SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
SPECIAL MEETING
Monday, January 6, 2020
6:00 PM
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Joel Clark, Selectboard; Jason Butler and Jason Cross, Swanton Village Fire Department and Ch. 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.
- Call to Order:
Neal Speer, Village President, called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
- Swanton Village 2020 Budget Discussion – Fire and Police Budgets:
POLICE DEPARTMENT: Lynn stated she sat down with Chief Stell and they carved out some overtime labor hours in the department. She said they have two people going to the Academy in May or June and putting them on the road will cover some shifts. She said there is still some overtime that will happen in 2020. She said some of the increase in this department is coming from a 3% COLA increase and this will also affect retirement and social security taxes as well. She said they are purchasing a new cruiser and taking the money out of their savings account for this so it won’t affect taxes. She said Chief Stell is thinking about possibly adjusting their work schedule to 10-hour shifts and if they decide to do that she will need to adjust a few things in the personnel handbook. She said if they went to this shift officers would have every other weekend off. Adam Paxman asked why health insurance was up $9000 and Lynn said that is because a couple officers family had babies and they went on the family plan. He also asked about office supplies and Lynn said they need a new computer. Chris Leach asked if the Village was reimbursed for the SRO position at MVU. She said they are reimbursed 100% and she bills MVU quarterly for his wages. Eugene LaBombard stated the fine line item was down and Lynn said they only get a percentage of what the state collects on fines. Lynn stated this budget is labor intensive and Reg Beliveau stated their police officers are not getting paid what their neighboring police officers are getting paid.
FIRE DEPARTMENT: Lynn said she removed the dryer and gear rack from this budget like she was asked to do. Eugene LaBombard stated the increase in this budget is coming strictly from the two new fire trucks. Jason Butler stated the air compressor they need was to be purchased with the proceeds from the sale of one of their old trucks but it’s costing more than he anticipated. Reg Beliveau stated a Village taxpayer would see an increase of approximately $12 on a $200,000 home from the fire department budget that the voters approved last year. Reg also stated Village residents are paying slightly more for the fire budget than Town taxpayers are. They discussed the 76-24% grand list formula that is used to figure what the Town’s share of the budget is.
Chris Leach stated he would need an Executive Session to discuss personnel.
3. Executive Session to Discuss Personnel:
Chris Leach made the motion to enter into Executive Session at 6:51 p.m. to discuss personnel. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session at 7:06 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN: None.
4. Adjournment:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Special Board of the Trustees meeting at 7:06 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 7:06 p.m. Motion carried.
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Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date