SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, January 11, 2016
7:00 PM
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk & Treasurer; Katelin Brewer-Colie, LocalMotion; and Ch. 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.
1. Call to Order:
Neal Speer, Village President, welcomed all to the Regular Board of Trustees meeting and called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. Agenda Review:
None.
3. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, December 28, 2015:
Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, December 28, 2015 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Eugene LaBombard asked about vendor Galls, from last week’s meeting. Chris Leach had asked what that was used for. Reg Beliveau explained that company was used to purchase equipment for the Police Department. Motion carried.
4. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, January 8, 2016:
Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants (#143-#145) through Friday, January 8, 2016 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
5. Katelin Brewer-Colie – Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Local Motion and the Village of Swanton for Merchants Row Area:
Reg Beliveau informed the Board that Katelin was stuck in traffic on I-89 due to a motor vehicle accident. Moved to Item #6.
Reg Beliveau stated that he worked with Katelin recently on the Safe Routes to School program and now more recently with Local Motion. Katelin introduced herself to the Board and said she used to work as a planner at Northwest Regional Planning and also worked on updating the Bylaws for the Planning Commission. She said now she moved on to Local Motion and is working closely with VTrans on walking and biking safety. Reg stated that last year RiseVT helped pay for Mark Fenton to come and do a walkability study which focused primarily on the Merchants Row area. He said VTrans came up with some design plans for that area.
Katelin said Local Motion is a non-profit member supported organization that works to improve biking and walking safety. She said they have received a grant which will allow them to work with 5 to 7 communities over a three year period. She said their purpose is to develop bike and walk safety plans. She said Local Motion would like to enter into an agreement with the Village of Swanton to get to that end. She said this will include 40 hours of technical assistance, a design firm to give design assistance (Alta is the design firm), they will look at travel lanes and then bring their recommendations and create some concepts for the Merchants Row area at no cost to the Village. Eugene LaBombard asked if an island like the one on Academy Street could go in that area. Reg said that would be hard to plow around so probably not. Katelin said this is a huge project to take on but said they can come in and help envision the next phase of this to make it an even better legacy improvement. She said this is a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will give vision and insight. Eugene asked if they could check in with the Board from time to time and give updates on their project. Adam said he would like for them to come in with any significant changes they come up with to make the residents aware of the process.
Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize Reginald Beliveau, Swanton Village Manager, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Local Motion for conceptual design plans for the Merchants Row area. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
6. Brad Aldrich – Review Water Transmission Line, Status Update:
Reg Beliveau informed the Board that he spoke with Wayne Elliott from Aldrich & Elliott and said they are not ready to present this information to the Board tonight. He said all that’s left on the Water Transmission Line job is the river crossing. He said they have bored under the river already but haven’t run the pipe through. He said it looks like they are going to have some remaining funds and he was wondering if the Village should use those funds to upgrade the Missisquoi Valley Union High School (MVUHS) water line. Eugene LaBombard asked who would pay for this upgrade. Reg stated there may be funds left over from the water transmission line job but that they would need an additional $250,000 to do this upgrade. Reg said the Village is also considering using the left over funds to upgrade Canada Street which already has voter approval. He said the Village would be about $500,000 shy to do both projects but said they would have to go to the voters for approval. Eugene LaBombard stated that the Canada Street project should take precedence over the MVUHS project. He said the school should pay for this upgrade. Reg stated that the Village would upgrade as far as the driveway and MVUHS would pay for the rest of the project. He said they would like to upgrade to a 12” water line. Adam Paxman said the Village should focus on Canada Street first as it is going to be paved and also because it’s in the Village. Chris Leach suggested they table this item until they know for sure how much money is going to be left over. Reg said it would be nice to upgrade the MVUHS line but agreed they should focus on Village streets first. He said there is opportunity for expansion of this water line. Chris Leach said maybe they could have specific information for their next meeting such as cost, alternatives, etc. He said to ask Brad Aldrich for the specs on Canada Street and the MVUHS line for their next meeting.
Moved back to Item #5.
7. 2016 Budget Discussion Update:
Lynn Paradis presented the Board with a copy of her updated budgets. Eugene LaBombard asked if there were many changes from the last one she gave them. Lynn stated there are a few subtle changes to the budgets. Adam Paxman asked Lynn if the Village was making plans for new water meters. Lynn stated those are not in the 2016 budget because they need to do more investigating before they decide which way to go. Lynn stated she would have the final budgets for them for the January 25th meeting. She said the Warning and water and sewer rates would be ready for that meeting as well. The Board looked over the budgets and thanked Lynn for her hard work.
8. Any Other Necessary Business:
Adam Paxman informed the Board that he is stepping down from the Northwest Solid Waste District board as of March 1, 2016. He said Carlo Micheli will replace him on the board if approved by the Joint Legislative Body. Adam said he believes he will do a great job and he will attend the Northwest Solid Waste District’s meeting with him on February 3rd.
Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard asked who was responsible for the sidewalk safety where the bricks fell at 1 Canada Street. Reg Beliveau stated the owner is but said the Public Works crew put up barricades around the fallen bricks.
Any Other Business: Chris Leach asked if there was any word on the gas compacting business. Reg said he hasn’t heard anything.
9. Public Comment:
None.
10. Executive Session (If Necessary):
None.
11. Adjournment:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:24 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:24 p.m. Motion carried.
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Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date