SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, April 28, 2014
7:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee;
Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reg Beliveau, Village Manager;
Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Leonard Stell, Chief of Police; Dianne
Day, Village Clerk; and Ch. 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all
motions carried unanimously.
Neal Speer, Village President,
welcomed all to the Regular Board of Trustees meeting and called the meeting to
order at 7:00 p.m.
1. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, April 14,
2014:
Adam Paxman made the motion
to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, April 14, 2014 as presented. Chris
Leach seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
2. Approve and Accept Warrants through Friday, April 25,
2014:
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to approve and accept the Warrants through April 25, 2014 as presented. Adam
Paxman seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman
asked about the Child Support payment on Warrant #40. Lynn Paradis stated this
was a weekly payroll garnish. Chris Leach asked about Warrant #37 for the Wesco
payment of $25,416.05 for the water project. Lynn stated this was for the final
payment on the Water Treatment Plant upgrade. Motion carried.
3. Chamber of Commerce – Swanton Signs:
Adam Paxman stated that the
Swanton Chamber of Commerce has contracted with an individual to re-paint the “Welcome
to Swanton” signs and said it cost $350 to refurbish each one. He is asking on
behalf of the Chamber if Swanton Village would like to sponsor the
refurbishment of a sign at a cost of $350. Adam stated credit would be given to
the Village on the sign for paying for it. Adam stated he would be asking
Swanton Town to sponsor a sign also. He also stated if any individual is
interested in sponsoring the refurbishing of a sign to please contact him.
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to appropriate $350.00 to refurbish one of the Chamber of Commerce’s “Welcome
to Swanton” signs. Chris Leach seconded. Adam Paxman abstained from the vote.
Motion carried.
4. Approve 2014 Vactor and Cruiser Lease:
Lynn Paradis advised the
Board she went to Municipal Leasing consultants to get bids for leasing the new
Police Department cruiser for three years and the new Sewer Department vactor
for ten years. She said the cruiser lease would be $36,000 for three years with
an interest rate of 2.69%. The monthly payment would be $1040. Lynn stated the
vactor lease would be $362,000 for ten years with an interest rate of $3.41%
with a monthly payment of $3500. She stated she is looking for authority to go
ahead with the lease documents. She said she already has a cruiser lease with
Municipal Leasing and also leased the aerators for the Sewer Plant through
them. These leases will also be bought out at the end of the lease for $1 each
and the vehicles will then be owned by the Village. Chris Leach asked if the
$3500 monthly payment would affect the rates. Lynn stated that payment is
already factored into the rates. She also said they would be selling the old
vactor outright and that money goes to the sewer department. She said it is 17
years old and they have had to put some money into it the last couple of years
for repairs.
Adam Paxman made the motion
to approve the 2014 vactor lease for $362,000 with an interest rate of 3.41%
and the cruiser lease for $36,000 with an interest rate of $2.69%, giving
Village Manager Reg Beliveau authority to sign all necessary documents
pertaining to such leases. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
5. Missisquoi Valley Rescue Coin Drop Request:
Village Clerk Dianne Day
informed the Board that the Missisquoi Valley Rescue is requesting permission
to hold a coin drop on Saturday, June 14 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon with a rain
date of Saturday, June 21 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to approve Missisquoi Valley Rescue’s request to hold a coin drop on
Saturday, June 14th from 9 a.m. to 12 noon (rain date June 21st,
9 a.m.-12 noon). Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried. Adam Paxman stated this
is the second coin drop for 2014.
6. Any Other Necessary Business:
Chris Leach informed the
Board that Reg Beliveau asked him to attend a VTrans meeting last week and he
said the main topic of that meeting was to see where they could improve. He
said most towns have a good relationship with the district contact. Chris said
the Town of Highgate stated they have no one with grant writing experience and
asked for help on that. He said the other issue towns had was they wanted to be
contacted whether or not they received a bid and wanted to see the winning bid
on a job so they knew what they lost out on and why. He said the meeting was
very informative.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated he brought up the Utility Pole Ordinance at the
last meeting and asked if that could be posted by the end of May. Reg stated
that he has a call in to the Fairpoint representative and is waiting to hear
back from them. He said he would be working on it and would let the Board know.
Adam also stated he spent some time with Mike Menard, Public Works Foreman,
looking at where they can do some infrastructure improvements. He said he would
let the Board know more later on.
Any Other Business: Chris Leach said he would like to get a map that showed all the
Municipal parking available in Swanton Village so they can put that up on
Merchants Row for the new business owner’s patrons. Eugene LaBombard stated the
signs that are up now have very small letters that say “Municipal Parking” and he
said the lettering should be larger.
Any Other Business: Lynn Paradis advised the Board she emailed them March’s financial
statements to look over.
Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau wanted to thank everyone for all the cards, calls and
food while he was out sick. He said he appreciated it very much.
Any Other Business: Neal Speer stated the new fitness center opened last week and is
doing very well.
Any Other Business: Chris Leach asked how the electrical generation was going. Lynn
Paradis stated it was down for March and February and if things don’t turn
around they will be over budget again on purchase power. Reg stated Unit #1 is
down and they are working on it.
Adam Paxman advised he would
need an Executive Session to discuss Personnel.
7. Executive Session (If Necessary):
Adam Paxman made the motion
to enter into Executive Session to discuss Personnel at 7:38 p.m. Chris Leach
seconded. Motion carried.
Chris Leach made the motion
to exit Executive Session at 8:05 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN:
None.
ADJOURN: Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board
of the Trustees meeting at 8:05 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no
further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting
at 8:05 p.m.
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Neal Speer, Village President Date
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date