SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
120 FIRST
STREET
REGULAR MEETING & PUBLIC HEARING
MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 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; Chad Spooner & Dorey Myers, VT Department of Health; Shawn Cheney,
Anthony Russo; Donald Collins; Neal Speer; and Channel 16.
Ronald Kilburn, Village
President, welcomed all to the Regular Board of Trustees Meeting and Public
Hearing and called the meeting to order at 7 p.m.
Unless otherwise noted, all
motions carried unanimously.
1. Approve and Accept the
Minutes from Monday, August 13, 2012 Meeting:
Chris Leach made the motion
to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, August 13, 2012 as presented.
Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
2. Approve Village
Warrants Through August 24, 2012:
Adam Paxman made the motion
to approve and accept Village Warrants (#460-#464) Through August 24, 2012 as
presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked why vendor
Schonstedt Instrument Company was paid $3812.17. Reg Beliveau advised he
couldn’t remember but would follow up with that one tomorrow. Chris Leach asked
why vendor Mass Municipal Wholesale Electric was paid $18,847.04. Lynn Paradis
advised that is where we purchase power from as well as VPPSA. Chris also asked
who vendor Common Sense Controls was and Lynn advised that is for the
Programming Lock Controls at the Hydro Plant. Motion carried.
3. Set 2012 Tax Rate:
Lynn Paradis, Assistant
Village Manager; advised the Board that she had received the Grand List from
the Town of Swanton and she calculates the 2012 tax rate to be set at .6524
which is up a bit from what was estimated in the Village Report. The estimated
tax rate in the Village Report was .6523. She said this tax rate includes the $8000
for park improvements. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve the 2012 tax
rate to be set at .6524. Chris Leach seconded. Chris stated that Lynn did an
excellent job as usual. He said this tax rate reflects the fact that they are
putting money away for capital expenditures so that they can save money in the
long run. He said this rate is reasonable and serves two purposes. Motion
carried.
4. Chad Spooner, VT
Department of Health Community Update:
Chad Spooner thanked for the
Board for having him and Dorey Myers. He said they are going around to all the
different towns in the area explaining their Vision and Mission for the VT
Department of Health. He said most people think of WIC and restaurant
inspections when they think of the Department of Health. He said their WIC
program is run out of their St. Albans office but said they do not do
restaurant inspections. He explained their work with emergency preparedness and
mentioned working during Hurricane Irene last year and during the clean up
process.
Dorey Myers explained to the
Board a Day In the Life with Public Health. She is a public health nurse who
works in the school systems monitoring immunization records as well as several
other programs. She said they work on everything from washing hands, breastfeeding
programs, baby food classes, information on ticks and seat belt safety issues.
She stated that Swanton has grabbed the sense of a healthy community from their
recreation trail to their community gardens.
Chad also mentioned their
Facebook page and urged people to check them out online and get involved. He
said they have listed all Town Health Officers if they know who they are. Ron
Kilburn advised them that Dan Billado and his wife Lynn are Swanton’s Health
Officers and stated they work with Fit N Healthy through Amy Brewer. He asked
them if they had any information on the West Nile virus. Dorey stated there are
no human cases in Vermont this year and none in this area. She said they are
focusing on prevention and urged people to use mosquito repellant. The Board
thanked them for their information and presentation.
5. Public Hearing on Water
and Sewer Rate Increase:
Lynn Paradis, Assistant
Village Manager; advised everyone present that the last rate increase for water
and sewer was in 2006 and said that increase did not include money for capital
improvements.
She said the Water Debt
Service as of July 31, 2012 is a Bond Anticipation Note for $1,363,058; a
General Obligation Note (SRF Loan), with a forgiveness of $200,000, for
$2,074,438; and said their payments of $255,420 begin one year after the Water
Treatment Plant project completion. She said their first payment will be due in
2014.
She said their Wastewater
Debt Service as of July 31, 2012 is a Revenue Bond for $244,999; a General
Obligation Note for $566,244; a General Obligation Bond for $631,700 and their
principal and interest payments for 2012 were $238,866. Lynn said all three
bonds are CSO bonds from the 1990’s when they did their state mandated CSO
project in which they separated sewer from storm water. Lynn advised a revenue
bond is backed by the ratepayers and a general obligation is backed by
taxpayers. She said these are all included in the sewer rates as of now.
Lynn showed where they need
to get: water pipe infrastructure is
aged and in need of replacement; sections of the water system are being served
by undersized pipes; sewer plant UV system needs replacement; vactor was
purchased when the CSO project was done and is over 15 years old and the sewer
plant truck will need replacement in 2013.
She then showed how the
Village can get there: The Village can bond to fund any future projects that
are needed to insure it provides quality water and wastewater services or the
water and wastewater rates can be raised to an adequate level to put monies
aside to fund future capital investments. Lynn stated she feels it is better to
raise the rates in small amounts each year rather than large amounts every 4 to
5 years. Don Collins asked when the bonds were paid off would that be affected
in the rates. Lynn advised she was doing a five year plan in each department
and would factor that in.
Lynn then explained the
recommendations for the Water Rates: Bring the rates up in 2012 to begin
putting money aside for future capital purchases; raise the rates again in 2013
to set money aside for capital purchases; in 2014 the bond payments will begin
for the water plant project; raise the rates to a level in 2014 to cover the
debt service payments and review and adjust the rates each subsequent year to
cover the budget.
She explained the
recommendations for the Wastewater Rates: Increase the rates in 2012 to begin
setting money aside for future capital purchases; raise the rates again in 2013
to set money aside for capital purchases; and review and adjust the rates each
subsequent year to cover the budget and debt service.
Lynn advised everyone that
she ran several different scenarios including water meter size, user units, and
rate class tiers. She said the meter size and rate classes they have now are
very similar and feels keeping our rate classes they way they are is the most
fair way to bill.
Lynn showed examples of
residential, commercial and industrial bills showing the rate increase. A
Village residential account will see their customer charge increase from $7.66
to $14.00 per month. She explained the sewer rate would decrease from $1.67 per
thousand to $1.25 per thousand. This $1.25 flat sewer rate will now be charged
for all water used instead of going up the more water used. Don Collins was
pleased with the flat rate charge on water used when figuring the sewer cost.
Lynn stated that most residential Village accounts would see an increase of
approximately $7.64 per month if they are in the 5,000 gallon range. She stated
that if customers had questions regarding their usage or how much their bill
could increase to call or stop by the office and we would be happy to help them
before the increase takes place.
Reg Beliveau said that with
the water rate increase they are still below State average and the sewer rates
are very close to the State average. Lynn advised the Village would be
inserting a rate increase notice with all utility bills beginning this week.
Anthony Russo asked if a
similar rate increase could be expected next year. Lynn said yes in the water
department but not in the sewer department. Lynn stated that the bills that go
out in October for September’s usage would reflect the rate increase for 2012.
She is anticipating another rate increase in March 2013. Don asked Lynn if she thought about raising
the rates in 2012 high enough to cover what she anticipates for 2013 that way
customers didn’t have to deal with two rate increases in six months time? Lynn
stated the Board can set and raise the water and sewer rates when needed but
that she takes everything into consideration. The Board thanked Lynn for her
presentation and hard work.
6. Any Other Necessary
Business:
Adam Paxman advised the Board
that he has received calls from residents on First Street regarding the condition
of the pavement. He asked Reg Beliveau if he had an update on that issue. Reg
advised the Board that he received a quote from Pike Industries for $96,000 to
scarify the pavement, bring it down 1 ½ inches and resurface with a more
expensive asphalt. He said because of the very hot temperature this summer and
the heavy truck traffic the asphalt they put down last year has not held up. He
said they have approximately $22,000 in AOT grant money to do scarify and
resurface the bridge to Swanton Lumber, but said they have no grant money for
First Street. He said they could use that bridge grant money on First Street
instead but said that is still not enough money to cover the job.
Anthony Russo asked why the
State of Vermont doesn’t help pay to repair First Street. Reg advised the last
time they received money from the State for First Street was in 2001. He said
they need help now, they spent $57,000 to re-pave First Street last summer. He
said it would be October before they could do anything to repair First Street
and said he still looking into it. He said he has called the Agency of
Transportation and is waiting to hear back from them. Mr. Russo asked why they
couldn’t re-route the heavy truck traffic down Route 7 instead of First St.?
Ron Kilburn asked if there was a warranty on the product purchased last year?
Reg said no there wasn’t a warranty. He said he is going to contact Brian
Savage and Michel Consejo for help in contacting the right people in the State
for help with this.
Shawn Cheney stated that he
has many sleepless nights, his house literally shakes and this is also a safety
concern for motorcyclists. He said this is a very big concern for First Street
residents. Reg advised everyone he will continue to work on this and will keep
the Board and the public informed.
ADJOURN: Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular
Board of Trustees meeting and Public Hearing at 8:28 p.m. Chris Leach seconded.
There being no further business at hand Ron Kilburn, Village President; adjourned
the Regular Board of Trustees meeting at 8:28 p.m.
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Ronald Kilburn, Village
President Date
_____________________________________ _______________________________________