SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
SPECIAL MEETING
Monday, June 1, 2020
5:30 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; Chief of Police Leonard “Joey” Stell; Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator; Tim Smith, FCIDC and Channel 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.
- Call to Order:
Neal Speer, Village President, called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
- Pledge of Allegiance:
Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Agenda Review:
Eugene LaBombard stated he would like to discuss personnel under Executive Session.
- Public Comment:
Joe Wolske was present on behalf of the Swanton Arts Council. He said it has come to their attention that there is some controversy and complaints over the current image on the Art Wall located on the Municipal Building’s front lawn. Someone painted a black fist on the wall. Joe said fellow Arts Council member Darci Benoit works for a law firm in Burlington and she asked an attorney for his opinion on whether or not the image should be removed or not. The attorney suggested the image be left there for now because they don’t want to open a can of worms. He said reset the art wall in a reasonable amount of time. Reg Beliveau stated he also contacted the Village’s attorney at VT League of Cities and Towns (VLCT). He said he believes the image stands for “solidarity” and the Village’s attorney recommended the same as the other attorney. Reg said the Village and the Arts Council need clearer guidelines and rules regarding the art walls. Adam Paxman stated he looked at the rules regarding painting on the art walls and said it states that if something is offensive it should be removed. He asked why the image was painted on this board and none of the others. Chief of Police Leonard “Joey” Stell commented that there are two representations of this art. He said it represents the Black Panthers group that was formed in the 1960’s. He said they originally started as a solidarity group that turned violent. He said the other meaning of the image is “solidarity.” He said viewers can interpret it either way. He also said because of the location of this board it’s a representation of this municipal building and that they accept and believe all art on that board. He said if the board stays in this location there needs to be strong guidelines and artwork would need to be approved first. Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, said she doesn’t have a problem with the image but suggested the board be moved. Neal Speer, Village President, said art boards should not “make a statement” and feels they should negotiate another agreement with the Arts Council. He said they will leave the artwork for now and take their attorney’s advice. Chris Leach stated he appreciates the art boards and enjoys seeing all the different artwork. Eugene LaBombard also agreed that the Village negotiate an agreement with the Arts Council. Adam Paxman suggested the board be reset within 10 days.
- Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, April 6, 2020:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, April 6, 2020 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.
- Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, May 29, 2020:
Chris Leach made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Friday, May 29, 2020. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked about Warrant #44 and the payment made to VEPPI in the amount of $15,268.30. Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, stated they now pay VEPPI for purchase power directly through the Village’s bank and so a separate warrant is printed for them. Eugene LaBombard just wanted to mention that on Warrant #41 the total for 29 invoices paid is $90,355.70 and the invoice to Efficiency VT is close to 50% of that amount, which is $48,199.36. He said this money is paid to the State of Vermont monthly and utilities had no say in this. He just wanted ratepayers to be aware of this. Motion carried.
- Executive Session Real Estate – Tim Smith, FCIDC:
Tim Smith, FCIDC, said he’s making his rounds to all the local boards and giving an update on what FCIDC has been up to. He said COVID-19 has brought a lot of issues for local businesses and Elisabeth Nance as well as Connie Burns, have been very supportive in doing some outreach efforts for these businesses. He said they have been dispensing information as best as they could but said it was constantly changing. He said during this pandemic Perigo has hired 40 individuals and Ben & Jerry’s is hiring as well. He said he thinks people have decided to change their skill sets and move into manufacturing. He said retail and service businesses have been hit hard as well as the dairy farmers. He said they are hoping local businesses come out of this better off like they did after the 2008 recession. Tim also said they received a grant that will enable them to have Elisabeth Nance work an additional 4 hours per week and said she is a great asset to him as well as Connie Burns.
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to enter Executive Session to discuss real estate at 6:00 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to exit Executive Session at 6:36 and to re-enter Open Session. Adam Paxman seconded.
ACTION TAKEN: None.
- Economic Development Coordinator Update on Downtown Scoping Study:
Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, informed the Board that last year the Village of Swanton was awarded $34,000 to do a Scoping Study on the Downtown area. She said Request for Proposals (RFP) went out and the grant has been awarded to VHB to do the work. She said there is a steering committee that is comprised of herself, Neal Speer, Reg Beliveau and Gordon Winters. She would like to thank them for all their hard work. She said there will be a kick-off meeting and there is discussion on how they will conduct this public meeting. She said they will work out the details and the project will be moving forward. She said she has a copy of the study that was done in 2001 and will bring that to the meeting for discussion. Reg Beliveau mentioned that work will begin on the new sidewalks in the near future. Neal Speer stated ACE Hardware is open and Bees on Broadway will be moving into 5 Canada Street very soon. He said it is looking good there. Chris Leach stated he would like to see a restaurant go in there as well. He also stated he is hoping when they do the traffic study that they address the issue of the truck traffic on Route 78. He said if they looked at an aerial view of Interstate 89 and Route 78 there is a very clear route the trucks can take. He said he would like to see them detoured. Elisabeth stated when you detour trucks you detour cars but agreed the truck traffic is an issue.
- COVID-19 Update Pertaining to the Village of Swanton:
Chief Stell said the Governor is opening things up a bit more. He said the numbers for the State are optimistic and there are eight more positive cases but no new cases in Franklin County for a while. He said everyone should remain diligent to keep the spread of the virus down. He said keep washing your hands, wear masks and use hand sanitizer. He said it does appear that it is difficult to catch the virus from surfaces. He said the virus is not going away anytime soon and feels that this fall during flu season things could get worse. He said opening schools looks very difficult. Reg Beliveau stated that the Village is doing continuity of operations and will address things in the Fall as they arise. He said he is very pleased with how the department heads have handled everything with no loss of services. Lynn Paradis said there possibly could be another outbreak this fall so she is having Marc looking into setting up some home offices so that those who need to can work from home if need be. Reg said he would like to get the Board members tablets so that meeting agendas and all paperwork could be emailed to them and they could keep operations happening. Eugene LaBombard asked if any employees had any issues they couldn’t resolve. Reg said no the process is working well. Lynn informed the Board that plexiglass was installed in the front office. Chief Stell also said more businesses are no longer accepting cash.
- Swanton Village Police Department Update:
Chief Stell informed the Board that during the month of May the Village Police Department responded to 164 calls for service. He said people were getting cabin fever and there were more domestic violence and landlord/tenant issues during the month. He said better weather also brings more traffic offenses and the Village issued 14 warnings and 6 tickets totaling $942. He said they saw a decrease in the volume of traffic because people were staying home but saw an increase in speeding on First Street, Grand Avenue, Canada Street and Spring Street.
- Discussion on Electric, Water & Sewer A/R Aging Report:
Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, informed the Board that she has been tracking electric, water and sewer aging reports daily since the end of February. She said there is an increase of almost $88,000 of unpaid electric bills. Lynn said the State of Vermont has put a hold on disconnects and as of now the Village cannot disconnect electric, water or sewer service through the end of July. She said the State may extend that date further. Lynn said Katie Domina, customer service rep, has been calling customers and trying to get them on a repayment plan. Because of COVID-19 the Village will extend their agreement policy and help customers get caught up on their delinquent bill. Lynn said the Village hasn’t been charging any interest on overdue bills since the end of March and said she would like to continue that until this is over with. Lynn informed the Board that delinquent taxes are $36,413 at this time and that is about $5000 higher than last year at this time.
- Any Other Necessary Business:
Reg Beliveau informed the Board that the Village was asked to participate in the Restart Vermont Grant and Loan Program for small businesses in the area looking for assistance. He said this involves the Village’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and the Village can choose how much of those funds they would use for this program. Lynn informed the Board that the loan application process is quite lengthy and will be overseen by the Regional Development Corporation or a designated lending agency. If approved by them they would then go before the Village Trustees for approval. She said they could also choose to lend funds to a small business that is in the Village’s territory so a business in Highgate or Swanton Town could apply as well. Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize Village Manager Reginald Beliveau to sign the Memorandum of Intent to participate in the Restart Vermont Grant and Loan Program. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
- Executive Session to Discuss Personnel:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to enter Executive Session to discuss personnel at 7:36 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
Chris Leach made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:00 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN: None.
- Adjournment:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Special Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:00 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:00 p.m. Motion carried.
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Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date