December 13, 2021

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

 

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, December 13, 2021

7:00 PM

 

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Chris Leach, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Ken St. Amour, Ken Nolan; Gordon Winters and Ch. 16.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

 

1. Call to Order:

 

Neal Speer, Village President, called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.

 

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

 

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

3. Agenda Review:

 

None.

 

4. Public Comment:

 

None.

 

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, November 22, 2021:

 

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, November 22, 2021 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

 

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, December 9, 2021:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #112-#119 through Thursday, December 9, 2021 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked about the payment made to Champlain Divers in the amount of $10,170. Reg Beliveau stated that was for diving services to inspect the clear wells and reservoir. Motion carried.

 

7. Ken St. Amour – AMI Meter Presentation:

 

Ken St. Amour and Ken Nolan were present from VPPSA to give this AMI presentation to the Board. AMI stands for Automated Metering Infrastructure and Ken St. Amour said the Village has been working with him for over 3 years now on this. The Village plans on installing AMI meters for both electric and water/sewer meters. Mr. St. Amour discussed the timeline and said they hired Lemmerhirt Consulting in 2018, had some initial education meetings and did site visits and interviews. He also said in 2019 they worked on the analysis of work needed to implement AMI, attended Distributech and started the RFI process with 11 vendors. He said this was also evaluated by a large group of stakeholders. In 2020 they began the RFP process and narrowed it down to 3 vendors. After thorough evaluations and follow-up questions they went down to 2 vendors. He said they did reference checks and were ready for final vendor selection. He said they also began working on documentation preparation such as the cost/benefit analysis, cash flow analysis and cyber security issues. Mr. St. Amour said this year they have begun negotiations on complicated contract terms, multi-tenet model, statement of work, legal review, financing options and regulatory filing. He said they have chosen Aclara Solution as the vendor and went on to explain how electric meters with radios would be installed. Mr. St. Amour also explained how the network works and how the data is collected. He said instead of monthly consumption readings the Village will now be able to read meters every 15 minutes if needed. He said customers will be able to better track their usage and the Village will see power loads and adjust accordingly. He said the projected cost for this project is approximately $1.7 million dollars. He also showed the annual costs projected for the next 15 years.

 

Ken Nolan went on to explain the operational efficiencies and the regulatory side. He said the regulatory side is the driving factor because the legislature last year slipped energy issues into the transportation bill stating that every utility has to have either a specific rate for electric vehicles or a whole home time of use rate meaning rates that vary throughout the day implemented by 2024. He said it’s almost impossible to do with the historic mechanical meters and utilities have to go with an AMI meter where they get a 15 minute or hourly reading. Mr. Nolan said on the positive side once these meters are installed there are lot of benefits with time and analytic availability. He said VPPSA will be able to use this data for forecasting when they buy power on the open market. Mr. Nolan went on to discuss the electric and water AMI 15 year summary. He said benefits begin accruing in year 2 and continually increase through year 15 and cash flow is expected to be positive in 1.7 years and the AMI system payback is 5.71 years. He said because the Village is doing water as well they will see a better return. Ken said VPPSA will finance member utilities to do the AMI installation and they are hoping to get some ARPA funds to help defray the cost which is approximately $12 million dollars. He said they have asked the legislature for about $6 million dollars and said if they did get these funds it will be a 3 year payback period instead of 5.7. He said there are no guarantees but they are getting a pretty good response. He said they are talking to banks now about how they can structure the financing of this project on behalf of all their members and just have the utilities pay for it over time. Eugene LaBombard asked if the Village would need to go out for a bond vote. Lynn said she would on the water meters and they are hoping to lump that in with the river crossing water line job and will put it on the Village ballot. She said she wouldn’t have to for the electric meters. Ken said the timeframe for this project is sooner rather than later and they are working out the final details now. He said three utilities will do the install at the same time and contracts should be ready to be signed in the next few months. Reg said the Village has been working on this for a few years now and he appreciates all the work that has gone into this. Ken said the Village will move forward with this it’s just a matter of working out how they will structure the financing of it. Mr. Nolan said the next time they come in regarding this topic they will have contracts and financing options and more structure. The Board thanked both for their presentation.

 

8. 2022 Budget Discussions:

 

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, said these budgets are not final and she is still fine tuning because she doesn’t have solid wage numbers yet. She said she has all her insurance rates and she is still finishing up her November financials. She said they’ve just renegotiated their uniform contract and will see a savings there, especially in the electric department. She said across all the budgets she has a COLA (cost of living adjustment) built in at 5.84%. She said every company is looking for help right now and there are some areas where the staff isn’t being paid competitively and could go some place else and make more money. She said she is trying to adjust those wages so they don’t lose good employees. She said that also affects social security and what they pay into retirement.

 

ELECTRIC FUND: She said she would highlight the bigger changes. She said she increased the hydro maintenance to $77,800 because there is work to be done on a generator and they will begin the start of a 5-year maintenance plan. She said the purchase power budget will be overbudget because of the dry summer they had. She said at this point they are almost $200,000 overbudget and that will end up being higher. She said VPPSA has budgeted them at $2.1 million dollars and they will also see a savings in 2022 because generation at the hydro plant is now behind the meter and they will also see a savings being 100% renewable. She also said the VPPSA administrative budget is up this year. She also said Workmans Compensation is down almost $9000. She said employee benefits such as retirement and dental have increased some and health insurance has gone down. She said interest on long term debt is down quite a bit and she will have a bond paid off in 2023. She said she doesn’t feel like she needs a rate increase in 2022 but she will revisit that in 2023.

 

WATER FUND: Lynn said under maintenance of reservoir she is decreasing that budget by $9000 because they only have to clean and inspect it every 5 to 7 years. She said her chemical budget is down about $12,000 because they are not using as many chemicals. Reg said there has been a change in the operator due to retirement and the new operator is monitoring the plant more and not using as many chemicals in how he operates. She said her maintenance of lines is up some because they have some hydrants and gate valves that need replacing. She said the employee benefits are going up a little bit in this fund. She said she hasn’t raised the water rates in a few years and there may be a slight increase in 2022.

 

SEWER FUND: She said there is an increase in the plant maintenance because a centrifuge needs work. She said that is done every 3 years. She said there is a reduction in their chemical budget as well. She said she has an employee retiring at the end of the year and the new operator has reduced the budget. She said the flows are down so their chemical usage is down. Reg said they have reduced the phosphorus levels as well. Lynn said she has increased maintenance of storm drains from $8,000 to $15,000. She said health insurance has decreased some. She said they also need to purchase a camera to be used in sewer lines.

 

HIGHWAY FUND: Lynn said the first three budgets she discussed are funded by rate payers and the highway fund and general fund are funded by taxpayers. She said grant income isn’t usually budgeted and because she knows they have a grant to do the bridge repairs she budgeted that this year. She discussed how she budgets their labor as well. She said health insurance has gone up in this fund because employees have made some changes. Transportation is up a bit because of some repair issues and gas and parts prices are up. She increased that budget some. She explained what was in the equipment budget.

 

GENERAL FUND: Lynn said the rent line item was down a bit and she said she removed some capital funds for building repair. She said property insurance was up a bit as well as health insurance. She said she will continue to budget for two part time summer help jobs.

 

FIRE DEPARTMENT FUND: She said the Town Fire Assessment is going up a bit and said this is based on the grand list split. She said if the Town grand list grows anymore it will change the split from 76%-24% to 77%-23%. She said the dispatching line item has stayed the same for another year, their workmans compensation is going down and they are asking for an increase in the transportation line item for repairs, tires, gas, etc. She said they are also asking to increase the equipment replacement fund and the radio equipment fund. She said they kept their personal protective equipment the same.

 

POLICE DEPARTMENT FUND: Lynn said the School Resource Officer position is partially funded through a federal grant so the line item amount is what will be billed to the high school. She said right now they have a full time SRO and a part time SRO officer. She also mentioned the Town Police Contract and are waiting to hear back from them on what they want for sure. She said she budgeted $13,000 for the fingerprinting they do. She mentioned the COPS grant and said she receives $41,667 and the fourth year is fully funded by the school. She said the telephone budget is increasing quite a bit and she has more work to do on that. She said property insurance has also increased as well as the liability insurance and health insurance. Workmans Compensation went down some. She said the transportation expense is up too and that’s because of the gas prices. She said they will be ordering a new cruiser in 2022 as well. She said when they try to stretch out the number of years they keep a cruiser they end up having to put too much money in them for repairs because they have so many hard miles on them. She said they get about 3 years out of a cruiser and less than 200k for miles. Reg said they’ve looked into electric vehicles but the alternator can’t run all the necessary equipment.

 

COMMERCIAL BUILDING FUND: Lynn said the only thing in this fund is the property taxes on the Riveria Hotel property.

 

ESTIMATED TAX RATES: General Fund tax rate is going from 0.0927 to 0.1010 for a change of $0.0083; the Fire Department tax rate is going from 0.0496 to 0.0515 for a change of $0.0601; the police department tax rate is going from 0.4210 to 0.4811 for a change of $0.0601; the Highway Fund tax rate is going from 0.3172 to 0.3477 for a change of $0.0305. She said the total tax rate would go from 0.8805 for 2021 to 0.9814 for 2022, about 10 cents on the tax rate. She said the main thing driving this tax hike is because of the workforce right now. She said if they don’t adjust labor rates in some of the department’s she said they are going to lose employees, specifically public works and the police department. She said the police department especially, some agencies are recruiting heavy and offering sign on bonuses and are actively pursuing employees, even here at the office. She said when an employee can leave here and make more money doing manufacturing there is a problem and she feels they will lose employees. Reg said they could face a mass exit. Chris Leach said his theory for 30 years has been to pay good wages to keep good employees. She said as the budget stands right now a $200,000 home would pay $103.08 per year for fire protection and $962.30 per year for police protection. She said people give the police a lot of flack but when your house gets broken into that’s who you want to call. She said the highway fund would cost $695.42 and the general fund would be $201.91 for a $200,000 home. She said she has never given the board a budget with this high of an increase so it was tough for her. The Board agreed that everything is increasing and said our wages need to be competitive in order to keep employees. Lynn said they have a really good staff right now and they want to keep them.

 

9. Any Other Necessary Business:

 

Adam Paxman said the Fire Department held their annual Christmas party on Saturday, December 11^th and presented Lindsay Potter with the 2021 Firefighter of the Year Award. He said she is the first female firefighter to receive this award and said it was well deserved. Reg stated he has worked with Lindsay quite a bit in fire prevention and he along with the board congratulated her. Adam also said Christmas in the Park was held on November 27^th and said he went well with a good turnout. He wanted to thank everyone who helped to make this event happen and also thanked the Chamber of Commerce. He said his word for the week is FAMILY. He urged everyone to spend all the quality time they can with their family.

 

10. Executive Session If Necessary:

 

None.

 

11. Adjournment:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:28 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 9:28 p.m. Motion carried.

 

 

 

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________    ___________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date

 

December 29, 2021

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

 

SPECIAL MEETING

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

7:00 PM

 

PRESENT: Chris Leach, Village Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk. Via Zoom: Channel 16.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

 

1. Call to Order:

 

Chris Leach, Village Trustee, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

 

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

 

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

3. Agenda Review:

 

None.

 

4. Public Comment:

 

None.

 

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, December 13, 2021:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, December 13, 2021 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

 

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, December 23, 2021:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #120-#123 through Thursday, December 23, 2021 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

 

7. 2022 Budget Discussions:

 

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, said this is draft #3

 

ELECTRIC FUND: Lynn said she is still waiting on her revenue numbers and needs to adjust wages and overtime hours. Lynn said they still need to bill cycle 4 so her numbers in this fund will change some. She said interest on long term debt has gone down and they are showing a net income of over $600,000. She said she won’t need to go in for a rate increase but said she would keep an eye out. Chris Leach stated they had very little water this past year and that will affect purchase power numbers.

 

WATER FUND: Lynn said she has calculated her revenue in this fund and also needs to do a wage adjustment as well. She said she has budgeted for a loss of about $30,000. She said she feels a water rate increase of .67 cents for Village residential customers will be necessary in her variable rates. She said the Village hasn’t raised water rates for quite some time now.

 

SEWER FUND: Lynn said her plant labor line item is over budget because they had a retirement this year and had to hire a third person and train. She said they have very little debt service in this fund and also said they are struggling some because of a couple of special sewer account customers. She said over the last couple of years what they’ve put through our plant has decreased and she will need to make that revenue up elsewhere. She feels an increase in this fund is necessary also and would need an increase of $1.58 in her variable rate and an increase of $.67 cents in her fixed rate.

 

HIGHWAY FUND: Lynn said nothing has really changed in this fund and she will do a final run through on the wages. She said this fund is showing a profit of $52,000 and she will ask to put approximately $24,000 in the equipment replacement fund. She said they bought a new truck and hopefully it gets here soon.

 

GENERAL FUND: Lynn said this fund is up $43,000 and she needs to do a wage allocation here as well.

 

FIRE DEPARTMENT FUND: Lynn said she is in the final stages with this fund and doesn’t see any other changes coming in. She said they have asked to increase the equipment replacement fund to $45,000. She said they have had quite a few truck repairs this past year and gas prices are up.

 

POLICE DEPARTMENT FUND: Lynn said the new Police Chief starts on Monday and they have been trying to figure out their shift schedule. She said they are contemplating working either an 8 hour shift or a 10 hour shift and will continue to work on that. She said they need to really work on pay rates in this fund so they don’t lose officers. She said she needs to do some adjustments in salaries and also said the Town Contract numbers aren’t solid yet. She said the Village’s invoice for the SRO officer will be paid and more grant income has come in so she hopes to flip the loss to a profit.

 

COMMERCIAL BUILDING FUND: Lynn said the only thing in this fund is the property taxes on the Riveria Hotel property.

 

ESTIMATED TAX RATES: General Fund tax rate is going from 0.0927 to 0.1010 for a change of $0.0083; the Fire Department tax rate is going from 0.0496 to 0.0511 for a change of $0.0015; the police department tax rate is going from 0.4210 to 0.4719 for a change of $0.0509; the Highway Fund tax rate is going from 0.3172 to 0.3477 for a change of $0.0305. She said the total tax rate would go from 0.8805 for 2021 to 0.97167 for 2022, about .09 cents on the tax rate. She said her biggest concern is in the police department with an almost .5 cent increase. She said as the budget stands right now a $200,000 home would pay $102.14 per year for fire protection and $943.87 per year for police protection. She said the highway fund would cost $695.42 and the general fund would be $201.91 for a $200,000 home.

 

CAPITAL PROJECTS/EQUIPMENT: Lynn said the following are some of the items needed in different departments: Electric Department: Air Switch for $35,000. Battery and charger at the Hydro plant for $50,000; wire puller & tensioner in Electric Department for $85,000; Unit 3 bearing for $500,000 at Hydro plant; servers in the front office for approximately $20,000; insertion valves in the water department for $63,000, new sander for the sidewalk trackless for $8800.

 

Adam Paxman asked if the grand list had any potential to grow. She said all she could think of was the Riveria Property and the Fourth Street property. She said the grand list is determined by a 5 year average and right now it’s 76% Town and 24% Village. She said it’s so close to flipping that next year she feels it will be 77% to 23%.

 

8. Any Other Necessary Business:

 

Adam Paxman said his word for this week is HOPE. He said let’s hope 2022 is a better year for everyone.

 

Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard said he wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

 

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, showed a picture of a large clump of sludge. He said it was the size of a basketball filled with anti-bacteria wipes and dental floss. He read a list of things that cannot be flushed and reminded everyone to be more careful.

 

9. Executive Session If Necessary:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to enter Executive Session at 8:00 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:20 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 8:20 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand, Chris Leach, Village Trustee, adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m. Motion carried.

 

 

 

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________    ___________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date

 

November 22, 2021

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

 

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, November 22, 2021

7:00 PM

 

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Chris Leach, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Tim Smith, Franklin County Industrial Development Coordinator (FCIDC); Joel Clark; Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator; David Winchester, and Ch. 16.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

 

1. Call to Order:

 

Neal Speer, Village President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

 

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

 

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

3. Agenda Review:

 

None.

 

4. Executive Session to Discuss Personnel:                                           

 

Chris Leach made the motion to enter executive session to discuss personnel at 7:02 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit executive session at 7:12 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

 

ACTION TAKEN: Neal Speer stated they made a decision on hiring the new Police Chief. Adam Paxman made the motion to appoint Matt Sullivan as the Village of Swanton police chief. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried. Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, stated he will take office on January 3, 2022.

 

5. Public Comment:

 

Ed Daniel stated he wanted to share where the Planning Commission was at because they are working on their new bylaws for the Municipal Plan due in 2023. He said some things need change and he asked the Trustees to get their constituents in on the game. He said the southern growth district needs work, senior housing is an issue, they have the Fourth Street property, the essential business district and need to work on their forms because some are 50 years old and haven’t been revised. He said garbage around the village is an issue as well as junk cars.

 

Joel Clark stated he was here tonight on behalf of the Swanton Enhancement Project (SEP) because they want to be more involved with the beautification committee, economic development community ideas and the Town and Village ARPA funds that will be discussed. He said the Veterans Memorial Park new sign has been erected and they plan on planting flowers around the base in the spring. He said they are also working on lighting the monument with the names of the soldiers from major battles. He said they are also working on the Fourth Street property that the Town owns and think a community recreation center would be a great idea. He said they applied for a grant from the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail for a parking area and have submitted a letter of intent in September.

 

6. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, November 8, 2021:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, November 8, 2021 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

 

7. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, November 18, 2021:

 

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #107-#111 through Thursday, November 18, 2021 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

 

8. FCIDC and NRPC Discussion on Regional Priorities Project:

 

Tim Smith stated the FCIDC gets funding from the State of Vermont in the amount of $118,000 and said they need to meet some guidelines in order to get this funding. He said one of those things they need to do is go around the county and aggregate economic development projects. He said these projects need to meet certain criteria such as job creation, project feasibility, and it has to be something that is moving forward. He said three of the projects listed for the Swanton area are the Swanton Downtown Redevelopment project, the Swanton Fourth Street Property and the Swanton Riviere Hotel property. He said the bridge job wouldn’t fall into this because it needs to create jobs for the most part. He said he wanted to make the board aware of these projects and if they had any other jobs to let him know. Tim said the projects that are “shovel ready” will mostly likely get the funds to move forward. Elisabeth said the projects are arbitrarily selected. Adam Paxman asked how possible is it that one or more communities get left out and one or more are chosen. Tim said it’s very possible because it’s done more on readily available projects. Adam said it’s clear that St. Albans City and Town have more projects that are shovel ready. Tim agreed and said towns and villages that have administrative support do benefit some. Chris Leach stated more jobs will equal more housing and that is something that is needed. David Winchester said jobs are very important but so isn’t quality of life. He said the housing market has skyrocketed and more people are willing to work remotely from their homes. He said people have flocked to Vermont since the pandemic and he said quality of life is very important now. He said St. Albans has a bit more to offer such as the new pool being built, the skiing, the marina, etc. Tim said they still need job creation because graduating students are leaving for college and about half of them are staying here and need jobs. Chris Leach asked if there were any job fairs taking place. Tim said a few companies are holding their own job fairs and some are holding them virtually. More discussion took place regarding jobs and housing. The Board thanked Tim for his update.

9. Any Other Necessary Business:

 

Adam Paxman stated on behalf of the Village Trustees they wanted to congratulate Brian Savage as the new Town Administrator. He said the park looks nice and thanks to Ernie LaRocque they have an 18’ Christmas tree in the park. He said Geoff Domey and Mark Rocheleau as well as Swanton Village electric crew helped make it happen. He said Swanton Lumber and Ace Hardware donated items for the tree as well so he said it’s a true community effort. He said his word for tonight is compassion and asked people to show more of it. He also said Christmas in the Park will be held on Saturday, November 27^th from 2:30 to 5 p.m.

 

Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard said the price for the water line job on Ferry Street was very good. Reg Beliveau said the new Police Chief Matt Sullivan is active in youth hockey, is community minded and lives in Bakersfield.

 

10. Executive Session If Necessary:

 

None.

 

11. Adjournment:

 

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:11p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:11 p.m. Motion carried.

 

 

 

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________    ___________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date