SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, November 28, 2016
7:00 PM
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk, Crystal Lampman, Ella Maguire, Kendall Ladieu, Greg Ladieu, Jill Farnsworth, Whitney Farnsworth, Mattie Lampman, Amy Brewer, NMC; Sara Maguire, Health Project Members; Tom Benton, St. Albans Messenger 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:
Reg Beliveau advised he would need to add the topic of “Contracts” to Executive Session.
3. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, November 14, 2016:
Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, November 14, 2016 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
4. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, November 25, 2016:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants (#129-#130) through Friday, November 25, 2016 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
5. Crystal Lampman, Health Project Presentation:
Crystal Lampman stated they are here tonight to discuss their Health Project and introduced the young girls that are with her tonight. Amy Brewer, Health Educator, also introduced herself. Crystal said this project began in May 2016 because they had some parents requesting activities that would keep their kids engaged, educated and empowered because Girls on The Run program was coming to an end with the school year. The girls are ages 9 through 14. Crystal said this is a joint initiative with Franklin County Caring Communities and the Franklin Grand Isle Tobacco Coalition. She said the girls there tonight were noticing things in the community they weren’t happy with such as bullying, substance use, nutrition and high risk taking activities. They identified these things as projects they would like to tackle through community service projects. She presented the Board with a slideshow showing some of the projects as well as information. She talked about internal assets as well as external assets and identified each. She said there are five core protective practices they’ve been working on such as improving bonds with youths and adults, building skills to become mature adults, providing opportunities for children to have meaningful input in a community, having recognition for such involvement, and communicating and having healthy beliefs. She then presented some of the results from a health survey that was taken by students in grades 6 through 12. She said one of the things the girls really wanted to focus on was bullying in the community. She said every one of the girls in her group faced some type of bullying behavior at one time or another right around 4th or 5th grade. She said they wanted to work on changing that. The other topic asked about on the survey was whether or not students did any physical activity in the last week and the answers were alarming. She said it showed about 20% of the high schools students weren’t getting any kind of physical activity. She said this lack of physical activity puts kids at a higher risk in regards to substance abuse. Another topic on the survey pertained to tobacco and alcohol products and the ease of access. Amy Brewer said access to tobacco products was higher from last year to this year according to the survey. Crystal said they also asked about the ease of access to marijuana and thankfully it showed that 6th graders were less than 10%. She said that number increased significantly from 6th grade to 12th grade regarding the ease of access to it. She then talked about actual use of tobacco products and the survey showed that less than 5% of 6th graders were actually using tobacco products of some kind. This could be e-cigarettes, cigarettes, vaping, chewing tobacco, etc. She said this information is very upsetting to know. Adam Paxman asked what vaping was and Amy Brewer explained what they were. She said if you go into most stores they are sitting right there on the counter for all young people to see. Crystal said there are vape shops in the Burlington area. Amy stated that cigarette use among young adults is down by 33% in Franklin County. Crystal said they are hearing more young people are using chew or are vaping and unfortunately because they are so new they don’t have enough information yet as to whether or not it is harmful. Another question asked was if students drank alcohol in the past 30 days and again 6th graders have had alcohol in Franklin County. She said Franklin County is statistically higher than the State of Vermont on this topic. She said kids will tell you if mom and dad have alcohol in the house they know where it is and how to get it. It’s not hidden and kids can access it pretty easily. They also asked if the students used marijuana in the last 30 days and it showed there weren’t enough 6th graders doing this to even show up on the scale but you do start to see the use of it in the 7th grade and significant use in the 11th and 12th grade.
Crystal asked where are our youths were exposed to tobacco and alcohol products. Amy showed an image of a store where tobacco retailers place cigarettes and advertising right up front for all kids to see. She said our kids are much more sensitive to this kind of advertising because they have no filter. She showed that First Street has 8 tobacco retailers in one mile. The percentage of tobacco retailers with outdoor tobacco ads is 33%, the percentage of retailers with e-cigarettes on the counter is 62.5% and the density of tobacco retailers per 1000 residents is 2. Crystal said that over half of the kids surveyed said they see cigarette and alcohol advertising almost always. She said municipalities can make a difference by asking for restrictions on advertising. Both Amy and Crystal stated there is a lot of work to be done but feel they can make a difference. Crystal said parents and guardians can also make a difference as they are on the front lines. She said in August they participated in a butt liter project where they cleaned up cigarette butts at Marble Mill and alongside the river. She said they also picked up several bags of trash. They also cleaned up the VFW parking lot, the overlook area and kayak/canoe launch. She said they then helped friends clean up a park in Richford. They attended Franklin County Field Days and talked to people about a healthy brain. She showed a picture of the Art Wall they worked on. She said their mission is to help make a better community in which to live and to teach children to avoid risk taking behaviors. She said this will help them later in life to make better decisions. She said they are doing a group mentoring project as well. Amy said they wanted to bring this information to the Board of Trustees to see if there are things they can do together to make a difference. The Board thanked Crystal and Amy and the girls for coming in and presenting such an informative project.
6. Update Auditorium Policy Rates:
Dianne Day, Village Clerk, explained to the Board that currently the Village of Swanton charges $15.00 per hour as well as $25.00 for the table and chairs for an event held in the Village Auditorium. There is a 3 hour minimum per event so the total charged for a party is $70.00. She explained the rates haven’t been changed since 1998 and with recent purchases of new chairs, new blinds etc. the Village would like to increase the charge from $15.00 per hour to $25.00 per hour. She said they will keep the table and chairs charge at $25.00, making the new fee for an event $100.00. Chris Leach made the motion to increase the auditorium rental fee from $15.00 per hour to $25.00 per hour (with a 3 hour minimum) effective January 1, 2017. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
7. VT Precision Tools – Water Allocation Request and Water Allocation Increase Request:
Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into a Water Commissioner’s meeting at 8:05 p.m. to hear the following item. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Reg Beliveau advised the Board that Vermont Precision Tools is requesting an increase in their water and wastewater allocation as well as requesting a new water allocation of 540 gallons per day (gpd) for a new building on Lot #2 and a wastewater allocation of 480 gpd for the new building on Lot #2. They currently have a wastewater allocation of 2160 gpd and are requesting an additional 1260 gpd for a total of 3420 gpd. They currently have a water allocation of 2430 gpd and are requesting an additional 1418 gpd for a total of 3848 gpd. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Vermont Precision Tools increase in wastewater allocation of 1260 gpd for a total of 3420 gpd and to also approve their increase in water allocation of 1418 gpd for a total of 3848 gpd. He also made the motion to approve Vermont Precision Tools request for a new wastewater allocation on Lot #2 of 480 gpd as well as a new water allocation on Lot #2 of 540 gpd. Adam Paxman seconded both motions. Motions carried.
Adam Paxman made the motion to exit the Water Commissioner’s meeting at 8:07 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
8. Any Other Necessary Business:
Chris Leach asked if the Village has received the FERC report on the Hydro Plant yet. Reg Beliveau said not yet but said he wasn’t worried about it because if there were any issues they would have contacted the Village by now. Chris Leach also said the Christmas decorations look great. He also asked Reg if the Village had started any salary planning yet. Reg stated they are now working on budgets and evaluations and will have that information for the Board very soon.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated he wanted to thank everyone on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce. He said they had a great turnout for Christmas in the Park and he would like to thank the community for a great turnout. He said Mark Rocheleau, Lynn Billado and himself would also like to thank JAZ Entertainment, Aubuchon Hardware, Flowers by Debbie, Carlo and Jeanice Micheli, Swanton Arts Council, Nyoka Bertrand, Nicole Draper, Joyce Bombardier, Suzanne Washburn, Camille Freeman, Santa and his Elf, Karen Samson, VT Reindeer Farm, Dan Billado, Swanton Tree Farm Ernie LaRocque, Swanton Village Electric Department, Swanton Village and Swanton Town.
Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau informed the Board that the paving project work has been delayed because they had some equipment break down. He said the State understands the Village’s disappointment and said they will be back in the spring to finish up all odd jobs. He said the project is guaranteed until August of 2017. Adam Paxman asked Reg if the Village planned on digging up a sidewalk in the park. Reg said they are looking at it now.
Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated that he feels events like Halloween in the Park, Christmas in the Park, National Night Out, the Egg Hunt, Farmers Market, Skate Park, etc. will help lower some of the statistics the Health Project was talking about. Chris Leach asked if the Village could draft a letter of policy and distribute it to the local convenience stores asking them to reconsider their cigarette and alcohol displays. Reg Beliveau said he would look into it.
Any Other Business: Neal Speer mentioned the street lights on Merchants Row stating he feels the Village should take these lights over so that it is consistently lit up and not dark. Reg Beliveau said Duane Couture went down today and checked it out. He said they are considering having the businesses on Merchants Row pay what a homeowner would pay who requests a street light on their property. He said they could work on putting LED lights on the front of the building as well as underneath the canopy. He said he received a call today regarding this and he will get back to that person once he has all the information gathered. He said the Village is looking into this, getting prices and will let the Board know what he comes up with.
9. Public Comment:
None.
10. Executive Session to Discuss Personnel:
Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into Executive Session to Discuss Personnel and Contracts at 8:28 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Chris Leach made the motion to exit Executive Session and enter Open Session at 9:18 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN: The Board of Trustees instructed Village Manager Reg Beliveau to draft a letter to St. Albans City Central Dispatch regarding the 2017-2018 dispatch fees.
11. Adjournment:
Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:19 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 9:19 p.m. Motion carried.
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Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date