November 9, 2020

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

 

 

 

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, November 9, 2020

7:00 PM

 

 

 

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Heather Buckowski, Town Selectboard member; and Channel 16.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

 

1. Call to Order:

 

Neal Speer, Village President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

 

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

 

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

3. Agenda Review:

 

None.

 

4. Public Comment:

 

Neal Speer, Village President, stated the flags in the park look great and he would like to thank David Jescavage, Town Administrator; the Boy Scouts as well as local citizens for helping to put them up. He said the individual tag on each flag is nice. Adam Paxman stated it was nice to see positive news from the three local news stations that covered it.

 

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from Thursday, October 26, 2020:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Thursday, October 15, 2020 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

 

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, November 6, 2020:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Friday, November 6, 2020 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked about the payment made to the Town of Highgate in the amount of $581,294.13. Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, stated this was the tax bill owed to the Town of Highgate and said it was based on the prior year’s generation. She said it’s up some this year because the rubber bag was down and not in operation. Motion carried.

 

 

7. Village of Swanton Ordinance Update:

 

Dianne Day, Village Clerk, stated that herself along with Lt. David Kachajian are still working on all Ordinances and should have some solid changes for their next meeting.

 

8. Sign Interdepartmental Borrowing Resolution for Depot Street Water Line:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion authorizing Neal Speer, Village President and Dianne Day, Village Clerk, to sign the Interdepartmental Borrowing Resolution for the Depot Street Water Line for the sum of $25,000 from the Village of Swanton Community Development Block Revolving Loan Fund. Chris Leach seconded. Lynn Paradis stated the water line was replaced during the summer and said the Village will use CDBG revolving loan funds and will pay $5000 per year with 0% interest. Motion carried.

 

9. Review and Acknowledge SQRP 3^rd Quarter Report:

 

Chris Leach stated this is a report of how well the electric department is serving the public and said the Village’s baseline is always in the single percentage numbers and all services are above and beyond. Chris Leach made the motion to acknowledge receipt of this report. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

10. Any Other Necessary Business:

 

Adam Paxman asked if the Village would be seeing budgets soon. Lynn stated she has been gathering information and has been sitting with department heads. She said she still needs to talk to the Electric Department and Police Department but should have a draft for them very soon. Eugene LaBombard asked if they can get the fire departments information to the Town sooner than usual. Lynn stated she still needs to build her budgets together because of how she splits certain costs and insurances. She said she is still waiting on Workman’s Compensation and dispatching numbers to come in. She said this is all information needed for the fire budget but said any of the Selectboard members can call her or come in and go over it and ask questions if they’d like to.

 

Adam also said there will be no Christmas in the Park this year but said the Chamber will decorate the trees and there will be a skating rink. He said he also wanted to remind people of the Winter Parking Ban that goes into effect December 1^st through April 15^th of each year. He also asked residents to please slow down while driving through the Village. Eugene LaBombard asked how Halloween in the Park went. Adam stated it went well and they all practiced social distancing.

 

Any Other Business: Chris Leach stated himself along with the Postmaster are still working on a drive through mailbox and they are waiting until after the election is over to continue. He said this is still in the works. He said he has received many good comments about the flags in the park for Veterans Day and asked if there was anything going on for the holiday. Adam stated some clubs are doing take out dinners for the veterans. He said the flags will be up until Saturday. Chris Leach also said the leaf pick up service is very much appreciated. He also asked if there was an update on the Downtown Traffic Study. Neal Speer stated Reg Beliveau, Elisabeth Nance and Betsy Fournier met with the State a couple of weeks ago and said it’s ongoing.

 

Any Other Business: Neal Speer, Village President, said last Wednesday the VFW called and their group of Veteran motorcycle riders came up with another donation for maintenance of the park. He said they might install some lighting there. He said himself along with James Guilmette went and received a check for $1500 and said they thank them so much, it’s greatly appreciated. Neal also said the Riviera Hotel property has been secured and no trespassing signs have been put up.

 

Any Other Business: Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, said the bucket truck for the Electric Department that was ordered last year is almost ready to be picked up. She said they may do a ZOOM meeting to go through the truck with the manufacturer. She said she just started working on getting interest rates and should have documents for the Board at their next meeting. She said they should have the truck in a couple of weeks.

 

11. Executive Session If Necessary:

 

None.

 

Heather Buckowski asked why there wasn’t a public comment at the end of the meeting. (See #4 Public Comment). She asked how the Village reviews the electric department and asked if they surveyed the customers. Lynn stated VPSSA did a phone survey last year of random Swanton Village customers. She was given more clarification on what the SQRP report tracks as far as customer work orders, billing, complaints, etc.

 

12. Adjournment:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 7:30 p.m.  Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m. Motion carried.

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

 

 

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________    ___________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date

 

October 15, 2020

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

 

 

 

REGULAR MEETING

Thursday, October 15, 2020

7:00 PM

 

 

 

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Joanne Parah Reiter; Ron & Sandy Kilburn; George & Priscilla Connelly; Michelle Nordberg; Betsy Fournier; Gordon & Debbie Winters; and Channel 16.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

 

1. Call to Order:

 

Neal Speer, Village President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

 

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

 

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

3. Agenda Review:

 

None.

 

4. Public Comment:

 

None.

 

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, September 28, 2020:

 

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, September 28, 2020 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach asked if any progress has been made regarding the beach on Maquam Shore. Reg Beliveau stated he found out the harvester won’t work there. He said he discussed this with Mr. George. Motion carried.

 

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, October 9, 2020:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Friday, October 9, 2020 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach asked about the payment made to the Town of Swanton for $71,901. Reg Beliveau explained this was for taxes. Eugene LaBombard asked about the payment made to Attorney Tim Hawkins for $32,576.34. That was for the Riviera Hotel property purchase. Motion carried.

 

7. Discussion on Request to Reinstall Art Boards:

 

Priscilla Connelly stated that at the July 27^th meeting regarding taking down the art walls there was discussion on the importance of the art walls in the community. She said herself along with her husband George have learned a lot since then. She said the art walls were up for five years and had very little problems until this past spring. She said there was nothing in place such as a policy to work with and they understand the board took this on and made a decision to take the boards down. She said they’ve come to understand that they want to really try and get these boards back by working with the board so they don’t have a repeat of what happened in the spring and summer. Priscilla said they decided to form a group of five people and have been working on this for the last few weeks. She said they’ve been researching what other towns have done and have come to a conclusion that a memorandum of understanding would be very helpful in addressing issues like they had in the spring. She said they are here tonight to ask if they can get going on this, are you open to it and are you ready. She said they’ve discussed where the boards might go, what size they’ll be and if there can be different sizes. She said they’ve talked about having an appointed person, having a plaque there so people know the artist and having time limits and what to do when a boards is whitewashed. Reg Beliveau stated he wanted to clarify the term as “resetting” not whitewashing. Michelle Nordberg said they are trying to work out some guidelines but are here to ask if the board is willing to move forward with the discussion. Neal Speer stated the decisions this board has made were in the best interest of the community and said they were advised by legal council to take the boards down. He said they appreciate them coming in tonight but during the whole upsetting situation they never saw the Arts Council. He said as far as moving forward they are going to have to present something to the board that really tantalizes them because they took all the heat for the removal of the art walls when they were doing it in the best interest of the community. He said if anything goes forward with this someone would have to be the responsible party for dealing with it because the board doesn’t want to be hit again like they were last time. Priscilla said her understanding was that the boards would be taken down in July but would be revisited in January. She said they are coming in as community members saying they will do the work necessary to get them reinstalled. She said she wants them to know they are working with the board not against them and wants their support. Adam Paxman stated the board felt their decision was the best thing to do back in July for the safety of everyone involved. He said he did say they would revisit the issue in January and said he would like to see a proposal in January of what their plans are. Priscilla asked if their proposal could be handed in before January and Adam said that would be fine. She said they are researching this issue and doing their part. Michelle said they are not asking the board to defend their position they are here tonight to move forward. She said the original arrangement with the Arts Council is separate from them, they are independent community members who may be affiliated with the Arts Council either separately or independently. Chris Leach said he and his wife loved seeing the art walls and enjoyed seeing local artist display their art. He said if he was to be in favor of this there would have to be a board to filter and be responsible for the content in case anything went awry those individuals would take the heat and not the Village. He also said the criteria for what’s art and what’s a political message has to be clearly defined in their proposal. He said he doesn’t feel the boards should be on Village owned property. Priscilla said they are asking for these boards to go on Village and Town property not privately owned property. Reg Beliveau said he would work with the individuals and be a conduit and bring Chief of Police Joey Stell in as well. He said they would have to follow zoning regulations and go from there. Sandy Kilburn said she understands the reasoning as to why the boards came down but said personally she misses the boards. She said unity is needed now more than ever and said the swans on Canada Street are beautiful. She said she has heard many people say they miss the boards. Priscilla asked about the existing boards and the one that was damaged. Reg said the boards were taken down and one was unintentionally damaged because it was in concrete. He said they would repair it. Adam said he wished this conversation would have happened earlier and thanked them for coming in tonight. Eugene LaBombard said he appreciated the letter and said it was very well written and easy to understand. He said the board would soon be working on budgets so he encouraged them to get something to them before budget season begins. George Connelly introduced himself and said he worked along with Priscilla and Michelle and would like to get the art boards reinstalled with law and order and rules and regulations. He said they want to make their jobs easier and more manageable if there are violations to the art walls. Chris Leach said the concept of ownership should be addressed and asked if artist could sign their work. Joanne Reiter said she was part of the Arts Council when the boards went up five years ago and they didn’t anticipate the things that are happening now in 2020. She said they didn’t foresee any controversy and they’d like to pave the way for things to be easily cleaned up if they run into issues. Ron Kilburn said he’s just a citizen sitting and listening. He said they’ve all been through hard times the last couple of weeks and it makes him sad, it drains his energy and leaves him feeling hopeless. He said he feels much better just knowing there are people trying to do the right thing and he offered his help if they need it. They discussed meeting with Reg on October 27^th and will let the board know when they have a proposal to offer.

 

8. Discuss Invitation to Participate in Municipal Roads Grants-In-Aid Program:

 

Reg Beliveau explained that Vermont’s Regional Planning Commissions (RPC), the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Agency of Transportation (VTrans) invite the municipality to participate in the Municipal Roads Grants-In-Aid Program. This program provides funding for municipalities to implement best management practices in compliance with the DEC Municipal Roads General Permit. He said Swanton Village would be eligible to receive $5375. Chris Leach made the motion to authorize the Village of Swanton to participate in the Municipal Roads Grants-In-Aid Program as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

9. Discussion on Northwest Vermont Communications Union District:

 

Reg Beliveau explained to the Board that he was contacted by the Regional Planning Commission to assist with the formation of a Communication Union District in an effort to bring high-quality, high-speed and reliable internet access to communities in Franklin and Grand Isle Counties. He said areas of focus are the Enosburg area and Washington County. He said there is no financial risk to the taxpayer or municipality. Eugene LaBombard asked if anyone would identify the problem areas. Michelle Nordberg stated this was a topic for discussion for the Town Selectboard at their last meeting and said a list of underserved areas was sent to Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator. Eugene LaBombard stated that if the Town is going to join this why should the Village. Neal Speer stated that if they are looking for Village representatives to fill seats that would be difficult because they are already on several boards and commissions as it is. Reg Beliveau stated he would talk to Elisabeth and get more information regarding this. The board agreed to table this item until more information was gathered.

 

 

 

10. Sign Letter of Intent for Stormwater Project #8711:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to move forward with the Stormwater Project #8711 and authorized Village Manager Reginald Beliveau to sign the letter of intent to participate in a public-private partnership with Pomerleau Real Estate (Hannaford’s Supermarket) and the Village of Swanton to manage stormwater. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

11. Discussion on Noise, Chicken and Farm Animal Ordinance:

 

Reg Beliveau explained that the Village had received complaints about roosters in the Village as well as noise complaints from tenants in local apartment houses. Because there is no noise ordinance in place it has been difficult to manage. He said they would like to bring back some civility to the Village and get an ordinance in place that will help with that. Reg stated there were a couple of points in the Noise Ordinance that they would change such as using jake brakes and trash removal. Adam Paxman stated he would like to have two ordinances in place, one for noise and one for farm animals. Village Clerk Dianne Day stated there were issues with the chicken/farm animal ordinance such as having to get permits and stated most communities had that built into their zoning regulations. She said she contacted the zoning office and they don’t have any regulations for this. It was decided that Village Clerk Dianne Day and Lt. David Kachajian would continue to work on the ordinances, as well as work on revoking all the old ordinances on the books and revise everything at once. It was decided that this topic would be kept on the agendas until all ordinances were updated.

 

12. Discussion on Village Parks and Beach:

 

Reg Beliveau stated a while back he had a discussion with Betsy Fournier and Debbie Winters about helping out with Marble Mill Park. He provided the board with the contribution list that Rise VT has given for Marble Mill totaling $38,000 since 2016. He said some of the events they have held there include an Ice Cream Social, Community Survey for Marble Mill, Dam Duck Derby and Pickle Ball. Betsy Fournier stated they’ve been discussing how they invest in their local parks and they are utilized to their full potential. She said they’ve created so much wonderful infrastructure in the community but still have areas that aren’t as nice or utilized like they should be or given as much investment as the others. She said they’ve been working on how to make that a better place so that people want to go there. She said they have a master plan but it comes down to grants and needing matching funds. She said Swanton Beach is another asset that needs attention. She said people want to live here and if you invest in your parks it will help help the tax base as well. She said there are so many events held on the Village Green and asked why aren’t these events spread out to other parks and areas? She said they are here tonight to ask for a Park Capital Fund budget. She said there is vegetation at Marble Mill that needs to be taken out and the fence needs repair. She said this would help when applying for grants because it would show that Swanton is investing in their parks as well. She said the five member public works crew can’t keep up with all this and suggested maybe hiring another person to maintain the parks. Gordon Winters said he commends the Village for what they’ve done in the last few years and shown that they want to invest in Swanton. He said it’s not just Marble Mill, it’s all areas. He said they are asking them to consider putting money in the budget to keep this going. He said after it’s built into the budget it gets easier especially after seeing what has been done. He said he’d like more in the budget to cover more than just mowing and maintenance. He said once a year a project could be done capital wise not just maintenance wise. He said its commendable that the Trustees took the step and purchased the Hotel Riviera property. He said that’s something that was long overdue but a hard thing for a municipality to do. He said getting that property ready for a developer to take it over will be a  huge asset for many years to come. He said new residents living here notice nice sidewalks, mowing and trimming and this would be beneficial to everyone. Neal Speer stated you can’t see Marble Mill from the road and it would be a big improvement cleaning up all that sumac that’s grown up there and relatively easy to accomplish. Betsy said she has a budget of approximately $22,000 to get done some clearing of vegetation, fixing the fences, and removing the guardrails in the parking lot. She said they don’t sell there parks very well. She googled Swanton parks and nothing really came up. She said there are so many assets that need to be sold so people know how nice these things are. She said this information should be on the Village website and suggested maybe the Swanton Enhancement Project could help with marketing these assets. Sandy Kilburn said she liked the idea of focusing on all the parks in the Village. She said it would be nice to do some of the activities at Marble Mill and at the Beach also. Debbie Winters said details matter and people notice when a community takes an interest in their assets. She said they now have a master plan for Marble Mill and have always known they would have to work on it over a number of years. She said they need to start somewhere and by creating a capital line item in the budget for this would help get some of these things done. She said if they can start picking away at it then the community will start seeing things happening there and will want to invest. She said you need to prove to the community that something great will happen like they did with the playground campaign. Ron Kilburn said he’s been going to Marble Mill lately to take pictures. He said he met a woman who showed up there to have a picnic with her grandson and asked him if it was a safe place to bring him and eat. He told her it was and he said that was nice to see. He said he also noticed the graffiti was painted over and said it looks very nice. He said the Abenaki stone canoe monument had some stones knocked over and he was glad to see that someone had fixed that too. It was decided that they would talk with Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, about putting a capital line item into the budget for park improvement.

 

13. Any Other Necessary Business:

 

Adam Paxman stated Halloween in the Park will be held on Saturday, October 31^st from 5 to 7 p.m. He said he would have an update on Christmas in the Park at their next meeting.

 

Any Other Business: Chris Leach said he missed the Totem pole being erected in the park but said it looks very nice. He said he talked with the Postmaster about a drive up mailbox and was told there are rules and regulations about the locations for each postal mailbox. He said they can’t change a route or move a mailbox.

 

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau presented the Board with the Village’s COVID-19 Work Policy. He also said VT 211 can be called Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for emotional support. He also mentioned the Village was seeing a pretty good response to the grants for unpaid and past due electric balances that create a risk for disconnection. The website to apply for the VCAAP grant is www.publicservice.vermont.gov.

 

14. Executive Session if Necessary:

 

None.

 

15. Adjournment:

 

Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:53 p.m.  Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:53 p.m. Motion carried.

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

 

 

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________    ___________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date

 

February 10, 2020

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

 

 

 

 

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, February 10, 2020

7:00 PM

 

 

 

 

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator; Leonard “Joey” Stell, Chief of Police; and Ch. 16.

 

 

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

 

 

1. Call to Order:

 

Neal Speer, Village President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

 

2. Agenda Review:

 

Reg Beliveau stated he needs to add “Personnel” to Executive Session.

 

3. Public Comment:

 

None.

 

4. Approve and Sign Minutes from Monday, January 27, 2020 as presented:

 

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, January 27, 2020 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

 

5. Approve and Sign Warrants through Friday, February 7, 2020 as presented:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and sign Warrants through Friday, February 7, 2020 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Eugene LaBombard asked what the payment made to Clark’s Truck Center for $83,934.00 was for. Reg Beliveau stated it was for the new bucket truck in the electric department. Chris Leach asked about the payment from Swanton Village to Swanton Village for $5787.79. Dianne Day, Village Clerk, stated that was for the utility bills generated. Eugene asked about the payment made to Cargill for $8664.67. Reg stated that was for salt for the Highway Department. Motion carried.

 

6. Economic Development Coordinator – Downtown Scoping Study Update:

 

Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, informed the Board that the Request For Proposals for a Consultant for the Downtown Scoping Study was complete and ready for publication in the St. Albans Messenger. She mentioned the features the Village would like to see addressed such as: the right-angle intersection at First Street/VT Rt 78 causes delays throughout the day as large trucks attempt to make the turn; the confusion generated by multiple access points in and around Merchants Row parking area; the intersection of Canada St./Route 7 and Grand Ave./VT Route 78; Merchants Row suffers from a lack of handicapped accessibility, the one handicapped ramp is located in a service alley; the long crosswalk at the north end of the Village Green makes pedestrian safety an issue; and the parking area adjacent to Merchants Row has been labeled confusing and inaccessible by pedestrians and motorists. She said this project is being funded in part by the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Grant program and the total available is $34,000. She said 80% is coming from the State and there is a 20% match that will come from the Village. Elisabeth said this RFP is Regional Planning and VTrans approved. She said they have a steering committee in place but would need two more members. Chris Leach and Neal Speer stated they would be a part of this committee. Adam Paxman made the motion to approve posting the Request for Proposals for the Downtown Scoping Study project as presented in the St. Albans Messenger. Eugene LaBombard seconded.

 

Elisabeth also informed the Board that last week the 5^th anniversary of the VT Council on Rural Development Community Visit was held and was very well attended. She said some of the things residents would like to see developed are senior housing, better communication and marketing and a community owned restaurant. She would like to thank everyone who attended. She also said there will be a Small Business Workshop in St. Albans on February 19 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at 14^th Star Brewing Company. She said if you are thinking of starting a new small business or already have one to please attend the workshop. She also wanted to remind everyone about the upcoming Chili Cookoff being held on Monday, February 24^th from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. at the Village Complex before the Town and Village Informational meeting. She said there will be cash prizes and you need to be present to win, which will be announced following the meeting. Reg said the meeting with the Highgate Selectboard on the airport was canceled due to the snowstorm and is rescheduled for March 5^th instead.

 

7. Swanton Village Police Department Update:

 

Joey Stell, Chief of Police, began the update by telling the Board about the recent arrest and seizure of guns at a residence on Church Street. He said this all stems from the BB gun vandalism case they had and the individual involved was prohibited from having firearms. He said they got a search warrant for the firearms and that individual will receive a second offense for that. He said there were no issues and they received back up from the Border Patrol. He said several hundred manhours went into this investigation and he would also like to give kudos to the staff at Walmart for providing video surveillance and helping them out with that. Reg Beliveau stated this was a great team effort by all involved. Chief Stell stated they received 161 calls for service in the month of January. He said they issued 4 traffic warnings and issued 1 traffic citation. He said this information could be incorrect because of their new E-ticketing system not being able to upload warning and ticket data yet. He said the State is working on this issue. Chris Leach asked about the dispatching invoice and Reg explained that the City of St. Albans is charging $12 per capita and that he understands this formula now and they are all set. The Board thanked Chief Stell for coming in.

 

8. Any Other Necessary Business:

 

Adam Paxman said they are in the beginning stages of planning for the next Memorial Day Parade which will be held on Monday, May 25^th. He said this is a great community event and they are looking for volunteers to help. He also said the Chamber of Commerce is seeking permission to use the Village Green on Saturday, July 25^th for their 11^th Annual Car Show. He said the Chamber also held their Citizen of the Year Banquet and Bruce Spaulding was this year’s recipient. The Board all agreed that Bruce is very much deserving of this award.

 

Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard stated he noticed the highway crew moving snow from the downtown area over to the ballfield now. He asked why they couldn’t move it any place closer. Reg stated they are trying to clean up Marble Mill and decided on the ballfield location. He said this helps keep a lot of sand out of the Marble Mill Park.

 

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated VT Precision Tools will be holding a Health Fair on Wednesday and Thursday of this week and said they have asked him to give a fire prevention class. He said he contacted the Fire Marshall’s office and Liza Cominsky and they will be doing a presentation on smoke detectors and fire prevention.

 

Any Other Business: Neal Speer stated he is going to be out of Town from February 13^th through March 4^th so he won’t be able to attend the Informational Meeting on February 24^th. He said Chris Leach can handle the meeting and they are in good hands. He also said he is running for Village President again this year and he appreciates all the past support he has been given and is hoping for their continued support this year. He also wanted to mention that at the 50^th Anniversary of the Merchants Row fire they failed to mention that all the merchants had rebuilt their businesses within one year of the fire with no help from the State of Vermont.

 

 

9. Executive Session to Discuss Real Estate and Personnel:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into Executive Session at 7:40 p.m. to discuss real estate and personnel. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session and re-enter Open Session at 8:26 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

 

ACTION TAKEN: Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize Neal Speer, Village President, to sign the Discharge of Mortgage Lien between the Village of Swanton and Maquam Holdings LLC. Discussion: Adam Paxman stated after review and discussion about the receipts paid in excess of $310,000 by Maquam Holdings LLC on the new ACE Hardware building the Village the Board approves releasing the lien on 3 Label Lane. Motion carried.

 

 

10. Adjournment:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:27 p.m.  Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:27 p.m. Motion carried.

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________    ___________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date

 

 

 

 

December 14, 2020

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

 

 

 

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, December 14, 2020

7:00 PM

 

 

 

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reg Beliveau, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; and Joey Stell, Chief of Police. Via Zoom: Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator; John & Debbie Winters; Betsy Fournier and Ch. 16.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

 

1. Call to Order:

 

Neal Speer, Village President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

 

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

 

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

3. Agenda Review:

 

Dianne Day, Village Clerk, stated #9 wasn’t necessary because there are no changes from their last meeting, they haven’t had a chance to work on the Ordinances. Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, stated he needed an Executive Session to discuss Personnel.

 

4. Public Comment:

 

Betsy Fournier asked if the Village was able to appropriate any funds for Capital Improvements in the Village parks. She also asked if the Village considered hiring additional personnel to do extra work in the parks besides the regular maintenance of the parks. Reg Beliveau stated the Village added an additional $10,000 to the parks maintenance budget and are going to hire two part-timers for summer help. He said they normally only hire one part-timer for the summer. Gordon Winters stated the additional $10,000 was a good start but said they would be unable to apply for any grants unless they had specific funds earmarked for capital improvements because they needed to have match funds on a lot of the grants they would apply for. Debbie Winters stated they haven’t received any grants because the municipality needs to make a commitment and have funds earmarked for improvements in their parks. Betsy stated because there are no matching funds they lose out on grant money. Adam Paxman asked if flooding was going to be an issue with improvements made at Marble Mill and asked if it was feasible to do a lot of the work they wanted done there because of that. Gordon stated no that the opposite could happen and said they can work around that. Debbie Winters said the Village needs to think ahead for the next 10 years and said $10,000 won’t even fix the fence at Marble Mill. She said once residents see improvements over the next two or three years, they will have something great and she said they won’t get donors with how it looks now and asked the Village to think ahead. Gordon was concerned that just because there was an additional $10,000 in the budget it could be used for more maintenance and not on actual improvements.  Elisabeth Nance stated they would need at least $200,000 to get the parks where they want to see them. She said they can’t apply for grants if they don’t have matching funds and said $25,000 would be great but said maybe this year isn’t the year to ask for $25,000 with everything that’s going on. Reg stated they added $10,000 and two part-timers and they’d like to see what they can get done with that then add to it each year. He said he didn’t properly share the information like he should have regarding grant information and said he would work better on that. Gordon asked if they could put a separate line item on the ballot asking for $25,000 for capital park improvements. Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, stated she could run the numbers and see what that would do to the bottom line on her budget. Chris Leach stated that if a line item was going on the ballot for $25,000 there should be a detailed list of things that money would be used for in the parks. More discussion took place regarding maintenance in the parks and Betsy Fournier thanked the Board for their time and consideration. She also mentioned the beautiful greens and berries on the bridge and said Maddie Lampman, Crystal Lampman’s daughter, made them. Neal Speer said he did notice them and they look great with the solar lights in them. Neal also stated he can appreciate what they want for the parks and asked if they have approached the Town of Swanton as well. He said maybe they could pool their resources with the Town. Betsy said she was attending their Selectboard meeting on Tuesday and would ask them.

 

 

 

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, November 23, 2020:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, November 23, 2020 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

 

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, December 11, 2020:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Friday, December 11, 2020 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

 

7. Swanton Village Police Department Update:

 

Chief Joey Stell stated the Village Police Department responded to 129 complaints in the Village for the month of November. He said they issued 26 traffic warnings and issued 10 tickets totaling $1571.00. He said Spring Street, First Street, Canada Street, Greenwich Street and New Street were the main areas of violations.  The Board thanked him for his update.

 

8. Discuss 2021 Draft Budgets:

 

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, said her electric, water and sewer revenue numbers weren’t updated yet and also said health insurance went up only 1% overall this year. She said this is the lowest increase they’ve seen in a long time. She also said their workman’s compensation module went down and property and liability insurance went up but said everything balanced out.

 

Electric Fund: Lynn said there is nothing out of the ordinary in this fund. She said Hydro Maintenance includes a trash rake overhaul and their 5-year maintenance plan. She said purchase power is up and VPPSA is working on it. Lynn stated some computers need to be upgraded in the office. Adam Paxman asked about the bank charges line item going up a bit and Lynn said more people are paying online now because the office is closed to the public. She said more people are using the online bill pay features. Eugene LaBombard asked about the retirement line item and Lynn said she has to adjust that number annually using GASB rulings. She said it includes the present value and future benefit. Lynn said her goal was to try and level fund this year and said they’ve worked hard on going through the year with no increase.

 

Water Fund: Lynn said the Reservoir needs to be cleaned out this coming year and said it’s done every five years. She said chemicals are stable and testing costs went up a bit. She said overall there isn’t much change in this fund.

 

Sewer Fund: She said they are working on their test pilot study and said the costs for chemicals and testing is up in this fund. She said there is very little debt right now and the engineering that’s being done can be deferred until their bond vote which will be in 2022 or 2023.

 

Highway Fund: Lynn said she adjusted the labor in her summer and winter streets and said the total is the same it’s just split differently this year. She said their last payment on the sidewalk plow will be in 2021. She said they need a new street line and crosswalk line painter as well as a new plow truck but have funds in their savings account for this.

 

General Fund: Lynn said she increased lawns and parks to $20,000 and they are hiring two summer part-timers next year. She said they’ve discussed the need for more space at the complex and have asked their engineer to come up with a different plan. She said the original plan would cost approximately $5 million dollars and Reg said he talked with a local contractor and something could possibly be done for approximately $500,000. Lynn said hopefully in 2022 they can present this to the voters for work to be done in 2023.

 

Fire Fund: Lynn said they worked hard and have level funded this department for the first time ever. She said they added tablets in their trucks which sends them GPS information and more details regarding the incident they are responding to. She said their dispatching fee didn’t increase and the price is a two-year hold. She said they made their last air pack purchase and would like permission to order a new gear dryer. Uniforms need to be washed and decontaminated between calls so this is very important. Otherwise, they would need two sets of gear which cost approximately $2000 each. She said the dryer cost approximately $9500. The Board of Trustees agree and gave permission for the fire department to go ahead and order it so the pricing doesn’t go up.

 

Police Fund: Lynn said she level funded this department as well. She said they need a new fingerprint machine and will do a three-year lease on a new one. She said there is a slight increase in the Student Resource Officer (SRO) and Town of Swanton contracts. Chris Leach asked if there is an SRO officer at the elementary schools. Chief Stell said not at the moment but this is something they are working on. He said there are grants that help defray the cost and their goal is to have one. Lynn said she adjusted some of the labor numbers in this fund because some of their hours are covered by grants such as Stone Garden. She said their cruiser lease ends in September and their new cruiser will be on the road in the next day or two.

 

Commercial Building Fund: Lynn said the only information in this fund is the Hotel Riviera property and the State of Vermont Recapture funds.

 

Lynn provided the Board with a list of anticipated expenses in each department. She then explained the Village’s estimated tax rate will go from $0.8722 to $0.8787 for an increase of $0.0065. The Board thanked Lynn for all her hard work on the budgets. Chris Leach said he wanted it noted that they are not looking to defund their police department.

 

9. Village of Swanton Ordinance Update:

 

Tabled until next meeting.

 

10. Any Other Necessary Business:

 

Adam Paxman informed the Board that he is working on something called “Hometown Heroes” in which a family of a service member can purchase a banner and it would be hung on utility poles throughout the community. He said he is hoping the municipality could hang the banners and he is looking to get this started.

 

Any Other Business: Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator gave an update on the downtown scoping study. She informed the board that there is a $60 grant available called “Better Places” that requires no match and she’d like to apply for it. She said this would take alternate ideas from the downtown scoping study and try some of them out. The Board agreed and told her to apply for the grant. She also informed the Board that she has submitted a letter of intent for a USDA Rural Grant program to begin Phase II of the cleanup for the Riviera Hotel property. She said the cost for Phase II is approximately $30,960 and the grant is for $30,000. The Board was pleased with this information.

 

11. Executive Session If Necessary:

 

Chris Leach made the motion to enter Executive Session to discuss Personnel at 9:02 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to exit Executive Session at 10:15 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

ACTION TAKEN: None.

 

12. Adjournment:

 

Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 10:15 p.m.  Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 10:15 p.m. Motion carried.

 

 

 

 

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date