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, August 28, 2019

August 12, 2019

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

 

 

 

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, August 12, 2019

7:00 PM

 

 

 

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Heather Buczkowski; Judy Paxman; member; 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.

 

  1. Agenda Review:

 

None.

3. Public Comment:

 

Heather Buczkowski stated the Marble Mill Project is moving along and said there will be another public hearing on August 22 and an ice cream social on August 24. She said there will also be a clean up day on August 20 and she said she would like to see more people help out with this. Heather also stated she went to a leadership conference with Karen Drennan, Joanne Reiter and Judy Paxman and it was very well attended.

4. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, July 22, 2019 Meeting:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from the Monday, July 22, 2019 meeting as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked if there was any progress made on the Merchants Row lighting. Reg Beliveau stated it is on their list of things to do and should be done shortly.  Motion carried.

 

5. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through August 8, 2019:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through August 8, 2019 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach asked about the payment made to the VT Department of Sales Tax for $9897.89. Reg stated he believed that was sales tax we collected on our commercial accounts but said he would confirm that. Chris also asked about the payment made to Attorney Paul Nolan for $7301.20. Reg stated he is the Village attorney working on relicensing the Hydro Plant. Motion carried.

 

6. Village Fire Department Appoints Jason Butler as Fire Chief:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the Village Fire Department’s recommendation to appoint Jason Butler as the new Fire Chief for a three-year term. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

 

7. Any Other Necessary Business:

 

Chris Leach discussed power production being down at the Hydro Plant and asked about the power usage. He asked if there had been a peak usage day yet because of the extreme heat. Reg Beliveau stated he thought there was a peak usage day in early August. He said they completed plant shut down at the Hydro Plant and they are now back online as of Friday afternoon. Chris also mentioned the SLOW stencil on Gallup Court and said it looks nice. He also mentioned National Night Out and everyone agreed it was a great turnout with great music by Dual. He talked about the severe thunderstorm that hit Route 36 last week. Reg stated the electric crew worked all night long and went home at 8 a.m. the next morning. He said he received a thank you letter from residents on Maquam Shore Rd. Chris also suggested that Reg contact Hamlin Engineering and talk with Rick Hamlin about the traffic flow study downtown. He said this is his expertise and it may be worth looking into them. He said he thought that firm worked on this project years ago for the Village. Reg said he would look into this.

 

Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated the Fire Department will be having an Open House this Saturday, August 17th from noon to 2 p.m. He said this is their way of thanking the taxpayers for the two new fire trucks. He urged everyone to stop by the station and check them out and enjoy a free cook out. Adam also wanted to thank everyone who turned out for the 10th Annual Car Show last week. He said there were 217 cars in the park and himself along with Mark Rocheleau are very thankful to everyone who helped make this possible. He also said they had a great 50/50 raffle and $814 was donated to the Marble Mill fund.

 

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau said National Night Out was successful and he wanted to thank TDI for all the cooking, Geoff Domey, Rise VT, the Fire Department, Missisquoi Valley Rescue, and Crystal Lampman and her youth group. He said it was a great turnout and very well attended.

 

Any Other Business: Neal Speer stated he wanted to thank everyone who turned out for Rise VT’s bike ride with Governor Phil Scott. He said there were 30 riders from St. Albans to Swanton. He said they were able to speak with the Governor at his Swanton stop at the Ron Kilburn Transportation Museum about issues they are trying to address. He said Rise VT had a great local turnout as well. Reg Beliveau said he had a Hazmat Training day on Saturday and couldn’t make this event. Neal also wanted to mention all the work going on with the new Ace Hardware building. He said they are making progress.

 

8. Executive Session to Discuss Real Estate:

 

Adam Paxman made a motion, seconded by Chris Leach, to go into executive session at 7:32 p.m. to discuss Real Estate.  Motion carried.

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:38 p.m., seconded by Eugene LaBombard. Motion carried.

 

ACTION TAKEN: None.

 

9. Adjournment:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:38 p.m.  Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:38 p.m. Motion carried.

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________    ___________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date

 

 

 

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

July 22, 2019

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

 

 

 

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, July 22, 2019

7:00 PM

 

 

 

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Karen Drennan, Town Selectboard member; 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.

 

  1. Agenda Review:

 

Adam Paxman stated he would like to add Personnel to Executive Session.

3. Public Comment:

 

None.

4. Approve and Accept Minutes from Wednesday, July 10, 2019 Meeting:

 

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from the Wednesday, July 10, 2019 meeting as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked about the Franklin Miller invoice. Reg Beliveau stated that Scott Mueller purchased parts from this company for the pumping station on Foundry Street. Chris Leach stated Gallup Court was paved and it came out very nice. He said the residents and children are enjoying the road very much. He stated he received positive comments from the letter that was delivered to each resident there. He said some residents were surprised that the speed limit was 30 mph. He said he would like to see more of a police presence on that street.  Motion carried.

 

5. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through July 19, 2019:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through July 19, 2019 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach asked about the payment made to the City of St. Albans for $12,512. Reg Beliveau stated that was for their dispatching services and said this is an annual invoice. Motion carried.

 

6. Swanton Village Police Department Update:

 

Chief Stell stated that for the month of June they handled 167 complaints in the Village. He said they were very busy. He said they wrote 33 traffic warnings and issued 3 traffic tickets totaling $348. He said their new vehicle is up and running and working out very well for the K-9 unit. Scout is at the academy finishing up his tracking certification and search and rescue certification. He said the dog has been used once already for drugs and located some crack cocaine in a house they did a search on. Neal Speer asked if the drug complaints were up or down. Chief Stell stated they have been down recently in both the town and Village. He said they are seeing more crack cocaine and cocaine rather than heroin. He said that could be because of the overdose issues with heroin but said that is just speculation. He said they are seeing needles deposited throughout the Village more so than in the Town. He said they have managed to curb the use of drugs from the recreation fields. He said officers are there once or twice per night checking the dugouts. He said they haven’t caught anyone in there but this has curbed the activity. Adam Paxman asked what people should do if they find a needle somewhere. Chief Stell stated they can call the police and they will go pick it up. He said there are some diabetics that don’t know how to properly dispose of their needles. He said if they can go to the Vermont Department of Health’s website they can see how to dispose of a needle properly. Adam asked if the Department was doing any drug take back days. Chief Stell said this is done twice per year and they did one in the Spring and will be doing one in October. He said this is done with the DEA. They partnered with Swanton Rexall in the spring and will no doubt partner with NOTCH for the event held in the fall, he said. He thought they collected nearly 50 pounds of medication in the spring. He said the DEA retrieves this medication and destroys it. Chris Leach asked if there was any pattern in the 167 calls for service. Chief Stell said no there wasn’t but said there were a lot of juvenile problems due to kids being out of school for the summer. He said a lot of these calls were kind of innocent but still needed to be checked out. Chris asked if they had problems with people not wanting to leave the park at night. Chief Stell said no that’s usually not an issue. Chris asked if people were hanging out at Marble Mill. Chief Stell said not that much. Reg Beliveau stated the police department received a grant for some LED lighting and said National Night Out is scheduled for August 6th this year. Chief Stell said this event will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Reg also said the police department received a USDA grant for $7400 and that will be used for the K-9 unit.

 

7. Sign Roads and Bridge Standards:

 

Reg Beliveau stated that it was time for the Village of Swanton to adopt the Town Road and Bridge Standards again and said this applies to the construction, repair and maintenance of town roads and bridges.

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to adopt and sign the Town Road and Bridge Standards as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

 

8. Water Allocation Request for Marc Gabree, US Route 7 North Subdivision:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into a Water Commissioner’s meeting at 7:25 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

 

Chris Leach made the motion to approve Marc Gabree’s request for 400 gallons per day for a new 3-bedroom single family home on US Route 7. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Water Commissioner’s meeting and re-enter Open Session at 7:28 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

 

9. Any Other Necessary Business:

 

Adam Paxman said the new ladder truck will hopefully be in by the end of August. It’s at Lake Region now and they are finishing things up on the truck. He also said Saturday, August 17th the Fire Department will hold an Open House with free food. He said stop by and check out the new trucks. Adam also gave kudos to Assistant Chief Jason Butler for being awarded the Fire Chief/Assistant Chief Award of the Year by the VT State Fire Chiefs Association.

 

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated he had a couple of bond documents that needed to be signed. He said one is for the fire truck and one is for the wastewater facility. Adam Paxman made a motion authorizing Village Manager Reginald Beliveau to sign all necessary bond documents with the VT Municipal Bond Bank for the new fire truck. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

 

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau further explained the next bond to be signed was for $41,700 and was for the evaluation of the wastewater facilities and development of the phosphorus reduction plan as required by the discharge permit. Chris Leach made the motion to authorize Village Manager Reginald Beliveau and the Village Board of Trustees to sign all necessary bond documents through the VT Municipal Bond Bank for $41,700 for the wastewater facility evaluation and development of the phosphorus reduction plan. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

Any Other Business: Neal Speer stated the Village Electric crew did a great job putting the electric service in behind the new Ace Hardware store and by Marble Mill. He said he’d also like to thank the Town of Swanton for the use of their equipment and thanked them for cleaning the bamboo out on South River Street. Reg Beliveau said the Village is still working on the new playground area sidewalks. Adam asked if everything was done there yet and Reg said the construction was done but they are working on landscaping and sidewalks. He said there will be an open house in the fall.

 

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated that August 10th Rise VT will host a 35 mile bike ride and the Governor will be in town at that time. Reg said that same weekend HazMat will hold a training he will be involved in.

 

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau showed the Board three different designs of the new office building. He said there still needs to be some changes done but the majority has chosen design #1. He said the Police Department needs to be made bigger, the bathrooms need to be handicap accessible and the bay for the trucks needs to be larger. He said nothing is in place yet and as soon as they do have something more solid he will bring this back to the board. Neal asked if anymore was done regarding the lighting on Merchants Row. Reg said he would talk with Duane about that this week.

 

 

 

 

 

10. Executive Session to Discuss Real Estate and Personnel:

 

Adam Paxman made a motion, seconded by Chris Leach, to go into executive session at 7:39 p.m. to discuss Real Estate and Personnel.  Motion carried.

 

Chris Leach made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:38 p.m., seconded by Adam Paxman. Motion carried.

 

ACTION TAKEN: None.

 

11. Adjournment:

 

Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:38 p.m.  Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:38 p.m. Motion carried.

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________    ___________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date