SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, March 10, 2014
7:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee;
Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Lynn Paradis, Assistant
Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; and Ch. 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all
motions carried unanimously.
Chris Leach, Village Trustee,
welcomed all to the Regular Board of Trustees meeting and called the meeting to
order at 7:00 p.m.
1. Swear in elected officials for 2014: Dianne Day,
Village Clerk (one year term); Neal Speer, Village President (one year term);
Adam Paxman, Village Trustee (three year term); and Betty Cheney, Delinquent
Tax Collector (one year term):
Neal
Speer read his Oath of Office for Village President for a One Year Term. Adam
Paxman read his Oath of Office for Village Trustee for a Three Year Term.
Dianne Day, Village Clerk and Betty Cheney, Delinquent Tax Collector, were
sworn in on March 11, 2014 so they could do business as Clerk and Delinquent
Collector immediately, each for a one year term.
Village President Neal Speer
took over the meeting at this time.
2. Appoint a Treasurer for the Village of Swanton for
2014:
Eugene LaBombard appointed
Dianne Day as Treasurer for the Village of Swanton. Chris Leach seconded.
Dianne Day accepted position as Village Treasurer for 2014. Motion carried.
3. Approve and Accept Minutes from Informational
Meeting Wednesday, February 26, 2014:
Chris Leach made the motion
to approve and accept the Minutes from Wednesday, February 26, 2014 as
presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
4. Approve and Accept Warrants through Friday, March
7, 2014:
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to approve and accept the Warrants through March 7, 2014 as presented.
Adam Paxman seconded. Chris Leach asked about Warrants #23 and #24. Lynn
Paradis explained that was for the refunds owed to customers due to the
electric rate increase that didn’t get approved. Adam Paxman asked about the
State of Vermont payment on Warrant #20 for $20,036.75. Lynn stated that was
for purchase power. Motion carried.
5. Delinquent Tax Collector’s Request to Hire Attorney
Vaughn S.P. Comeau to Assist in Completion of Tax Sales:
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to approve Betty Cheney’s request to hire Attorney Vaughn S.P. Comeau to
assist in the completion of tax sales. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
6. Any Other Necessary Business:
Village Clerk Dianne Day informed
the Board that MVUHS’S Substance Free Committee is requesting to hold a Coin
Drop on Saturday, April 5, 2014 with an alternate date of Saturday, March 29,
2014. Chris Leach made the motion to approve MVUHS’S request to hold a coin
drop on Saturday, April 5, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Eugene LaBombard
seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman stated they had a coin drop approximately six
months ago. Motion carried with one absentia.
Any Other Business: Lynn Paradis informed the Board that Mike Menard, Public Works
Foreman, has specked out his new vactor truck and said he is looking for
approval from the Board to get it ordered. She said his old one is 17 years
old. She said the Village will lease the new vactor and the cost of it is
$362,000. She said they are getting approximately $20,000 for the old one.
Chris Leach asked if this was coming out of the water and sewer budgets. Lynn
stated yes it was, she said she would split it between the two budgets. She
said she would do a 15 year lease and said they would own the vactor at the end
of that lease. Lynn stated she would bring all financial information to the
Board beforehand so they knew what was going on with the purchase of the vactor
before she did it.
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to authorize Mike Menard and Lynn Paradis to place the order for the
2014 vactor for the Village of Swanton. Adam Paxman seconded. Chris Leach asked
to see the lease prior to the purchase. Motion carried.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman reminded everyone about the Swanton Community Enhancement
meeting on Thursday, March 13th at 7 p.m. at Swanton Apartments. He
said they need more people to sign up and need people for sub-committees for
special events. Adam also stated he wanted to get a JLB meeting scheduled and
to check with the Town about April 16th. He said he needed Economic
Development Coordinator discussion, Dispatching Discussion with Chief Taylor
and Solid Waste District Discussion added to the agenda. Village Clerk Dianne
Day stated she would email the Town.
Any Other Business: Chris Leach stated Alburg voted to leave the Solid Waste District and
Highgate voted to join the District. He said the Selectboard wanted to know why
there is no Solid Waste Day scheduled in Swanton this year. Chris said from a
financial standpoint and what it cost they only budgeted to do 10 of them. He
said he knows the Town needs it but nearby towns will be holding them and
Swanton residents can go there with their hazardous waste.
Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard stated there is a lack of lighting downtown by Grand
Avenue and Canada Street. He said it is very dark at night and another resident
complained about this.
Any Other Business: Neal Speer stated a new business is about ready to open on Merchants
Row and they have expressed concern about parking downtown. He said the lot
behind the Memorial Building and behind Merchants Row is dark also and not
inviting to people after dark.
7. Executive Session to Discuss Customer Accounts:
Adam Paxman made the motion
to enter into Executive Session at 7:41 p.m. to Discuss Customer Accounts.
Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Eugene LaBombard made the
motion to exit Executive Session and enter into Open Session at 8 p.m. Chris
Leach seconded. Motion carried.
Adam Paxman made the motion
to authorize the Village of Swanton to write off $1,012.15 in uncollectible
electric accounts. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
ADJOURN: Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board
of the Trustees meeting at 8:01 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no
further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting
at 8:01 p.m.
_____________________________________ _______________________________________
Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date