SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2013
7:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Ron Kilburn, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee;
Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reg Beliveau, Village Manager;
Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Brian Savage, Michel Consejo, Donald Collins, State
Representatives; Mike McCarthy and Jessica Edgerly-Walsh, Suncommon Solar; and
Channel 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all
motions carried unanimously.
Ron Kilburn, Village
President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
1. Approve and Accept
Minutes from Monday, July 22, 2013 Meeting:
Adam Paxman made the motion
to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, July 22, 2013 as presented. Chris
Leach seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach asked why the tax rate dropped from
.6872 to .6847. I explained that the estimated tax rate printed in the Village
Report was .6872 but because the Town grand list grew some it dropped the tax
rate to .6847 for 2013. Motion carried.
2. Approve and Accept
Village Warrants through Friday, August 9, 2013:
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #591-#598 through August 9, 2013
as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
3. Delinquent Tax
Collector Request to Hire Attorney to Complete Tax Sales:
Betty Cheney, Delinquent Tax
Collector, sent a letter requesting that the Board authorize her to hire
counsel Vaughn S. P. Comeau, Esquire, to assist in the completion of Village of
Swanton Tax Sales. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve this request as
presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
4. Approval and Execution
of Construction Phase Services Agreement -- Brad Aldrich, Aldrich & Elliott:
Brad Aldrich explained to the
Board that this Construction Phase Services Agreement takes them through the
bid phase of this project. He said this will go out to bid on Wednesday, August
14, 2013 and bids will be opened on September 4th at 2 p.m. He said
the total for this Agreement is $100,000. He also stated that the Scope of Work
is standard and the State of Vermont has reviewed and approved this Agreement.
Chris Leach asked if the on-site guy has met with Mike Menard yet. Brad stated
he has and it is Chuck Magnus who supervised the Water Treatment Plant upgrade.
He said he is familiar with the Village staff. Chris also asked if the climate
for cost was looking favorable. Brad stated it looks pretty good and that this
job would fit a fall schedule with some spring finish work. He said this will
be attractive to some contractors and if it isn’t favorable they can always
re-bid the job in the spring but he is cautiously optimistic. Reg informed the
Board that Fourth Street will be widened and that Mike Menard got verbal
approval from all Fourth Street residents for this. Ron Kilburn asked if all of
Fourth Street would be widened. Reg stated it would be by about 3’ and that
they would talk with the school principle when necessary and will re-route traffic
during construction.
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to Approve and Execute the Engineering Services Agreement for Bid and
Construction Phase for the Village of Swanton on Contract #3 -- Water
Distribution System Improvements Project #13033. Chris Leach seconded. Motion
carried.
5. Discussion on the
Condition of First Street and Truck Traffic with State Representatives Brian
Savage, Michel Consejo and Don Collins:
Chris Leach started the
discussion by first stating that the Board is very frustrated by the fact that
no one in VTrans returned any of Reg Beliveau’s phone calls or emails. Reg
stated that Ken Roby finally returns his emails and has been doing so. Reg also
stated that he heard Route 78 was scheduled to be re-paved in 2014 but Ken is
now saying it won’t be done until 2015 or 2018. Reg stated he was concerned
with the heavy truck traffic on First Street and said that Don Gilbert with the
Swanton Police Department has been out more stopping trucks with the Department
of Transportation (DOT). He said in March they had a road block set up, stopped
over 200 trucks and issued approximately 90 violations for overweight trucks.
He stated this is what is tearing up the corner of First St. and Grand Avenue.
Brian Savage stated the truck
traffic has increased and this is a problem that isn’t going away. He said
there is no way of getting a secondary route to I89 and that the immediate
problem is First Street. He said he was very concerned about Vtrans not
returning phone calls or emails and said he finally got in touch with Secretary
Brian Searles and he stated there is no money in the budget. Brian stated his
next approach would be to contact the Governor directly because this street
needs to get fixed. Reg stated that the quote he received to re-pave First
Street was $77,000 and he is requesting that the State at least split that cost
with the Village. They discussed the possibility of putting concrete in on the
corner of First Street and Grand Avenue all the way up to York Street. Chris
Leach said at one time they threatened to adopt an Ordinance stating no trucks
would be allowed through the Village. Ron Kilburn stated his frustration with
this topic and said something needed to be done to correct it. He said this
would end up costing the Village taxpayers more money in the long run and said
they are footing the bill for all this truck traffic. Jessica Edgerly-Walsh
asked how much an overweight truck fine was and asked if they could increase
the cost of the fine.
Michel Consejo stated that
Swanton needed to get out and stop more trucks and fine them for being
overweight. He said this is where the issue is at this time and suggested more
police officers get trained and certified so they can stop and inspect the
trucks and fine them if necessary. He said once the word gets out that Swanton
Village is stopping trucks for being overweight it might get better. Adam
Paxman stated he at least wanted the State to care about the issue they are
dealing with. Michel stated he was here at the Village when the Governor said
First Street would be re-paved in full. Mike McCarthy asked when the last time
First Street was completely re-paved. Reg stated it was at least 20 years ago.
Mike stated that Ken Roby testified that Class I roads were getting on a 15
year schedule and said this should be moved up in the que.
Chris Leach mentioned an
alternate truck route on Route 78 West. Don Collins asked him if anyone ever
sat down with an engineer and mapped this out. Don also said they should get in
contact with Rich Tatro and Brian Searles regarding this. Mike McCarthy also
stated Reg should come and testify before the Transportation Committee. The
Board discussed their action items to be: Train and certify more police
officers to make more truck stops, draft an alternate truck route, local
representatives would contact the Transportation Committee members and the
Board would appear in Montpelier to testify before that committee. Michel
Consejo also suggested that whenever Reg emails someone in Montpelier to also
copy him, Brian and Don so they are aware of what’s going on. Don said he would
get in contact with Brian Searles and have more dialogue on this project and
move forward with it. Mike McCarthy also stated he would advocate to make sure
something gets done regarding First Street. The Board thanked Brian, Michel and
Don for coming in and discussing this topic with them.
6. Sun Common Discussion
-- Solar Panels & Net Metering:
Mike McCarthy stated he
wanted to come in and introduce himself and Jessica to the Board to make them
more familiar with Sun Common. He said this company was started a year and a
half ago and they put together the idea of more homes, businesses and schools
going with renewable, safe energy such as solar panels at an affordable price.
He said they have installed over 500 systems to date in Franklin and Chittenden
Counties. Chris Leach asked how much of his tax dollars were going to subsidize
this program. He said he is all for low prices but it frustrates him that
Swanton Village sells electricity for 11 cents per kilowatt but has to buy it
back from the market at 17 cents per kilowatt. Elizabeth stated that all energy
is subsidized and said there are incentives to go solar. Mike said they have
one customer in Swanton Village and a few in Swanton Town. He said Sun Common
installs the panels with no upfront costs so that more people can afford them.
He said their customers pay a monthly lease to them and they will sit down with
a customer beforehand to see if it is feasible for them to enter into this lease.
The Board thanked Mike and Elizabeth for coming in and introducing themselves
and their company to them.
7. Any Other Necessary
Business:
Don Collins stated that he
was riding his bike on Church Street and said he is concerned at how the
traffic flows by the Town Clerk’s office. He questioned who has the right of
way by Church, Farrar and Academy Street and suggested stop signs be put up on
all three streets at that intersection. He said it is very dangerous there. Reg
stated he would go and look at it. Brian Savage also discussed the island being
removed on Academy Street and said he would prefer it go back in with the keep
right sign.
Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard stated that when Ben & Jerry’s
held their coin drop for the Relay for Life traffic was backed up way down to
the liquor store. He feels they shouldn’t impede traffic to that extent and
said he would take that into consideration when there is another coin drop
request.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated he would like to thank everyone
involved with the Car Show this year. He said he received a lot of great feed
back and said the event was a great success and he thanked the Village crew. He
said the Chamber of Commerce would also be hosting a workshop on Tuesday,
September 17th from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Village Complex on VT
Health Connect and said this is open to the public. He said with the new health
care system coming this workshop will be beneficial to all. He also stated that
the Chamber is working with a local resident to refurbish the “Welcome to
Swanton” signs.
Any Other Business: Chris Leach stated the new utility poles on Gallup
Court look great and said it was a job well done.
Any Other Business: Ron Kilburn asked about the NEPPA Conference being
held in Stowe August 25th-28th. Reg stated Lynn Paradis
would be sending them all the information on it this week.
Any Other Business: Ron Kilburn informed the Board about the schedule of
events for the 250th Anniversary Celebration being held on Saturday,
August 17th from noon to 9:00 p.m. He said there will be a History
Walking Tour with Fred Wiseman, National Night Out would be ongoing in the
Village Green, Presentation of the Legislative Proclamation, Community
Photograph, History Tour by horse drawn wagon, MVU Rock Band and Fireworks
would end the celebration at Marble Mill Park.
Reg Beliveau informed the
Board that he would need an Executive Session to Discuss Personnel.
8. Executive Session (If
Necessary):
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to enter into Executive Session to Discuss Personnel in Fire Department
at 8:41 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded.
Chris Leach made the motion
to exit Executive Session at 9:00 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN: The Board accepted the Fire Department’s
recommendation for the new Fire Chief.
ADJOURN: Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular
Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:00 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There
being no further business at hand, Ronald Kilburn, Village President, adjourned
the meeting at 9:00 p.m.
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Ronald Kilburn, Village
President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date