SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, February 11, 2019
7:00 PM
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Mark Rocheleau and Karen Drennan, Selectboard Candidates; 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. Public Comment - Thank you letter from Swanton Beautification Committee; Chili Cook Off announcement during Public Informational Meeting February 25, 2019 at 7 p.m.; Marble Mill Steering Committee Update:
Karen Drennan introduced herself to the Board and stated that she has been a Village resident for a couple of years now and is running for a seat on the Town Selectboard. She said she wanted to come in and answer any questions the Board may have. She said she is now serving on the DRB (Development Review Board) and said she believes in community service. She said she’s glad there are several people running for Selectboard because this is a win/win for Swanton. Reg stated he works with Karen on the DRB and enjoys that very much. He said he invited her here tonight to introduce herself to the Board.
Mark Rocheleau stated he is also running for Town Selectboard. He said if any Swanton resident has any questions for him they can look him up and reach out to him on Facebook. He said he is looking forward to the Candidate Forum. Mark also said the Chamber’s Car Show event has been selected as a Super Wheel qualifier in Boston, Mass. and could possibly be featured in Cruising New England. He said there is only one other event in Vermont that qualified and that’s the show in Rutland. He said this should draw more cars to their Car Show in July. Neal Speer congratulated Mark on being selected the Swanton Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year. Mark thanked for the Board for their time.
Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, read a thank you note from Hank Lambert, Swanton Beautification Committee, for the Village including funds in this year’s budget to support the hiring of a part time summer person to maintain flowers and trees in the Village.
Reg also stated the Town and Village will be holding their Informational Meeting on the same night this year, which is Monday, February 25th at 7 p.m. at the Village Complex. He said the school board will be holding a separate meeting this year. Reg said the Swanton Enhancement Project will be sponsoring a Chili Cook Off the night of the informational meeting from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. He said there are sign-up sheets at the Village and Town offices and said there will be a $100 prize and $50 prize awarded to the entrants after the meeting.
Reg informed the Board that Betsy Fournier sent him information regarding the Swanton Marble Mill Municipal Planning Grant. He said this grant was awarded to the Town of Swanton Planning Commission in the amount of $20,273 with a Swanton Village match of 10% which is $2,027. He said Betsy needs to form her Steering Committee which will consists of two people from the Recreation Board of Directors; one person from the Planning Commission; Elisabeth Nance from Economic Development; bordering property owners Gordon and Debbie Winters; two members from the Swanton Enhancement Project; some community youths and members and the Village and Town Managers. Adam Paxman stated he would like to see more community members selected rather than the Town and Village Managers. Reg stated there was a lot of interest when they were talking about reviving the Swanton Summer Festival and said maybe those individuals would be interested in helping to revamp the Marble Mill Park. He said he would let Betsy know their concerns.
4 Approve and Accept Minutes from the Monday, January 28, 2019 Regular Meeting:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, January 28, 2019 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
5. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, February 8, 2019:
Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through Friday, February 8, 2019 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
6. Discussion on VT Gas Public Hearing:
Reg Beliveau explained to the Board that he received notification from the State of Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) that a public hearing will be held on Wednesday, February 13th at 6:30 p.m. at the Swanton Public Library regarding VT Gas relocating their two pressure regulation stations to the Beebe Road location. Reg stated he has a meeting at 4:45 in St. Albans that night but would like it if one Trustee could make this meeting since the Village has land that borders this station. Discussion took place as to who was going to what meetings. Both meetings would be attended by the Board and Reg Beliveau.
7. Any Other Necessary Business:
Eugene LaBombard stated he wanted to thank the Public Works crew for all their hard work during all the winter weather. Reg Beliveau stated he enjoyed watching his crew work together and modify the sidewalk sander so that it now worked properly.
Any Other Business: Adam Paxman asked Reg if he was aware of the huge craters on First Street and asked if there would be a paving project this summer. Reg stated the Village would be fixing the street this spring. Adam said he spoke with Swanton’s representative about possibly getting some Class II streets paved by the State of Vermont. Adam said he also wanted to remind everyone that the Memorial Day Parade will be held on Monday, May 27th and if anyone wants to help volunteer for this to reach out to him. He said there will also be an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 20th on the Village Green.
Any Other Business: Neal Speer stated that Gordon Winters took him for a tour of the Memorial Building and said they are coming along nicely. He said 120 truckloads of stone have been delivered and also said the masonry work being done is looking very good. Neal also stated that Debbie Winters is doing very well with the Playground Fundraiser and has already raised approximately $160,000.
Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau said that once he has his Power Point presentation done for the Village Informational meeting he would send the Board a copy to review prior to the meeting.
8. Executive Session If Necessary:
None.
ACTION TAKEN: None.
9. Adjournment:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of Trustees meeting at 7:30 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m. Motion carried.
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Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date