SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
120 FIRST
STREET
REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 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; and Channel 16.
Ronald Kilburn, Village
President, welcomed all to the Regular Board of Trustees Meeting and called the
meeting to order at 7:07 p.m.
Unless otherwise noted, all
motions carried unanimously.
1. Approve and Accept the
Minutes from Monday, November 26, 2012 Meeting:
Chris Leach made the motion
to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, November 26, 2012 as presented. Adam
Paxman seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach wanted it mentioned that the $5 million
dollar approved Water Treatment Plant is under budget at around $4.1 million
dollars. He said this says a lot about the engineering firm and about the
Village Manager’s role in this. Reg also said Brian Bishop was instrumental in
keeping the cost down and he thanked the Board for their kind words. Motion
carried.
2. Approve Village
Warrants Through November 30, 2012:
Adam Paxman made the motion
to approve and accept Village Warrants (#503-#504) through November 30, 2012 as
presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked what vendor
Cross Machine Inc. was for. Reg explained that was for repair to the rake at
the dam. He said it is 24 years old and needs major repair and said that is
going in the 2013 budget. Motion carried.
3. Transco Equity Call:
Lynn Paradis, Assistant
Village Manager, explained to the Board how Transco was formed in 2006. She
stated that usually yearly equity becomes available for sale to electric
utilities in Vermont. She advised that VPPSA purchases on behalf of the
utilities because they can handle the cash flow and do not need voter approval
to do so. She explained the quarterly dividends paid to the Village on this
stock and said they also received credit towards their purchase power costs.
Lynn advised there are 12 utilities purchasing equity through VPPSA with
Transco. She advised the accounting principles are approved by the VT Public
Service Board. Lynn said she is seeking Board approval to purchase $445,350
worth of equity and also permission to purchase any oversubscriptions if
available.
Chris Leach made the motion
to authorize Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager, to allow VPPSA to purchase on
the Village of Swanton’s behalf $445,350 in Transco Equity. He also authorized
the purchase of any oversubscriptions, if available. Adam Paxman seconded.
Motion carried.
4. 2013 Budget Discussions:
Lynn Paradis advised the VLCT
Workers Compensation and Property Liability Insurance increased by 8% for 2013 and
she updated the numbers in all departments to reflect that. She stated that the
Highway Department was up 1.8% for 2013; the Fire Department was up 16.5% due
to the new truck payment. There are dispatching fees and insurance payments in
this budget that have increased. She said this is a very tight budget and there
aren’t many things he can influence. Lynn said she is waiting for more numbers
from the Hydro Plant, specifically what it cost to repair the butterfly valve
there. She said that Joe Letourneau is putting together a four year plan on the
generators and said he would be purchasing a Preventative Maintenance Program
for each one of our plants. Once all data is entered in the program you can
print a repair and maintenance schedule on a daily basis. More employees will
be involved in this.
Lynn said the Water Plant is
status quo and said this will be a learning year due to the upgrade. She said
she is also seeing a decrease in heating cost in the General Fund due to the insulation
and new siding on the Village Complex.
Lynn advised there is a 5.1%
increase in the Police Department. Chief Stell was present for this discussion
and said that he is waiting to see if the Village receives the Town Police
Coverage proposal for 2013 and is also waiting to hear back from MVU regarding
the SRO (Student Resource Officer). Chris Leach asked him if the department was
fully manned. Chief Stell said if they receive the Town Coverage for next year
he will need to hire one full time officer. Reg stated that he worked with the
SRO and MVU on their lock down and safety plan and said that their SRO Kevin
Cleary puts in more hours there than he gets paid for. He said he can’t say
enough good about him and said the students there need this relationship.0
Adam Paxman asked about the
11.5% increase in the General Fund. Lynn advised she brought the Park
Maintenance labor up by about $7,000 because the crew is spending a lot more
time there. Chris Leach asked if they were planning on asking for another
$8,000 for park improvements for 2013. The Board all agreed to this. They
discussed planting more trees, replacing light poles, adding sidewalks and a
bike rack. They also discussed having a separate line item for Christmas
decorations.
Lynn advised that overall the
2013 budget is up by about 5%.
5. Discussion on Water
Transmission and Distribution Lines:
Eugene LaBombard stated they
wanted to keep this item on the agenda. Reg advised they would be having their
job meeting at the Water Treatment Plant next week. He said if they did the
transmission line down the Waugh Farm Road, he would like to do some revenue
projections for the Industrial Park and MVU. He said with Wal-Mart coming in
they are hoping to draw more businesses to the area and he is hoping the
infrastructure will be in place. Chris said this should be discussed further
after the WTP job meeting. Eugene stated they should go ahead and ask for a
bond to do this transmission line replacement. Chris said he would like to see
what this would do to residential water bills first.
6. Any Other Necessary
Business:
Ron Kilburn asked if the
Village was having a Christmas party this year. He was told the Village has a
Christmas dinner at the Complex each year. He said maybe the Town and Village
could hold a Christmas party together next year. The Board liked this idea.
Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau advised the Board about the Operation Happiness schedule
being held at the Village Complex from December 8th through December
15th.
7. Executive Session (If Needed):
Adam Paxman made the motion
to enter into Executive Session at 8:27 p.m. to discuss Personnel. Chris Leach
seconded. Motion carried.
Adam Paxman made the motion
to exit Executive Session at 8:50 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 8:50 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being
no further business at hand Ron Kilburn, Village President; adjourned the
Regular Board of Trustees meeting at 8:50 p.m.
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Ronald Kilburn, Village
President Date
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