SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, May 12, 2014
7:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee;
Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reg Beliveau, Village Manager;
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 7:10 p.m.
1. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, April 28,
2014:
Chris Leach made the motion
to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, April 28, 2014 as presented. Adam
Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
2. Approve and Accept Warrants through Friday, May 9,
2014:
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to approve and accept the Warrants through May 9, 2014 as presented. Adam
Paxman seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach asked about the Holland Company payment
for $3618.65. Reg Beliveau stated that was for purchasing chemicals. Chris also
asked about the payment to Kansas State Bank for $3022.92. Reg stated that was
the lease payment for the Police Department cruiser. Chris asked about the US
Bank Operations payment on Warrant #46 for $193,422.10. Reg stated that was for
a bond payment. Motion carried.
3. 2014 VTrans Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Grant
Discussion:
Reg Beliveau informed the
Board that he had discussed this a couple of years ago with VTrans but they had
changed the amount of money they would match so they had to declined. Reg said
VTrans have brought it back up and Swanton Village is interested in looking at
it once again. He said the funds wouldn’t be ready until 2015 and said this
would entail making a bike and walking path from McDonald’s under the
Interstate overpass up to MVUHS. He said they would try and connect to the MVU
access road on the Frontage Rd. Chris Leach said he sees a lot of kids walking
up Route 78 towards the school so said this is necessary for their safety. All
Board members agreed that they wanted Reg to move forward with this and work
with Bethany Rimmers on obtaining a grant from VTrans to install a
bike/pedestrian trail. Reg said she is going to contact the Town of Swanton as
well and said he would keep the Board informed.
4. Any Other Necessary Business:
Chris Leach asked if anything
more has happened with the parking issue on Merchants Row. Reg Beliveau stated
they are still working on getting larger signs and putting maps up. He said
they are trying to be sensitive to everyone’s needs and said all these
customers are good for business on Merchants Row. He said the new gym is
handing out maps to their customers showing the municipal parking lots.
Any Other Business: Chris Leach asked how the table top exercise went. Reg Beliveau
stated there was a very good collaboration with the Swanton Police Department,
Border Patrol, Hazmat, St. Albans Police Department and Fire Department, St.
Albans Dispatch and Public Works Department. He said the meeting went very
well. Chris asked when the Hungry Hearts forum would be held. Reg stated on May
13th at 7 p.m. at the Village Complex. He stated that Swanton had
the largest attended forum and this was a follow up on that. He said they would
show the video again and have follow up discussions and the public is invited
to attend. Chris also informed the Board that the Solid Waste District has an
amendment to A148 and he’s trying to find out if it passed or not. He said it
has to do with pushing out the dates on A148 because the infrastructure will
not be able to handle it. He said he would find out and let the Board know.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated that he and Joel Clark are on the Memorial Day
Committee this year. He said the Memorial Day parade will be held on Monday,
May 26th and people who are in the parade will meet at the Raleigh
Memorial Ball Field at 2:30 p.m. and will proceed to the Park. Adam also stated
the swans will be in the park by Friday, May 16th. Adam also stated
that there was recently a poll done by a real estate company stating that
Swanton Village was the 8th best place to live in Vermont. Adam
asked Reg how the power production was going at the Hydro Plant. Reg stated it
was going very good and said that Unit #1 was still down. He said they are
going to wait until the water stops spilling before they fix it because there
would be too much pressure behind it.
Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard informed the Board that Mike Menard brought to his
attention the water pipe that runs across the Merchants Row bridge and what bad
shape it is in. The brackets that hold it have broke and the pipe is sagging
and the insulation looks very bad. Eugene stated he feels they need to do
something about this very soon. Reg passed around photos of the pipe showing
the brackets, missing insulation and poor condition of the pipe. Reg stated
that ECI will be coming up this week to do an inspection and give Mike Menard a
quote on repairing the pipe. Eugene stated there should be two pipes across
that bridge not one. He said if something happens to this one they will be in a
bad situation. The Board members agreed that this pipe needed to be repaired as
soon as possible and advised Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, to move forward
with this repair.
Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard stated he was trying to find some old archaeological
records there were done previously on the dam job, specifically the boring’s
that were done for the dam in the 1980’s. He asked Reg if anyone has found them
yet. Reg stated not yet but advised we would call George Lague, the previous
Village Manager, and ask him if he is aware of where they may be stored.
Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated he needed an Executive Session to discuss
personnel and to discuss real estate.
Any Other Business: Neal Speer stated that he has contacted someone regarding the
lighting on Merchants Row and he is waiting for them to come up and take a look
in front of Swanton Rexall and in front of the New Beginnings fitness center.
He said the fitness center is doing great even though there is a parking issue.
He said the Masonic Lodge is working on changing the sewer line in back of the
building right now because it keeps plugging up. He said the line is buried 13’
deep and it is quite a lot of work but will be nice when complete. Neal also
stated he went to the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting last week and
he said there are numerous plans going on at the Franklin County Airport. He
said the old hangars on the left as you are going in are coming out because
they are going to add 1000’ on to the
existing landing strip. He said three new hangars will go up and they
are going to remodel the terminal. He said they briefly discussed the bridge
and paving projects for 2016 in Swanton Village.
5. Executive Session (If Necessary):
Chris Leach made the motion
to enter into Executive Session to discuss Personnel and Real Estate at 8:00
p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
Chris Leach made the motion
to exit Executive Session at 8:32 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN:
The Board of Trustees approved Swanton Village conducting background checks on
employees who are associated with the Hydro Plant if necessary, to comply with
NERC (National Energy Regulatory Commission).
ADJOURN: Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular
Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:33 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no
further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting
at 8:33 p.m.
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Neal Speer, Village President Date
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date