a community can’t have economic growth without community development. She said so far they have raised $171,000 to date and stated this is a multifaceted fundraiser made up of grants and donations. She said anything helps and people can donate online through the Swanton school’s website as well as the Town and Village websites. She said if anyone has any other ideas to please let her know. She said hopefully they will see some very exciting things happening this summer.
Neal Speer read aloud the 2019 Annual Village Warning and mentioned the cover of the Village’s Annual Report. He said Highgate resident Kevin Loomis photographed the installation of the rubber bag and he thanked him for that. Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, and Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; presented the following information to those present:
Lynn Paradis stated that there were three retirements in 2018 in the electric, sewer and public works departments. One employee in Public Works moved to the sewer plant and two new employees were hired in Public Works. One employee left the Police Department and a new employee was hired. She said these changes impacted the salaries and benefits in these departments.
Lynn gave an overview of the following funds:
General Fund: Lynn stated there was a budget decrease of $6,755, rent decreased by $6805 in revenue and electricity and building maintenance decreased by $9125 in expenses. She said plant maintenance was under budget by $25,204.
Fire Department: Lynn stated there was a budget increase of $33,613 in this fund due to the new fire trucks. The Town Fire Assessment increased by $25,114 in revenue and in expenses transportation cost decreased by $15,000; truck payment increased by $112,800 and the equipment replacement fund decreased by $58,470. She said salaries decreased by $7473, tools were under budget by $5000 and transportation was under budget by $14,869. Equipment was over budget by $45,690.
Police Department: Lynn said this budget is increasing by $32,685. Revenue is up by $4744 for the Town Police Contract, health insurance has increased by $13,385 and the cruiser lease is up $9605 and equipment cost increased by $5645. Budget to Actual: grant income is over $18,779; cruiser lease is over $40,474; salaries are over $27,552; department supplies are over $11,452; K-9 expenses are over $3488; health insurance is under $5026; conventions and meetings are under $5788 and equipment is over by $48,282 mostly due to the cruiser.
Highway Fund: Lynn said this budget is decreasing by $48,044, labor is decreasing by $46,870, equipment decreased by $38,000 and she is increasing the equipment replacement fund by $40,000 to start saving for a new dump truck. Budget to Actual: Winter street labor is under budget by $15,994; sidewalks materials/labor is under budget by $17,585; and health insurance is under budget by $8422. Transportation is over budget by $6899 and the equipment fund is over budget by $21,705 due to the ton truck.
Electric Fund: Budget to Budget – Lynn said the sales of electricity is decreasing by $47,623, hydro and purchase power expenses are increasing by $51,693; administration and general expenses have increased by $139,879 as there is a software update needed. The misc non-operating income increased by $212,473 due to Transco equity. Budget to Actual: Large solar credits over by $230,955; maintenance of ROW is under budget by $23,061; maintenance of lines is under $56,979 and legal is under by $27,669. Lynn said Contract work is over by $119,188 which is due to a build out of a solar outside our utility and mutual aid. Interest expense is over budget by $86,158 and the new bond is part of that.
Water Fund: Budget to Budget – Lynn stated revenue has increased by $58,322. She said she increased plant operation and maintenance by $24,820. Distribution expenses have increased by $7675 due to chemicals and admin and general expenses have decreased by $6555 due to health insurance. Budget to Actual: Sales of water is over budget by $60,029; plant labor is over budget by $9779; maintenance of line labor is over budget by $27,197 due to water breaks; engineering is over budget by $19,700 due to a grant and grant income is over by $23,350. She said Interest expense is under budget by $55,252 because of interest rates.
Sewer Fund: Budget to Budget – Revenue has decreased by $19,234; plant operation and maintenance has decreased by $33,474. She said distribution maintenance will increase in chemicals and decrease in storm drains. Lynn said admin and general expenses have increased by $18,099 due to health insurance. Budget to Actual: Lynn said revenue is under budget by $103,165 due to industrial customers; electricity is under budget by $19,039 due to solar credits; maintenance of plant and labor is under budget by $28,942; storm drain is under budget by $8786 and engineering is under budget by $15,000.
Lynn informed everyone that her 2019 tax rate in the general fund is $0.0786 compared to $0.0787 in 2018; the Fire Department’s 2019 tax rate is $0.0470 compared to $0.0420 in 2018; the Police Department’s 2019 tax rate is $0.3943 compared to $0.3834 in 2018; and the Highway Department’s 2019 tax rate is $0.3237 compared to $0.3226 in 2018. Last year’s tax rate was $0.8267 and the 2019 tax rate is $0.8436 for a difference of $.0169.
She then showed 2018 taxes versus the 2019 proposed taxes. On a home assessed at $150,000 the 2018 actual taxes were $1240.05 and the 2019 proposed taxes would be $1265.40 for a difference of $25.35. On a home assessed at $175,000 the 2018 actual taxes were $1446.72 and the 2019 proposed taxes would be $1476.30 for a difference of $29.58. On a home assessed at $200,000 the 2018 actual taxes were $1653.40 and the 2019 proposed taxes would be $1687.20 for a difference of $33.80.
Lynn broke this information down by department for the proposed 2019 taxes. In the general fund a home assessed at $150,000 the taxes would be $117.90, on a home assessed at $175,000 the taxes would be $137.55 and on a home assessed at $200,000 the taxes would be $157.20. In the fire fund a home assessed at $150,000 the taxes would be $70.50, on a home assessed at $175,000 the taxes would be $82.25 and on a home assessed at $200,000 the taxes would be $94.00. In the police fund a home assessed at $150,000 the taxes would be $591.45, on a home assessed at $175,000 the taxes would be $690.02 and on a home assessed at $200,000 the taxes would be $788.60. In the highway fund a home assessed at $150,000 the taxes would be $485.55, on a home assessed at $175,000 the taxes would be $566.48 and on a home assessed at $200,000 the taxes would be $647.40.
Reg went on to show the 2018 Year in Review Projects. That includes:
Public Works
— Paving Project 2018
— Completed our own small projects on Middle Road and Canada Street
— (40)Forty Structures were rehabbed and a section of sidewalk was replaced
— Completed a Grant to GPS all our waterlines, curb stops, hydrants
— Had a grant to repair a stormwater discharge sediment collection area near the bridge
— MVU Waterline replacement
— Helped with the bladder installation
— Retirement of Mike Menard and Dean Ryan takes over as foreman
— Also two new hires – Steve Mitchell and Nick McSweeney
Electric Department
} Again we provided mutual aid to our neighboring utilities
} Continue to keep up on tree trimming in order to reduce outages during high wind and heavy snow events
} Assisted in the new bladder installation
} Preformed line extensions and pole upgrades -- Some for our own and some for customers
} Retirement of Dave Godin
Waste Water Plant
} TMDL standards will challenge us. We’ve tried some tests with different chemicals
} We continue to perform routine maintenance
} Retirement of our Chief Operator James Irish. Jim Hull becomes Chief Operator and Tod Jones moves over from Public Works
Water Treatment Plant
} Performing well – continue to perform routine Maintenance
} Continue the Blue/Green Algae monitoring
Hydro Plant
} General repairs continue; started the process for re-licensing to be completed in 2023. (4 yrs out)
} Installation of the new Bladder, started in June and completed in August under budget
Maintenance Department
} Over 1500 individual assets throughout the Village -- All entered into a preventative maintenance program. Insures equipment is being visited and maintained per mfg specs
} Jason Starr joins the maintenance department, with Matt King leaving the company
} Dan Chevalier joins the Team of Hydro Operators in January
Front Office
} Continue to provide top notch customer service while providing billing, human resources, IT support, job estimates and payroll to all the departments
} The staff improves their skills through continuing education by taking courses in accounting, customer service and general courses relating to the Public Service Board, State Law and Efficiency Vermont
} A lot of support for a small staff!
Projects
} Public Power Day – October: Discussion around our Utility and Partners VPPSA and NEPPA and APPA
} Swanton Energy Initiative -- Efficiency VT and VT Gas Visits for Business, rentals and homes
} AARP Grant – Traffic calming project
} Downtown Revitalization
} MVU waterline replacement
} Bladder Replacement
Reg showed pictures of the Storm Water Grant; AARP Grant; the removal of the old Blouin’s IGA; Public Power Day; bladder prep work, delivery and placement at the Hydro Plant. His presentation also showed pictures of the flooding in January 2018 and showed himself, Tim Girard and Dianne Day being given recognition by Department of Public Safety Commissioner Tom Anderson and Director of Vermont Emergency Management Erica Bornemann, for their work during the flood. His slideshow ended with showing Jim Irish, Michael Menard and David Godin, the Village of Swanton retirees in 2018.
6. Public Comment:
None.
7. Any Other Necessary Business:
Molly Lambert announced the winners of the 1st Annual Chili Cook-off. She said 44 people cast votes and the $50 winner runner up is Judy Paxman and the $100 first prize winner is Ashley Marchant.
8. Executive Session If Necessary:
None.
9. Adjournment:
Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Board of the Trustees Informational Meeting and Public Hearing at 8:57 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:57 p.m. Motion carried.
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Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date