SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST
STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2012
7:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Ronald Kilburn, Village President; Chris Leach,
Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau,
Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village
Clerk; Wayne Elliott, Brad Aldrich; John Lavoie; and Channel 16.
Ronald Kilburn, Village
President, welcomed all to the Regular Board of Trustees Meeting and called the
meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.
Unless otherwise noted, all
motions carried unanimously.
1. Approve and Accept the
Minutes from Tuesday, November 13, 2012 Meeting:
Chris Leach made the motion
to approve and accept the Minutes from Tuesday, November 13, 2012 as presented.
Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
2. Approve Village
Warrants Through November 21, 2012:
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to approve and accept Village Warrants (#498-#502) through November 21,
2012 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked what
vendor Kansas State Bank was for. Reg explained that was for the Solar Aerators
for the Waste Water Treatment Plant and that they have been shipped. Motion
carried.
The Board advised they would
skip to Item #4.
4. Wayne Elliott, Aldrich & Elliott, Discussion on
Water Transmission Lines:
Brad Elliott was also present
for this item. He advised he would present the Board with a Total Project Cost
Summary regarding the Water Treatment Plant Upgrade. He advised that they were
nearing completion and that both filters were online. He said they had some
minor last minute items to complete but said the overall project has gone well.
He advised that this project was voter approved at $5 million dollars and said
that some bids had come in better than projected. He advised they came in
approximately $789,000 under budget.
Chris Leach asked Brad if the
functionality of the pump and filters have surpassed expectations. Brad said
yes they have. He said there are a few small issues to work out but they have
been addressed and everything is going fine. He stated there is a one year
warranty so they will be available for any issues that may arise. Reg stated
that being the new Village Manager and coming on during the Water Plant upgrade
he couldn’t have asked for a better engineering firm to work with. He said it
has been a very good experience.
Wayne Elliott advised the
Board that they started working on this project in 2008 when they went through
the existing plant and water system and identified deficiencies. He said they
determined the Water Plant upgrade needed to be addressed first, then the
transmission line from the Reservoir to the Village and then ultimately the
infrastructure throughout the Village streets. He said the total cost for this
entire project would have cost nearly $9 million dollars. He said the Village
brought this before the voters and they rejected it twice. They then decided to
break the project into phases and the voters approved the Water Treatment Plant
upgrade at a cost of $5 million dollars. He said the bond written for this
project states “Water Treatment Plant Upgrade” so the remaining funds cannot be
used on the transmission line or any of the infrastructure without voter
approval.
Wayne showed the Board the
existing 12” main line that runs from the Reservoir, crosses the river and
feeds the Village. He said they strongly recommend this line be upgraded to a
16” main line and showed how they would run a new line in a better location.
He is asking the Board to
consider asking the voters to approve another bond to do this transmission line
replacement. He said with the remaining funds left over from the Water
Treatment Plant upgrade they would need an additional $1 million dollars to do
this job. He said they should also think about installing 8” water mains on
Fourth Street, Second Street and Canada Street and that would cost
approximately $850,000. He said these replacements would last at least 80
years.
Reg stated that there is
potential for future revenue there because this could feed water to the
Industrial Park and potentially customers along Route 78. More discussion took
place regarding the infrastructure and fire hydrant lines. Wayne said this
becomes a priority because of the timeline necessary to get this on the March
ballot if the Board so chooses. The Board agreed to think this over and keep on
future agendas. They thanked Wayne and Brad for attending and for their
presentation.
5. Authorization to Close
Bank of NY Accounts and Open US Bank Accounts:
Lynn Paradis advised the
Board that she needs permission to close the Bank of NY Accounts and also
permission to open accounts at US Bank. She stated a bank trustee has changed
and that the Village needs these accounts to make their bond payments
automatically. Chris Leach asked if there was a burden to the Village and Lynn
advised there was not.
Chris Leach made the motion
to authorize Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, to close existing Bank of
New York Accounts and to open a new account with US Bank. Eugene LaBombard
seconded. Motion carried.
7. MVUHS Substance Free
Celebration Coin Drop Request for April 6, 2013:
Adam Paxman stated his only
concern was that they use the appropriate safety vests, signage and barricades
because at their last coin drop that was an issue. Reg stated that issue has
been addressed with them. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve MVUHS’s
Substance Free Celebration’s request to hold a Coin Drop on Saturday, April 6,
2013 with a rain date of Sunday, April 7, 2013. Chris Leach seconded. Motion
carried.
6. 2013 Budget Discussion:
Lynn Paradis, Assistant
Village Manager, presented the Board with her first rough draft of the 2013
budgets.
Electric Department: Lynn stated that maintenance at the Hydro Plant
would be up a bit over the next four years and also said she didn’t have the
purchase power numbers yet from VPPSA. She also said maintenance of lines was
down due to a retirement and that they are not planning on hiring a new linemen
at this point. She also said there has been a decrease in postage due to
combining water and electric bills.
Water Fund: Lynn stated she decreased heat and electricity in
this fund for 2013. She said it was inflated in 2012 due to the construction
taking place. She said she didn’t have all the chemical numbers yet and said
Brian Bishop is working on that. She also stated that she shifted some of
public works labor to this fund because of labor tracking. She also said the
depreciation expense will go up in this fund, she said she is anticipating
putting $100,000 in this expense account for 2013.
Sewer Fund: Lynn advised that she decreased the electricity in
this fund because of the new solar aerators being installed. She said she may lower
it more depending on how much they save with the new aerators. She also
adjusted the maintenance labor because the lagoons need to be dredged and Jim
Irish may need to hire some part time help this summer. She said she also
needed to add the aerators lease numbers to this fund.
Commercial Building Fund: She stated she added $20,000 to the plant
maintenance line item due to the Memorial Building needing some repairs.
Highway Fund: Lynn said her summer streets and winter streets
labor is down a bit due to moving some of their labor to other funds. She said
the dump truck will be paid for in 2013 and also said the paving budget has
been doubled for 2013 to $72,000. She said the Village should be getting
$36,000 from the State of Vermont but haven’t as of yet.
General Fund: Lynn advised all departments pay rent into the
General Fund based on their square footage. She also said she is seeing lower
heat bills due to the efficiency upgrade done on the Complex.
Fire Department: Lynn stated the transportation expense has increased
in this fund due to repairs done to the fire trucks. She said one repair bill
was $14,000. She said she didn’t have the final cost of the new fire truck for
this department yet.
Police Department: Lynn advised she hasn’t sat down with the Police
Chief yet but said so far the salaries in this fund do not include another
officer due to retirement. She said their cruiser lease is in this budget and
said Chief Stell is happy with this lease agreement and would gladly do another
one.
Lynn advised the Board
members to look these rough draft numbers over carefully and to get back to her
with any questions they may have. The Board advised to also keep this item on
future agendas as well.
3. John Lavoie Request
Permission to Connect to Village Water Line at 219 Maquam Shore Road:
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to enter into a Water Commissioner’s meeting at 8:42 p.m. Adam Paxman
seconded. Motion carried.
John Lavoie was present for
this request and advised that when he built his new construction he had to
consider this part of his home and had to reduce his number of bedrooms by one.
He said he presently has a water meter on his main house and that he paid a
$1500 water connection fee back when he built his main house. He said he has a water
line that runs from his house out to his barn and stated he tapped into that
water line for the new dwelling. He said this is metered by the water meter on
the main house and said he intended no malice in doing this. Chris Leach stated
that capacity isn’t an issue now because of the Plant Upgrade.
Reg Beliveau stated that the
Water Ordinance states in Section 21 that a unit or building on your property
is considered a separate building and that would require having its own water
meter, curb stop and connection to the main line. He said if the building was
attached to his main house this wouldn’t apply. Chris asked John if he was
asking for forgiveness on the connection fee? John stated he would be happy to
pay the connection fee but stated he would rather not run a new line to the
main because his property is all ledge and this would be extremely difficult
and time consuming to do. He said he already connected to the barn line and
asked if it could remain that way. The Board agreed on not having to run a new
water line through the ledge down to the main line but stated a line had to be
run from the new water meter to the new dwelling.
More discussion took place
regarding the new dwelling needing its own curb stop so that the Village could
shut the water off there if ever necessary and also the placement of a new
water meter. It was decided that a water meter could be installed before their
main house meter and a water line run to the new dwelling. That water meter
would meter water used at the new dwelling as well as the barn. The board
agreed that John could install a curb stop at the new dwelling in the Spring of
2013.
Eugene Labombard made the
motion to approve John Lavoie’s request for permission to connect to the
Village Water Line at 219 Maquam Shore Rd. It was agreed that a $1500 water
connection fee would be paid, a water meter package would be purchased and
installed for the new dwelling and a curb stop would be installed in the Spring
of 2013. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to exit the Water Commissioner’s Meeting at 9:18 p.m. Adam Paxman
seconded. Motion carried.
8. Any Other Necessary
Business:
Chris Leach presented his
draft letter to be sent to area carpenters and builders for a design and quote
for his proposed Message Board to be installed in the Village Green. I advised
him I would send letter out this week for quotes. Chris stated they would
discuss it further once they received some quotes.
Any Other Business: Chris Leach asked Reg if he had an update for the
Fire Department. Reg stated that he worked on a meth lab dismantling in Hancock
last week. He also stated they responded to the forest fire on Fisher Pond Road
and that 5 to 8 acres burned. He said they also received a mutual aid call for a
house fire. He asked residents to be very careful when disposing of wood ash,
etc. He advised residents to get on NFPA.org website for hints on fire safety.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman reminded area residents of the Winter
Parking Ban to begin December 1st. Parking on Village streets is
banned from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. He also reminded residents of the upcoming
Christmas in the Park celebration to be held on Sunday, December 16th
from 1 to 3 p.m. and urged all to attend.
Adam advised he needed an
Executive Session tonight to Discuss Personnel.
Any Other Business: Ron Kilburn advised Neal and Evan Speer would be
giving a presentation at the Swanton Library on Sunday, December 9th
from 2 to 4 p.m. on their recent trip to Europe. He said this will be held upstairs
in the Library.
Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated he is thinking of have a
Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in the Park to remember those who have passed
away and said he would like to hold it the same day the Chamber of Commerce is
having their Christmas in the Park celebration. The Board thought this was a
good idea.
9. Executive Session (If Needed):
Chris Leach made the motion
to enter into Executive Session at 9:45 p.m. to Discuss Personnel. Eugene
LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Adam Paxman made the motion
to exit Executive Session at 10:20 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion
carried.
ACTION TAKEN: None.
ADJOURN: Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular
Board of Trustees meeting at 10:20 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being
no further business at hand Ron Kilburn, Village President; adjourned the
Regular Board of Trustees meeting at 10:20 p.m.
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Ronald Kilburn, Village
President Date
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Dianne
Day, Village Clerk Date