SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, November 13, 2017
7:00 PM
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator; William “Peanut” Cheney, Shawn Cheney; Ron and Sandy Kilburn, Gordon Winters, Hank Lambert; Swanton Fire Department Chief Tim Girard, Jason Cross, Jason Butler, Peter Prouty, Alex Bourdeau and Nick Schuster; 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:
None.
3. Approve and Accept Minutes from Tuesday, October 24, 2017 and from Thursday, October 26, 2017:
Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Tuesday, October 24, 2017 and from Thursday, October 26, 2017 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked if the water ordinance that was approved at their last meeting needed to be posted for 30 days. Chris Leach stated no it didn’t need to be because nothing changed with the ordinance. Eugene LaBombard asked how much the rubber bag weighed because the Minutes state that it weighs 2200 pounds. Reg said no it weighs 96,000 pounds which is equivalent to 2200 metric tons. Motion carried with stated change.
4. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through November 9, 2017:
Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through November 9, 2017 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
5. Fire Department to Discuss the Capital Purchase of a New Fire Truck:
Fire Chief Tim Girard stated he met with Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, last week and is proud to note that the Fire budget for 2018 is level funded depending on what Workman’s Compensation will do. He said the reason they are here tonight is to discuss the Capital purchase replacement of Engine 3 and the Ladder Truck. He presented the Board with a 2018 Apparatus Presentation. Former Fire Chief Peter Prouty acknowledged the Board and stated this wasn’t the first time he has had to do this presentation. He said he wanted to give some background information, introduce the new fire truck committee and how they calculated the cost. He said they have more than one proposal because the numbers are very large. The first thing Pete mentioned was the call volume trend for the last 22 years. He said there has been a steady incline since 1995. He said in 1995 they responded to 101 calls and in 2016 they responded to 268 calls. Chris Leach asked how many calls they’ve responded to so far this year and Pete said as of September 2017 they have responded to 264 calls. Pete said the truck committee is comprised of Assistant Chief Cross, firefighters Alex Bourdeau and Nick Schuster as well as himself. He said their mission was to look at the vehicle needs of the department for the next 10 years and offer solutions to that 10 year need. Pete said this is a very complicated and involved endeavor and some of the things they considered were the condition and age of their present vehicles, budget stability, maintenance costs, mutual aid, ISO rating, call volume and public expectations. He said they also took into consideration the pump capacity, water capacity, hose bed, compartments, NFPA requirements, engine size, standardization, wheelbase, maneuverability, needed options and primary mission. Chris Leach asked how the Village’s ISO rating compared to other towns. Chief Girard stated with the upgrade to the water plant they received a 4 rating in the Village and a 9 for the outskirts of the Village because they needed to haul water. Pete said some of the things that need to be considered in 2018 are: the Ladder Truck 4 is 28 years old, Engine 3 is 18 years old and the Tanker is 22 years old. Pete said that apparatus suppliers have told them the prices have increased 3.5% per year over the last few years. He said diesel engine emission changes have driven additional increases in 2007, 2010 and 2017. Pete said they contacted HME Dealer and they gave them an “optioned” estimate for both trucks. Pete said Proposal “A” would be to purchase two vehicles in 2018, liquidate Engine 3, Ladder 4 and the Tanker after delivery of the new apparatus and training period. They would bond over the shortest reasonable term to not impact the 2026 fleet needs. Pete said Proposal “B” would be to purchase one vehicle at approximately $600,000 in 2018, liquidate Engine 3 and the Tanker after delivery of the new apparatus and training period and bond over the shortest reasonable term. Pete said the Truck Committee’s conclusion is they believe Proposal “A” is the best overall choice. He said the ultimate cost is dependent on the options the truck(s) have, terms and interest rates. He said they are asking the taxpayers for approximately $1,450,000 to replace two fire trucks in 2018. He said the estimated price for the Engine Truck is $577,500 and the Aerial Truck is estimated to cost $865,000 for a total of $1,442,500. The Board thanked the Fire Department members for coming in and giving their presentation. The Board stated they would ask Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, to figure out what this Capital purchase would do to a taxpayer’s home valued at $200,000. They said they would ask her to show three examples, one with the purchase of two new trucks, one with the purchase of just the Engine truck and one with the purchase of the Aerial truck. Pete said he knows just because they feel this is the right thing to do it may not be the best financial thing to do. He said the engine truck is more needed at this time and if they had to they could hold off on the ladder truck. He said the ladder truck is older and will need to be replaced soon. The Board said they would think about this, look over the numbers and will put this back on the agenda for more discussion.
6. Sign Declaration of Intent for Municipal Bond Bank – Rubber Bag Bond:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to sign the Declaration of Intent for the Municipal Bond Bank to reimburse certain expenditures related to the Rubber Bag replacement. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
7. Update on Rubber Dam:
Reg Beliveau informed the Board that the abrasion sheets would be delivered this week. He said they removed a piston that was leaking and they are unable to clean the racks right now. The bladder has been shipped and is scheduled to be here the first part of December and our engineers are still saying it would be too dangerous to try and install during December. He said he met with the manufacturer of the rubber bag a few weeks back and toured the site again. They proposed an emergency repair on the rubber bag for approximately $50,000. He said he talked with someone from Maine to see if he has any ideas and to see if this is even possible. He said if they unhook it and lay it over and the river comes up it could flood the inside of the bag. He said there are so many variables involved it can be very distressing. Chris Leach stated it was worth looking at the dollar amount and seeing if it’s feasible to do a repair. The Board thanked Reg for the update on the rubber bag.
8. Discussion on ATV usage in Village of Swanton:
Adam Paxman stated there was a meeting a couple of weeks ago in Highgate where a couple of people from VAST were present. He said they had a candid conversation about ATV’s in their community. Adam said he would like to extend an invitation to them to attend a Village Board meeting about the same topic. Adam would like the Village Clerk to contact Highgate to get their information so he could reach out to them and ask them to attend a board meeting. The Board agreed with this.
9. Any Other Necessary Business:
Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, was present and stated she had an Ordinance for the Historic Preservation Commission that she would like the Board to look at and possibly adopt. She said this Commission could have 3 to 9 members and she would like this Commission to have three. She has two individuals already interested and just needs one more to start this Historic Commission. She said she added that this Commission would have to meet at least four times per year. Chris Leach made the motion to adopt an Ordinance for the establishment of a Historic Preservation Commission for the Village of Swanton. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
Any Other Business: Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, presented the Board with a copy of the Hyde Park Tax Stabilization Program and Policy. She wanted the Board to review this and see if the Board was interested in developing a program like this. She said this could help reduce the municipal tax in Swanton but not the education tax because that’s statewide. She said this would be used as an incentive to attract new businesses to Swanton. Chris Leach stated in the past they couldn’t offer anything like this. She said she thinks this is worth having for any new businesses or for any that do a renovation project. The Board asked why they didn’t know about this before. She said the Town already has one and have used it once. She said Hyde Park asked their voters if they were in favor of this and they approved it. Neal Speer said they needed to run this by Lynn Paradis and have her check it out to see if it’s feasible for the Village. The Board said they would look it over and discuss it further. They said they would put this back on the agenda as well. The Board thanked Elisabeth for coming in.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman wanted to remind everyone about the Christmas in the Park event to be held on Saturday, November 25th from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Village Green. He said many organizations have come together to make this event happen. He said there will also be an Ugly Sweater contest held from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the Swanton VFW. He said there will be a DJ and lots of fun for everyone.
10. Public Comment – William “Peanut” Cheney wants to Discuss Greenwich Street:
William “Peanut” Cheney asked Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, what he found out about the water issue on Greenwich Street. Reg said when the CSO project came through that’s where the storm water and sewer were put in. He said there was a certain amount of footage in that area and over the years that resident has been cutting in and mowing more and more of the wetland area. Peanut asked who determined this to be a wetland. Reg stated the State of Vermont. Reg said he looked at the blueprints and it was delineated out. He said himself and Mike Menard looked at the prints and this is what they have determined, that the resident has mowed more and more into that wetland area. Reg said the area where it slopes down and gets wet was already deemed by the State as a wet area. He said they didn’t want any disturbance in that area. Eugene LaBombard stated the land has been deemed a wetland by the State of Vermont and Peanut said he disagrees and said this is not a wetland area. Peanut also asked about getting his report from the Police Department. Reg said this is a civil matter but said a new report was written and was mailed out to him. Reg said he saw the new report and saw the pictures and said he knows it’s done. Peanut also stated that on Pole #7 on Greenwich Street there is no streetlight on that pole. Every pole down there has one and there was an attempted burglary at Mrs. Devaney’s house. Reg stated he would have the electric crew check it out.
Reg Beliveau stated he would need an Executive Session to discuss real estate.
11. Executive Session (If Necessary):
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to enter into Executive Session to discuss real estate at 8:30 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
Chris Leach made the motion to exit Executive Session at 9:17 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN: None.
12. Adjournment:
Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:18 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 9:18 p.m. Motion carried.
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Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date