SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013
7:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Ron Kilburn, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee;
Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reg Beliveau, Village Manager;
Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Leonard
Stell, Chief of Police, and Channel 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all
motions carried unanimously.
Ron Kilburn, Village
President, called the meeting to order at 7:58 p.m.
1. Approve and Accept
Minutes from Monday, June 24, 2013 Meeting:
Adam Paxman made the motion
to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, June 24, 2013 as presented. Chris
Leach seconded. Discussion: Eugene LaBombard asked if Wayne Elliott was making
progress with the water project. Reg stated they are at 90% completion for July
and things are going good. Adam Paxman asked if we were making progress on
inviting the State Representatives to a board meeting to discuss First Street
and the truck traffic. I told him I was working on it, but it should work out
for an August meeting. Chris Leach stated that under “Adjourn” Chris Leach was named
Village President instead of Trustee, made correction. Motion carried with
correction.
2. Approve and Accept
Village Warrants through Friday, July 5, 2013:
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #582-#586 through July 5, 2013 as
presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach asked what Round Hill
Fence was used for. Reg advised it was to purchase a new fence around the low
lift station on Maquam Shore, part of the Water Treatment Plant upgrade. Motion
carried.
3. Police Department
Update:
Chief Stell handed out a
Speed Survey done on several streets throughout the Village. He said this
report shows the volume of traffic and type of violation. He stated that Spring
Street has a greater number of vehicles in violation and said the average speed
recorded was 34 mph. He said this study allows his department to know what time
frame these offenses are occurring in and that will help in enforcing it. He
said his goal was to bring the speed average to 30 mph. He said he received
complaints about speeding on Jewett St. and after setting up there the average
speed recorded was 20 mph and said there were no issues there. Eugene LaBombard
stated this report was very informative. Chief Stell advised the Board to let
him know if they had any concerns or know of any problem areas. Eugene stated
he felt speed was an issue on Canada St. Chief Stell also addressed the Letter
to the Editor that ran in the St. Albans Messenger regarding parking downtown.
He said they looked at several vehicles, chalked tires and said there was only
one violation in a two week period. He said they are actively enforcing the
issue. Adam Paxman said they appreciate his hard work and said his efforts are
not going unnoticed. Chris Leach said he would like a police presence when
school starts back up during the morning drop off and the afternoon pick up.
Chief Stell stated that Eugene Rich targets that area in the morning and he is
there during the afternoon hours.
4. Linda Daneau Water
& Wastewater Allocation Request for 104 Spring Street:
Chris Leach made the motion
to enter into a Water Commissioner’s meeting to hear this item Adam Paxman
seconded. Motion carried.
The Board was informed that
Linda Daneau is requesting permission to connect to the Village Wastewater
System at 104 Spring Street and is also requesting permission to connect to the
Swanton/Highgate Water Association which is fed by Village water. Chris Leach
made the motion to approve Linda Daneau’s request to connect to the Village Wastewater
System at 104 Spring St. He also made the motion to approve her water
connection if she gets approval from the Swanton/Highgate Water Association and
pays all necessary fees associated with connections. Eugene LaBombard seconded.
Motion carried with one abstention.
Adam Paxman made the motion
to exit Water Commissioner’s meeting. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
5. Adopt Post Issuance
Compliance Procedures:
Lynn Paradis, Assistant
Village Manager, informed the Board that all Village bonds are tax exempt. She
said the IRS has regulations surrounding that and they are asking
municipalities to put in writing Post Issuance Municipal Bond Compliance
Procedures. Chris Leach asked her how much time this should take her. She
advised it shouldn’t take long if she didn’t have any expended funds. Chris
asked if there were any downsides to this. She said they wouldn’t be able to
finance through the Bond Bank if they didn’t adopt these procedures. She stated
this was just another internal control procedure. Reg Beliveau asked if our
auditors would review these. Lynn advised she would send the certification to
the Bond Bank once they adopt it. She assumed it would blanket all the existing
bonds they have now, but said she would find out for sure. Eugene LaBombard
made the motion to Adopt Post Issuance Compliance Procedures. Adam Paxman
seconded. Motion carried.
6. SWAN CD -- Use for Park
Improvements:
Lynn Paradis, Assistant
Village Manager, informed the Board that the Village has a CD worth $4249.87
that has matured on July 3, 2013. She said this CD is named “SWAN” so she
assumes it was to be used in the Village Parks. She is requesting permission to
close this CD and use it toward park improvements. Chris Leach suggested
looking at the lights in Flat Iron Park. Reg Beliveau stated they also wanted
to look at the Swanton Beach area and open the parking area more. He said they
need benches, lighting, sidewalks, etc. Chris Leach made the motion to
authorize Lynn Paradis to close the SWAN CD and use those funds for park
improvements. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
7. VT Transco Equity Call:
Lynn Paradis, Assistant
Village Manager, informed the Board that the Village needs to decide if they
will use Velco to purchase Transco Equity Calls or will they do it on their
own. She said if they were to do it on their own they would have to file a 108
with the Public Service Board and then get voter approval. If they were to use
Velco they would assign equity interest to Velco and Velco would pay Swanton
Village quarterly dividends like they do now. Lynn stated she would recommend
using Velco to purchase Transco Equity rather than doing it on their own. Chris
Leach made the motion to authorize Lynn Paradis to go through Velco for the VT
Transco Equity Call. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
8. Ben & Jerry’s Coin
Drop Request:
The Board was informed that
Ben & Jerry’s is requesting permission to hold a coin drop on Saturday,
July 20 or Saturday September 7, 2013 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Adam Paxman
stated he was fine with their request as long as they didn’t do it on July 27th
because of the Car Show. Chris Leach asked what their benefit was, I stated it
was to benefit Relay for Life. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Ben
& Jerry’s Coin Drop request for July 18, 2013 with a rain date of August 3,
2013 or on Saturday, September 7, 2013 with a rain date of Saturday, September
14, 2013. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
9. Utility Pole Ordinance
Request:
Reg Beliveau, Village
Manager, informed the Board that if the Village of Swanton adopts a Utility
Pole Ordinance this would limit the timeframe a utility company can have double
wood on any given street. This would also provide guidelines that need to be
followed by all utility companies attaching to utility poles. Chris Leach made
the motion for the Village of Swanton to adopt a Utility Pole Ordinance. Adam
Paxman seconded. Motion carried. Reg stated he would put one together and bring
it back to the Board for approval.
10. Any Other Necessary
Business:
Chris Leach asked how the
rate case was going. Reg stated they were asked if they would extend the
comment period to July 19 because of the holiday and he did so. Chris also
asked how the generation numbers were with all the rain. Reg said he hadn’t had
time to check that yet but said he assumed it was a high volume. Chris also
asked if the Village has heard anything about Swan Valley, the cheese plant.
Reg stated he hasn’t heard anything.
Any Other Business: Lynn Paradis stated that the new fire truck would be
delivered on July 11th and said the old one was traded it on the new
one. She said the Board already authorized the loan for $274,000.00. The total
price for the truck is $475,000.00 and she informed the Board that she will be
receiving a check from Union Bank for $112,113.06 and a check from Merchants
Bank for $88,886.94 so she will be writing a check for $201,000.00 for the
remainder of the truck this week.
ADJOURN: Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular
Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:00 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There
being no further business at hand, Ronald Kilburn, Village President, adjourned
the meeting at 9:00 p.m.
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Ronald Kilburn, Village
President Date
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date