This page is maintained by Swanton Village, Inc and is intended to be the official online posting of public meetings and minutes in accordance with Vermont’s Open Meeting law (Amended July 1st, 2014).

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

February 12, 2018

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

 

 

 

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, February 12, 2018

7:00 PM

 

 

 

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator 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, Village Manager, stated he needed an executive session to discuss personnel. Dianne Day, Village Clerk, stated she had another water allocation request to hear on Item #5.

 

3.   Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, January 29, 2018:

 

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, January 29, 2018 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach stated he wanted a better explanation regarding the Efficiency VT charges on the electric utility bills. He said the Village of Swanton has no input in how these charges are formulated and wanted that explained. Motion carried with changes.  

 

4.   Approve and Accept Village Warrants through February 9, 2018:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through February 9, 2018 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach asked if the payment made to Carroll Concrete was for the concrete barricades that went up on the Foundry Street Pumping Station. Reg Beliveau said yes it was for that. Eugene LaBombard stated the postage rates went up. Motion carried.

 

5.     Cross Consulting Engineers requesting Water/Wastewater Allocation for 100 Robinhood Drive, Swanton.

 

Chris Leach made the motion to enter into a Water Commissioner’s meeting at 7:11 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve David Fosgate’s request through Cross Consulting Engineers for a water allocation of 338 gallons per day (gpd) and for a wastewater allocation of 300 gpd for his proposed business at 100 Robinhood Drive. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve Suzanne Heath’s request for a water and wastewater allocation of 500 gpd for her proposed 10 bedroom facility at 44 North River Street. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to exit Water Commissioner’s meeting at 7:15 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

           

6.     Appoint three members to serve on the Historic Preservation Commission:

 

Neal Speer stated that himself, Reginald Beliveau and Ron Kilburn have volunteered to serve on the Board for the Historic Preservation Commission and said they needed to be appointed by the Board of Trustees. Adam Paxman made the motion to appoint Neal Speer, Reginald Beliveau and Ron Kilburn as Board members for the Historic Preservation Commission. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

 

 

 

7.   Any Other Necessary Business:

 

Chris Leach stated the Public Works crew has done an outstanding job on snow removal recently. Eugene and Adam agreed with this as well. Adam Paxman stated Village residents are concerned about the parking in front of Cody’s Restaurant and the Post Office. He said he’s heard that if they are at Bob’s One Stop and attempt to make a left hand turn they can’t see because of the cars parked there. Elizabeth Nance stated she has seen haybales, flower pots, etc used in these spaces so that cars cannot park there. Adam stated he would talk to the Police Chief about this.

 

Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated he has been asked what the Village policy is regarding holding a beer or wine festival in the park. He said he would check with the Chief of Police on what the Village Ordinance states.

 

8.   Public Comment:

 

None.

 

9.   Executive Session (If Necessary):

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into Executive Session to Discuss Personnel at 7:27 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

 

Chris Leach made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:05 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

 

ACTION TAKEN: None.

 

10. Adjournment:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:05 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:05 p.m. Motion carried.

 

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________          _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                           Date

 

 

 

 

__________________________________    ___________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                               Date

 

 

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

January 29, 2018

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

 

 

 

SPECIAL MEETING

Monday, January 29, 2018

5:00 PM

 

 

 

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator 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 5:04 p.m.

 

2.   Agenda Review:

 

None.

 

3.   Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, January 22, 2018:

 

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, January 22, 2018 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, stated the BAU/Hopkins payment was for the centrifuse at the Waste Water Treatment Plant. Motion carried.  

 

4.   Approve and Accept Village Warrants through January 26, 2018:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through January 26, 2018 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

 

5.     Adopt Resolution Certificate (IA) for the MVUHS Water Line:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to adopt Resolution Certificate IA for the purpose of financing the cost of making public water system improvements, namely the replacement of the Missisquoi Valley Union High School waterline, the cost of such improvements estimated to be $435,000. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

           

6.     Adopt Resolution Certificate (IB) for Overages on Previously Constructed Water Lines:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adopt Resolution Certificate IB to spend and/or apply $200,000 in surplus funds from the original Water Treatment Plant bond vote to other projects and costs, which is the loan forgiveness amount that was granted by the State of Vermont for the Water Plant upgrade. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

7.   Adopt and Sign 2018 Annual Warning:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adopt and sign the 2018 Annual Warning as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

 

8.    Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, to Discuss CIRD Grant Application:

 

Elizabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, informed the Board that Swanton had applied to be one of the VT Councils on Rural Development Model Community Development for 2018. She said they were one of the two that were selected and this is centered around energy, transportation and weatherization. Reg Beliveau stated he thinks this could be advantageous for Swanton in getting their Tier 3 rating. He said they’ve already met their Tier 1 and most of their Tier 2 ratings. Elisabeth said they will be starting in September 2018 and if anyone is interested in joining to let her know. She said this will help some low income people so they are looking at opportunities for them such as weatherizing their homes, etc. Reg stated they are looking at ways to incentivize landlords on maintaining and weatherizing their rental units also. He said this will help improve the aesthetics of the property as well as help the tenant with weatherization so electric and heating bills aren’t so high. Adam Paxman asked if Efficiency Vermont was involved in this. Elisabeth stated yes they were at the table too. Eugene LaBombard stated with the amount of money the Village sends them on a monthly basis they should be involved. Chris Leach stated they should be looking at ways to decrease the amount of money Swanton Village customers pay to Efficiency VT. He said the State of Vermont Efficiency VT program calculates how much this charge is going to be with no input from utility companies. Reg stated other utilities feel the same way and are frustrated with them also.  Elisabeth stated that having Reg Beliveau and Duane Couture at the table discussing what Swanton electric does made a huge difference and she appreciates their efforts. Chris stated he would like someone to explain to him how these solar or wind projects are designed to put more electricity out than the owner requires which in turn lessens the utilities ability to make money. Elisabeth stated they were drawn to the Village because they’re a municipally owned utility and because they already had their community visit. She said this will be community driven and what the community wants as goals. She said the Planning Commission is working on a Energy Plan as well. Reg asked if any of the Trustees had seen this Energy Plan. They have not. Elisabeth asked how they bring solar on if it ends up causing the utility to lose revenue. Reg mentioned the NIPA Block in which money was set aside for low income families. He said he would like to have a solar farm that would be declared their NIPA Block. He said on average the Village mails 800 disconnect notices each month and certain people are economically challenged. He said this solar farm could generate electricity and sell it for 15 cents on the open market and put it in a bucket. He said out of that bucket, for customers who make less than $30,000 per year, he would offer them this power for 8 cents. Reg said VPPSA was intrigued with that concept and he would love for someone to jump on this bandwagon and make it happen. Eugene LaBombard asked if solar customers were paying any distribution charges. Reg stated they are not, but they are paying a customer charge but said it’s not enough. Eugene stated this is how companies go bankrupt. He said they should be made to pay for the distribution as well.

 

Elisabeth said the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design has an application that’s due on February 16th. She said they would work with them through the National Endowment for the Arts and said selected rural communities will receive a $10,000 cash stipend for planning and hosting a two-day community design workshop and follow up activities. One workshop that caught her eye was “redesigning Main Street as a local street versus state highway.” She said she has Merchants Row in mind for this. She said her goal is to get the Main Street grant that they applied for last year which is $50,000 and to also use this one in conjunction with it. She said this $10,000 grant has an in-kind match and they can apply her salary towards this match as well as rental space etc. She said her deadline to apply is February 16th and she is asking the Board if they would like her to move forward with this. Reg asked how long they had to spend the grant. She thought it was one year from the award. Adam Paxman asked if they had the time to invest in this. Neal asked if the Town was involved with this at all. Elisabeth stated that because it was Merchant’s Row they were not but she would like a letter of support from them regarding this. The Board stated that if she had time then to go ahead and fill out this application.

 

9.    Any Other Necessary Business:

 

None.

 

10.   Public Comment:

 

None.

 

11.   Executive Session (If Necessary):

 

None.

 

12. Adjournment:

 

Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Special Board of the Trustees meeting at 5:58 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 5:58 p.m. Motion carried.

 

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________          _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                           Date

 

 

 

 

__________________________________    ___________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                               Date