SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, January 9, 2017
7:00 PM
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Joey Stell, Chief of Police 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 7:04 p.m.
2. Agenda Review:
Dianne Day, Village Clerk, explained that Item #5 (Ray Many Water Allocation Request) has been cancelled. She said that the Village has received another water request and she would like to hear that issue under #5. Reg Beliveau advised he needed to add “Personnel” to Executive Session.
3. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, December 12, 2016:
Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, December 12, 2016 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
4. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, January 6, 2017:
Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants (#137-#145 plus #1-#2) through Friday, January 6, 2017 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
5. Missisquoi Valley Rescue – Water Connection Request:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to enter into a Water Commissioner’s meeting at 7:08 p.m. to hear this request. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
Reg Beliveau explained to the Board that Missisquoi Valley Rescue (MVR) is requesting permission to cross cut the Fire Department’s back parking lot and to connect to their water line for their proposed Ambulance Quarters. Adam Paxman asked if there was going to be any expenses to the Village of Swanton. Reg Beliveau stated there would not be any expenses to the Village of Swanton and said he discussed this with their contractor and with Mike Menard. Adam stated MVR would be responsible for putting the parking lot back together and the Board agreed to this. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Missisquoi Valley Rescue’s request to cross cut the Fire Department’s back parking lot to connect to their water line. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach stated this would be done at the expense of MVR and not the Village of Swanton. Motion carried.
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to exit Water Commissioner’s meeting at 7:13 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
6. Discussion on $60,000 in Commercial Building Fund to be Revolved:
Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, informed the Board that the Village of Swanton has $60,000 in revolving funds that originated with the Swanton School apartment grant years ago. He said the Village needs to revolve those funds or the State of Vermont will reclaim it. He is proposing to use those funds on the Missisquoi Valley Union High School’s (MVUHS) water line. Reg said they recently had a water main break in the wetlands area at the school and the Village would like to assist MVU by replacing their old water line. He said a study has already been done and the Village could make the connection at the entrance of the driveway. He said this would give the Village the potential to gain other water users in that area as well. Reg said he met with Winn Goodrich and they would like to utilize those funds. He said he would need to talk with Aldrich & Elliott and said they may need to hold a Special Vote on this. He said the Village would loan this amount to the school district for the water line job and MVUHS would reimburse the Village. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to move forward with the study of using the $60,000 in revolving funds to improve the water line at Missisquoi Valley Union High School and beyond with voter approval. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: Reg Beliveau also stated the MVU School Board would need to approve the allocation of the remaining funds necessary to complete the job. Motion carried.
7. Approve $1,000,000 Electric Line of Credit:
Dianne Day, Village Clerk, stated this is the existing line of credit the Village of Swanton has with Union Bank. She said this is a fixed one year loan effective January 10, 2017 with a maturity date of December 29, 2017 with an interest rate of 1.09%. Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, stated these funds help the electric department operate while bond payments and invoices become due throughout the year. Chris Leach made the motion to approve the $1,000,000 electric line of credit as proposed with Union Bank. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
8. 2017 Budget Discussion:
ELECTRIC FUND: Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, stated the revenue is up a bit due to the recent rate increase. She said two large solar projects are going in and the loss of revenue is not in these numbers. She said she anticipates a $25,000 loss for 2017 and more in 2018. She said there is a positive impact in other departments from these solar projects but it will have a negative impact in the electric department. Lynn stated she figured in a 3% rate increase based on performance and said new employees would be up for increases at the three month and six month mark. She also said labor expenses are down due to a couple of people getting done at the Village. She said there is a bunch of preventive maintenance due to happen at the Hydro Plant this year. She also said VPPSA’s budget is down this year from $2.9 million dollars to $2.66 million dollars. She said she is still waiting on the December bills for VPPSA. Adam Paxman asked Lynn if she was comfortable with VPPSA’s $2.66 million dollar budget and she said yes she was. She said they are saving about $4800 per month so far. Lynn said tree trimming is down this year from $90,000 to $40,000. She said there is a wind storm coming this week and she hopes that number doesn’t change. She also said she put $50,000 in legal fees because she needs to gear up for the rubber bag issue at the Hydro Plant. She said there will be a 108 permitting process. Lynn said workman’s compensation is up in all departments but is up about $12,000 in the electric department. She said health insurance is up a bit because some people have changed plans. She said the Village has switched from BCBS to MVP this year and that saved about $15,000. She also said property taxes are up this year but mostly in Highgate because generation is up at the Hydro Plant. She said interest on long term debt is down because they paid off a 1988 bond in November 2016. She said there are three other outstanding bonds and she has refunded all of them. She said because of the negative interest the Village has saved some money. Another bond will be paid off in 2019. She said she isn’t expecting any big capital purchases and said the electric crew is busy working on solar projects. She said their trucks are fairly new. Reg Beliveau stated the net metering rules have changed and are more favorable to the utilities now.
WATER FUND: Lynn said her budget for revenue is what the Village needs to cover the expenses in this fund. She said the plant is new and they are keeping up with the maintenance and she dropped that number to $15,000. Reg Beliveau mentioned a study that was done stating water meters do continue to read accurately after 20+ years. Lynn said Brian Bishop tracks his water consumption monthly and could see a 40% water loss. She said they ended up finding a water main break during the Christmas break at MVUHS. She said her depreciation number is going up because the Canada Street new line is in service now. She also said her interest on long term debt is down and their first payment is due in 2017. Lynn stated she doesn’t feel a water rate increase will be necessary as of now.
SEWER FUND: Lynn said plant maintenance is up a bit in this department. She said they’ve been doing work periodically and have done work on the pipe gallery, the Foundry Street Pumping Station, the UV system and also dealt with the State of Vermont relicensing issue. Lynn stated they will need a new centrifuge this year and will have to clean out the lagoons, cutters and shredders. She said the solar aerators will be paid off in 2017 and they are now working properly. She said the CSO project loan is paid off and she has another one due in 2023. Lynn said she won’t need a rate increase in this department as of now.
HIGHWAY FUND: Lynn said this department is level funded this year. She said the LED lights that were installed cut the electric bill in half for this department. She said her maintenance of summer/winter streets is staying the same even though there was a lot of overtime in December. She said they didn’t do much paving in 2016 and she put money back in the sidewalk budget. She said workman’s compensation is up in this budget also. She said they are looking into purchasing a new sidewalk plow this year and can lease one for five years for $28,000 per year. Lynn said they will keep the attachments they have now because they will fit on a new one. She said paving is up from $30,000 to $50,000 because of the Class I paving project. She said Mike is doing two years worth of paving in one year. She said repairs and maintenance are in line in this department.
GENERAL FUND: Lynn said the Board directed her at their last meeting to go ahead and put the whole cost of approximately $11,000 in the budget for the preservation of their old Minutes and Books of Maps. She said if she puts the whole amount in the budget for 2017 there will be an increase of 17% in this fund. She said she would like to fund this project over the next three years that way there will only be a very small increase in the General Fund. The Board agreed to splitting it up over the next three years. She said there are no other big changes in this fund.
FIRE DEPARTMENT: Lynn said this budget is staying level funded for 2017. She said dispatching fees are staying the same as last year and she said the Fire Department is staying with Central Dispatch. She said there are no big changes in this department.
POLICE DEPARTMENT: Lynn said this fund is up by a cent and a half this year. Chris Leach stated he has the greatest respect for our Police Department but said this is a lot of money. Lynn said the Town Contract cost has gone down and workman’s compensation has gone up. She said the Police Department is in a pool in the State of Vermont and the rates are based on that. She said health insurance is also up in this department. She said officers are on duty 22 hours a day, seven days a week plus handle the Town coverage. Chris Leach asked if there was a report out there with other departments approximately the same size as ours where he could see their police budget and divide it per capita. Chief Stell said that information is out there and he can run those numbers but he said the Village’s salary rate is lower than other departments. Lynn stated that VLCT publishes this information yearly.
COMMERCIAL BUILDING FUND: Lynn stated there weren’t any changes in this fund this year. She said the rent is the same as last year. She said property insurance is up a little bit and if something breaks they fix it. She said they have the $60,000 revolving funds in this budget and they need to disperse those funds before the State of Vermont recaptures it.
The estimated tax rate for the year 2017 is 0.7997% and the 2016 tax rate was 0.7721 for a difference of 0.0273. There is an overall increase of 3.54%. Reg Beliveau said a home assessed at $250,000 would see a $68 increase in their Village tax bill. A home assessed at $150,000 would see an increase of $41.02. The board will meet on Monday, January 23 and will have to hold a Special Meeting on Thursday, January 26, 2017 to adopt the budgets and warning for 2017.
9. Any Other Necessary Business:
Adam Paxman informed the Board that the Chamber of Commerce is working on obtaining swans for the Village Green for this coming summer. He said they are in need of someone to house the swans in the winter months and if someone was interested in doing that to reach out to the Chamber. He said there would be no expense to them as the Chamber would pay for their feed etc. Chief Stell recommended the Chamber reach out to MVUHS Ag Department to see if they could house them there in the Ag barn. Adam said that was a great idea and thanked him for the information.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman also said he is running for re-election as Trustee for another three year term and asked everyone for their support.
Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard said a Winter Farmers Market will be held on every other Saturday at the Swanton Village Library.
Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated the Village is working on their annual Village Report and asked the Board for ideas for a cover. Adam Paxman suggested a picture of the Highgate Falls Dam. Chris Leach suggested a picture of the Generation Plant. Reg thanked them for their ideas.
Any Other Business: Dianne Day, Village Clerk, advised the Board that the Swanton Missisquoi Valley Lions Club has requested a Coin Drop for June 3, 2017 but because there is an article on the Village ballot this year asking if voters wanted the Trustees to approve coin drops in the Village, they should wait on approving this request. The Board agreed and said have it noted that they have first dibs on that requested date.
10. Public Comment:
None.
11. Executive Session to Discuss Customer Account and Personnel:
Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into Executive Session to Discuss Customer Account and Personnel at 8:53 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session and re-enter Open Session at 10:05 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN: Chris Leach made the motion that pay increases for Village employees would go into effect the first pay period in February 2017. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
12. Adjournment:
Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 10:06 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 10:06 p.m. Motion carried.
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Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date