SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, June 10, 2019
7:00 PM
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Joey Stell, Chief of Police; Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator; 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:
None.
3. Public Comment:
None.
4. Approve and Accept Minutes from Wednesday, May 15, 2019 Meeting:
Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from the Wednesday, May 15, 2019 meeting. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach asked if the Police Department received their drone yet. Reg Beliveau stated yes they have and the Town has authorized to contribute $2000 from the Emergency Management Funds. Chris also wanted to remind the Public Works crew to stencil the SLOW sign on Gallup Court. Motion carried.
5. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, June 7, 2019:
Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through Friday, June 7, 2019 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
6. Swanton Village Police Department Update:
Chief Joey Stell handed out statistics for May 2019 for the Board to review. He stated the Village Police have partnered with the Department of Agriculture to hand out free creemees called “Creemee from a Cop.” He said these can be redeemed at the new ice cream stand at Ste. Marie’s Market, at Maple City Candy and at Devon’s. He said they plan on handing these out to area children. Chief Stell said the total incidents for the month of May totaled 136 calls for service. He said they handed out 39 motor vehicle warnings and issued 17 traffic violations totaling $3218.00. Neal Speer asked what Entertainment Picture Visible meant. Chief Stell said that is where a vehicle has a TV or video playing in the front seat. He said this could distract the driver. Chris Leach asked if they had an issue with vehicles with tinted windows. Chief Stell said yes they do occasionally but now a driver can get a doctor’s note stating they need tinted windows and said they are easy to get. Chris Leach asked if the Village can lower speed limits on certain streets to 25 miles per hour (mph)? Chief Stell said they could except for on Grand Avenue, First Street and Spring Street. He said other than those streets the Board can lower the speed limit to 25 mph if they so choose. Reg Beliveau stated he thought all streets need to be the same speed limit. Chief Stell said except for Spring Street, Canada Street and Grand Avenue their speed study shows vehicles are driving under 25 mph. Adam Paxman urged the residents to contact them if they had any other ideas to help with this issue. Chris Leach asked if they are seeing less vandalism. Chief Stell stated because of the extra patrols they’ve done vandalism is down. He said burglaries are also on the down side. He said right now most of their complaints are nuisance calls. Neal Speer asked about the homeless situation. Chief Stell stated they have about four individuals they keep chasing out of different places and have issued them trespassing orders for Village owned properties. The Board thanked Chief Stell for his update.
7. Economic Development Coordinator Request Letter of Support for Scoping Study Grant:
Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, stated she needed a Letter of Support from the Board of Trustees for the scoping study for the 2019 Bicycle and Pedestrian Program. She said this study could cost approximately $20,000 to $30,000 and the Village would need to contribute 20% of that. Chris Leach stated he would like a comprehensive definition of the scope because it’s too general and needs to address the 1800 tractor trailer trucks going the Village each day. He said if they had a bypass most of the congestion would be gone. Elisabeth stated studies show that if a bypass goes in that also gets rid of cars and they need to give them a reason to stop and feel comfortable to stop. She said they need to get people involved in the process and address their issues. Adam Paxman mentioned the AARP study that was done last year and where residents filled out a form with what they would like to see downtown. Elisabeth said they will be using that information as well. She said that study did prove the crosswalk at the north end of the park is too long. Eugene LaBombard stated that when the hay bales were at the end of the park he and his wife could not see past them while trying to pull out by the park. He said he couldn’t see well enough walking there too and said the traffic flow needs to be looked at. He said there are too many points of access. Reg Beliveau stated that when the Agency of Transportation did their paving project downtown a couple of years ago they were able to add some additional parking spaces downtown even though they had to eliminate some by the crosswalks because of safety standards. He said Mark Fenton is coming back this week looking for more ideas. Chris Leach stated there should be no restrictions even if that means looking at the Village Green and maybe splitting it. He said he realized that may not be popular but it should be looked at. Neal Speer stated when you need public input they don’t come out. He said they come out after something is done to complain about it. Elisabeth said she is hoping to change that and had about 10 to 15 people at their last hearing. Eugene LaBombard asked where they are going to get the money for this study. Elisabeth said she is hoping it’s added to next year’s budget. She said the grant will be awarded this year but done next year. Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize Village Manager Reg Beliveau to sign the Letter of Support for the Scoping Study Grant as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
8. Water Allocation Connection Request for 224 Maquam Shore:
Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into Water Commissioner’s meeting at 7:42 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Julien and Georgia Cummings’ request to connect to the Village of Swanton’s water system at 224 Maquam Shore Road and to approve a water allocation of 400 gallons per day as requested. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
Chris Leach made the motion to exit Water Commissioner’s meeting at 7:44 p.m. and to re-enter Open Session. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
9. Sign Fire Department Ladder Truck Loan Documents:
Adam Paxman made the motion for the Board of Trustees to sign all loan documents pertaining to the ladder truck as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
10. Review and Sign Fire Department Truck Bond Documents:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion for the Board of Trustees to sign all bond documents pertaining to the Fire Department trucks as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
11. VPPSA Purchase Power Authorization:
Reg Beliveau explained to the Board that VPPSA is offering their 2019 Planned Purchase Recommendations to offset the Village of Swanton’s purchase power cost. Chris Leach made the motion to authorize Village Manager Reg Beliveau to sign the VPPSA 2019 Planned Purchase Recommendations memo as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
12. Any Other Necessary Business:
Chris Leach stated he would like to give kudos to Adam Paxman for the flag display in the park. Adam Paxman said he would like to thank David Jescavage, Town Administrator, for implementing this idea. Chris also stated due to their earlier discussion he would like to propose looking at Village streets and lowering the speed limit on all dead end streets.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated he would like to thank everyone for coming out for the Memorial Day Parade this year. He said he was grateful there was no rain. He said they are looking for volunteers so if you are interested in helping with the parade you can contact him.
Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard stated he sees the Public Works crew working on pot holes and doing some paving. He said it looks real good. He said the school vote is being held Tuesday, June 11th at the Village Complex.
Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated that the Village is part of the Northeast Public Power Association (NEPPA) and said each year they run a Benevolent Fund Donation Campaign to help public power employees, or their families, undergoing financial difficulties due to personal injury, illness or death. He asked the Board of Trustees if they would like to donate this year. Chris Leach made the motion to authorize the Village of Swanton to donate $100 to the NEPPA Benevolent Fund Donation Campaign. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated the Vermont Rural Water Association recognizes and thanks the Village of Swanton for twenty years of continuous membership in their association. He said this was awarded to the Village on May 9, 2019.
13. Executive Session to Discuss Real Estate, Customer Accounts and Personnel:
Adam Paxman made a motion, seconded by Eugene LaBombard, to go into executive session at 8:05 p.m. to discuss Real Estate, Customer Accounts and Personnel. Motion carried.
Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:23 p.m., seconded by Eugene LaBombard and to re-enter Open Session. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN: Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize the Village of Swanton to write off $3964.47 in the Electric Department. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Adam Paxman made the motion to re-enter Executive Session at 8:25 p.m., seconded by Eugene LaBombard. Motion carried.
Chris Leach made the motion to exit Executive Session at 9:50 p.m. and re-enter Open Session, seconded by Adam Paxman. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN: Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize the Village of Swanton to purchase a used cruiser in the amount of $24,000 for the Police Department, to be taken from the equipment replacement fund. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the Village of Swanton to move forward with a study of the Village Complex improvements, not to exceed $18,000, to be taken from the general fund savings account. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
14. Adjournment:
Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:55 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 9:55 p.m. Motion carried.
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Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date