SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST
STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
INFORMATIONAL MEETING & PUBLIC HEARING
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2013
7:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Ronald Kilburn, Village President; Chris Leach,
Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau,
Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village
Clerk; Leonard Stell, Chief of Police; Rick King, Fire Chief; Wayne Elliott,
Aldrich & Elliott; Darcy Scott, Sandy Kilburn, Ron Reynolds, Dick Thompson,
Jason Cross, Larry Wall, Louise LaBombard, Suzanne Washburn, Darla Blondo and
Channel 16.
Ronald Kilburn, Village
President, welcomed all to the Informational Meeting and Public Hearing and
called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. He led everyone in the Pledge of
Allegiance and also led a Moment of Silence for longtime community member Alan
Winters.
Unless otherwise noted, all
motions carried unanimously.
1. Informational
Meeting & Public Hearing – 2013 Village Annual Warning and Water Bond for
Reservoir Transmission Line and Village Distribution Lines:
Ron Kilburn, Village
President, reminded everyone that Swanton Village and Town will be celebrating
their 250th anniversary celebration this summer. He read the 2013 Village
Annual Warning. Reg Beliveau, Village Manager; read the General Fund and
Highway Fund articles and asked if there were any questions. None were asked. He
then read the Fire Department article and asked Rick King to help explain some
of their budget items. Rick stated they tried to keep their budget as low as
possible but the new truck has been ordered and will be delivered this summer.
He said his budget went up $6,482 and some of that was insurance, things they
could not control. He thanked everyone for past support and hopes they will
continue to support the Fire Department. Larry Wall asked questions about the
maintenance of the vehicles and accident calls. Reg Beliveau also stated the
volunteer firefighters have not received a pay increase since 2006. He said he
has asked them about it and were told no because they would rather put that
money into equipment and training. He says that says a lot about the
department.
Reg read the Police
Department article and asked for questions. Ron Reynolds stated he had several.
He asked about the department having 6 full time and 5 part time officers so
why are they hiring another part time officer. He asked about the miscellaneous
income increasing, the Town of Swanton police contract stating covering the
Town of Swanton and Highgate is costing the Village taxpayers money, he asked
about grant money going from $37,462 to $0 and also asked about the non cash
gift that’s listed in the Village Report. Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village
Manager, stated the grant income refers to the SRO (Student Resource Officer)
that works at MVUHS. She said there is no longer a contract in place for the
coming year and MVU will now pay his
salary so she couldn’t list it under grant income. Instead his salary is listed
in the miscellaneous income. Lynn also stated that the Town Police Contract is
for Swanton Town only, they do not cover the Town of Highgate. Chief Stell
advised that the non cash gift was from the State of Vermont Military
Department. He said they received two humvees and a boat and are able to let
other departments in the Village use them. He said the humvees are equipped
with all sorts of things that would help the Public Works and Electric Departments
out in an emergency. He said the boat will be used by the Fire Department. Lynn
also explained the Town Police Contract only list $29,190 for 2013 because she
doesn’t have a signed contract in place for that either. She said the voters
will need to approve it in March so until then it’s not on the books. Dick
Thompson stated the Town lists it as an expense for the year and asked why she
didn’t book it. She stated her accounting practices lead her to do it this way
and that whether it’s listed or not it doesn’t change the tax rate. Ron Kilburn
stated his questions were addressed and that they would now move on.
Reg then read the Surplus Funds
article and Larry Wall stated this has been a bone of contention with him. He
feels if there are surplus funds in a department they would be inclined to
overspend those funds on something they really didn’t need which would affect
the taxpayers. Chris Leach stated the voters addressed this years’ ago and
requested they do this. He said it helps offset budgets and is used to purchase
something useful. He said they could show the taxpayers where all funds go.
Lynn stated she agreed with Mr. Wall but said as of now there is a little bit
of a surplus in the Police and Fire Departments. She said the surplus funds in
the Highway Department were turned back to the taxpayers because of First Street
needing to be re-paved.
Reg then read the Message
Board request article. Chris Leach stated they received bids on this and it
will cost $5200 to build a Message Board to be placed downtown. They are
thinking of possibly putting it over by the Chamber office. He said this board
will also be able to hold banners and they will do away with the public notices
at the end of First Street in the park. He said this would be neat and
attractive and designed to fit downtown. Suzanne Washburn stated the Chamber of
Commerce should pay for this. Chris said their tradition has been to beautify
the parks paid for by the Village not the Chamber of Commerce. Adam Paxman said
it’s not definite that it’s going by the Chamber Office. Darla Blondo said she
agreed with Suzanne on this issue. The Board said that’s why it was added to
the Ballot, so the taxpayers can decide.
Ron Kilburn asked if there
were any further questions regarding any of the budget items. None were asked.
He thanked everyone for their questions. He stated the Public Hearing would be
heard next.
Reg Beliveau began the Public
Hearing by informing everyone of the many water breaks Mike Menard and his crew
have been working on recently. He showed the difficulty in getting to the water
break on the transmission line that is located down by the river behind Hodgdon
Brothers. He said the last break they worked on totaled 33 hours and was in the
middle of a snow storm. He said the crew worked through the night so customers
were not affected by loss of water. Reg also mentioned the water leaks on
Canada and Dunning Street, Middle Road and Grand Avenue. He said there is
another leak on the transmission line as well and the crew will get to that one
as soon as they can.
Wayne Elliott, Aldrich &
Elliott Engineers, explained that his firm did a study of the Village water
system back in 2009 to identify transmission and distribution deficiencies. He
said they then prioritized areas for improvements. He stated the Reservoir
Transmission Main Problems are: It’s still the original 12” cast iron pipeline
susceptible to leaks and water loss, portions of the pipeline are under the
Missisquoi River and not accessible for maintenance or repairs, undersized
pipes limit fire flows to the Village and if the main is out of service, very
limited fire protection is provided to the Village and a recent leak took
approximately 33 hours to locate and repair.
Wayne explained the
Distribution Piping Problems include: original 1940’s cast iron pipelines with
universal joints, potential for frequent leaks and water loss, 2 recent leaks
were repaired, the latest on Canada Street caused a water loss of about 130,000
gpd (gallons per day); and said that areas with 6” pipes are undersized for
fire flow conditions.
Aldrich & Elliott
recommended Water System Improvements are: Reservoir Transmission Main
(Contract No. 2) and Distribution Piping (Contract No. 3). The Reservoir
Transmission Main Contract No. 2 would install 12,000’ of new 16” transmission
main on Robin Hood Drive, Rail Trail, Waugh Farm Rd., Donaldson Rd. and
Reservoir Rd. They would also directional bore under the river crossing.
Distribution Piping would be installed on Fourth Street, Second Street and
Canada Street. Wayne advised there would be 1,120’ of new 12” waterline
installed on Fourth Street from Grand Avenue to Liberty Street. There would
also be new water services and curb stops installed along with new fire
hydrants and new valves. Second Street would have 1,200’ of new 10” waterline
installed from Grand Avenue to Greenwich Street. There would be new water
services and curb stops along with new fire hydrants and new valves. Canada
Street would have 1,400’ of new waterline installed from Grand Avenue to Spring
Street with new water services and curb stops, new fire hydrants and new
valves.
Wayne showed the Total
Project Cost Summary to be: Contract No. 2 Reservoir Transmission Main
$2,070,000 and Contract No. 3 Distribution Piping $1,000,000 for a total of
$3,070,000. He explained the Bond Vote amount requested is $3,070,000. He said
the Village would also seek approval to use the uncommitted funds from the
Water Treatment Plant upgrade which is $800,000. If approved the total bond
would be $2,270,000. Wayne explained the available funding source is the State
of Vermont Drinking Water Revolving Loan for a term of 20 years with an
interest rate of 3.0%. He said the annual loan amount would be $206,300.
The Projected Impact on Water
Rates: Debt retirement paid by Village and Town water customers, the loan
repayment begins in 2016, the monthly water bill will increase by $4 per month
for a typical Village residential customer.
Suzanne Washburn asked if
this was part of the $8.75 million dollar contract the Village asked for a few
years ago and asked if the Village is getting less feet of coverage for more
money now. Wayne stated yes they are getting less work done and each year it
increased by 3 to 4%. He said smaller jobs throughout the Village could be done
through capital expense funds and not by bonds. Suzanne said that had they
gotten approval a few years ago the Village would have more feet of coverage.
She urged the taxpayers to approve this article. She said the Highway crew is
always on task when there is a break and they should be commended for their
work.
Reg also advised everyone
that Lynn has been working with Mike on a 5 year plan. They are now funding
depreciation in the water rates and are hoping to repair 500 feet of pipe each
year on some of the smaller streets throughout the Village. The Village will be
able to pay cash for these jobs by funding depreciation.
Larry Wall stated the park
benches in the Village Green are very nice and asked if any trash receptacles
were going in. Reg stated yes they are going to order some.
Reg Beliveau showed everyone
the Village’s Year in Review 2012 slideshow of various projects done throughout
the Village of Swanton. Some of the projects shown were construction at the
Water Plant, installing the Transformer on Elm Street, Swanton Mobil job,
safety training in the Electric Department, Verizon Tower ready work at the
Complex, the installation of Unit #5 at the Hydro Plant, Fish and Wildlife
stocking salmon by the Power House, the Solar Aerator installation at the Waste
Water Plant, the 16” valve installed on the water transmission line behind
Project 10; planting trees in the Village Green, the new benches, new sidewalks
installed, MVU artwork in the Office, the Duck Stamp artwork displayed, the new
Complex sign, new vinyl siding on the Complex, the Village President and Police
Officer Andrew Underwood being sworn in and the 2012 retiree’s.
Reg also mentioned some of
the 2013 upcoming projects which include fixing more water main leaks,
transmission and distribution upgrades, sidewalk repair, park improvements,
First Street paving, bridge deck repairs, UV System upgrade at the Waste Water
Plant, pole replacements in the Electric Department fiber optic cable to be run
at Water Plant and Waste Water Plant as well as completing lagoons.
Lynn also stated that Swanton
Village continues to have the lowest electric rates in the State of Vermont and
that is a huge testament to the Hydro Plant and trimming our lines. She stated
the tax rate went from .6524 to .6872. The Board thanked those who attended.
2. Any Other Necessary Business:
None
3. Executive Session (if necessary):
None
ADJOURN: Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Informational
Meeting and Public Hearing at 9:10 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. There being no
further business at hand Ronald Kilburn, Village President, adjourned the
meeting at 9:10 p.m.
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Ronald Kilburn, Village
President Date
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Dianne
Day, Village Clerk Date