SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, December 9, 2013
7:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Ron Kilburn, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee;
Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reg Beliveau, Village Manager;
Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Molly Lambert, Hank Lambert and Sandy Kilburn; and
Channel 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all
motions carried unanimously.
Ron Kilburn, Village
President, welcomed all to the regular Board of Trustees meeting and called the
meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Ron Kilburn stated they would
hear #3 first to accommodate our guests.
3. Discuss Downtown Improvement Program:
Molly Lambert thanked the
Board for having her and Hank come in and explain what the Downtown Improvement
Program is all about and what they are working on. She also thanked Sandy and
Ron Kilburn for becoming involved in this group. She said this group is very
interested in continuing to work on making Swanton a great place to live, work,
play and learn. She said that is their mission. She thanked Rich Kelley and Reg
Beliveau for work on their website. She said their next step was to establish a
steering committee and they have Marie Frye, Ross Lavoie, Kathy Lavoie, Earl
Fournier and Amanda Torrey. She said their objective is to formulate an action
plan. Reg Beliveau talked about the survey that was sent out by the group and
how they are working with these surveys. Chris Leach stated he would love to
see more industry locate in Swanton. Molly stated when you see a community
succeed people are proud to live here, you see the vibrancy and outside
businesses are intrigued by that. Sandy Kilburn stated that some of the things
asked for on the survey were art, music, food, walk-able and friendly access to
river activities. She said they need to energize these things. Chris stated
they have so much traffic going through Swanton, they need to find something
that they want to stop for. Reg stated that a lot of money was spent on programs
that went nowhere in the past, he said these things need to happen and need
action. Chris Leach stated that this is a bedroom community and a lot of people
aren’t here enough, they’re going to Chittenden County. Molly invited Chris to
join their committee. Reg stated that Molly and Hank have a process and they
need to work through it. He said this is a great group of forward thinkers.
Molly stated that sometimes “singles” are better than “homeruns” and that you
need to lay a foundation and it will mount. Ron Kilburn asked Molly and Hank to
state their credentials from past jobs and experience.
Molly thanked the Board and
stated she would keep them regularly informed on what’s going on with the
Downtown Improvement Program. She also mentioned the Front Porch Forum that was
created on Facebook.
1. Approve and Accept
Minutes from Monday, November 25, 2013 Meeting:
Chris Leach made the motion
to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, November 25, 2013 as presented. Adam
Paxman seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach stated the Eagle Scout project is
called the Military Service Appreciation Monument. Motion carried with change.
2. Approve and Accept
Village Warrants through Friday, December 6, 2013:
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #643-#645 through December 6,
2013 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach asked about
the VPPSA payment for $44,976.77. Reg Beliveau stated that the Village is over
budget about $345,000 on purchase power this year. Motion carried.
4. Northwest Access TV “Watch Online” Service Request:
Reg Beliveau informed the
Board that Northwest Access TV (Channel 16) is offering the Village an internet
video hosting service called “Watch Online.” “With this additional service,
meetings that are recorded can be stored online for viewing at any time, from
any location on any type of internet-capable computer or mobile device.” The
cost of this service is $50 per meeting and covers all expenses for preparing
the meeting video for online viewing, hosting the video without commercials and
support for your website manager to place the video on the Village’s website.
The Village meets twice per month so this would cost $100 per month. The Board
discussed the pros and cons and asked Reg to talk with Elizabeth Malone at NW
Access TV and ask about storage, the ability to track residents with the
computer, how much interest there is in this, and if we could use their website
instead of the Village’s. Reg stated he would bring back further information when
he had it.
5. Any Other Necessary
Business:
Chris Leach asked if the
Village was doing appraisals this year. Reg stated yes they would be by the end
of the year. He said they would be scheduling a meeting with the Board in the
next week or so to work on budgets. Chris stated he read the cost of living
(COLA) this year is about 1 ½% Eugene LaBombard stated that the Board did very
well with insurance this year and wanted to keep that in mind when discussing
wage increases. Chris Leach also stated he wanted to sit and discuss the Grand
List and asked that I put it on the next agenda. He also asked if anything
happened with the downtown camera. Reg stated he has not heard back from them
as of yet.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated he attended the Fire Department’s Christmas party
on Saturday night and three awards were handed out. He said two Firefighter of
the Year awards were presented to Ronnie Greeno and Dustin Robtoy. Adam stated
a Years of Service award was presented to Garth Lizotte. Adam wanted to remind
everyone that Christmas in the Park will be held on Saturday, Dec. 14 with a
tree lighting ceremony at 4 p.m. He said the Cub Scouts will be helping to
decorate the park. Adam also stated on December 2nd he attended an
Incident Command Center meeting and it was very enlightening. He said it
touched on what the role of a trustee would be in the event of a disaster
and/or emergency action plan. He also reminded everyone the next JLB meeting
will be held here on Wednesday, Dec. 18th at 7 p.m.
Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau informed everyone that on Friday, Dec. 13th
from 6 to 8 p.m. four local businesses will have Santa Claus and activities for
the kids. These businesses are Champlain Insurance, The Village Cone, Katie’s
Pet Grooming and the Hair Loft. He said there will be a scavenger hunt and hot
cocoa. He also stated the Water Project is complete until spring at which time
some places will be top soiled and re-seeded.
Any Other Business: Ron Kilburn stated at the JLB meeting on Dec. 18th they
will be discussing the water and sewer lines that feed the Fourth Street Garage
and whether or not bigger lines need to be installed. Reg stated it depended on
what was going in there.
Any Other Business: Chris Leach asked if anyone
has heard anything about the Space Challenger Center and what the status of
that project is. They agreed they would ask about this at the next JLB meeting.
6. Executive Session (If
Necessary):
None.
ADJOURN: Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular
Board of the Trustees meeting at 7:58 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. There being no
further business at hand, Ronald Kilburn, Village President, adjourned the
meeting at 7:58 p.m.
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Ronald Kilburn, Village
President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date