This page is maintained by Swanton Village, Inc and is intended to be the official online posting of public meetings and minutes in accordance with Vermont’s Open Meeting law (Amended July 1st, 2014).

Monday, April 28, 2014

Trustee Meeting Minutes - April 28th, 2014

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