Trustees Meeting 1/13/25

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 SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, January 13, 2025

7:00 PM

PRESENT: David Winchester, Village President; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Suzie Kelleher, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Joel Clark, Allen Letourneau and Ch. 16. Via Teams: Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager.

To watch this meeting in its entirety, go to Northwest Access TV on YouTube. The video will also be posted on the Village’s website once available. Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried, unanimously.

1. Call to Order:

David Winchester, Village President, called the Village Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

Everyone in attendance stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

3. Agenda Review:

None.

4. Public Comment:

None.

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from the Monday, December 30, 2024 meeting as presented:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve Minutes from Monday, December 30, 2024 meeting as presented. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, January 9, 2025:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Thursday, January 9, 2025 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

7. 2025 Budget Discussion:

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, presented the Board with her third draft of the 2025 budget. Before she began her presentation Suzie Kelleher asked why they factored in a 4% wage increase for the employees instead of a 3.8%. She asked why the Village had to match the Town’s wage increase when the Town has more taxpayers. Bill Sheets, Village Manager, said several employees here at the Village make under $25 per hour. He also said the Village has increased the percentage employees now pay for health premiums and that is going up 2% this year. Suzie thanked him for his explanation. Lynn then gave a brief explanation on each of the following funds:

Electric Department – Adjusted the revenue funds and said there hasn’t been a lot of growth in new customers. She said right now she has budgeted a loss in this fund. She said the police, fire, highway and general funds are ready to be approved but said she is still working on her electric, water and sewer funds.

Water Fund – Lynn said they have decided on no rate increase for 2025 but may do so in 2026.

Sewer Fund – Lynn said she adjusted salaries in this fund which affects the social security, child tax credit and the retirement numbers.

Highway Fund – Lynn said she adjusted the paving and sidewalk numbers because of grants. She said Dean has requested plow truck #3 get a refurbished plow and box and said it is cheaper for his crew to do the work themselves. She said she is requesting permission to move $45,400 out of the equipment fund.

General Fund – Lynn said she adjusted grant income and expenses in this fund. She also said she moved ARPA money as being received and spent so she pulled it out of the budget.

Fire Department – Lynn said this fund was ready to be adopted. She said their budget is going from $0.0564 to $0.0528 which amounts to a $0.0036 increase.

Police Department – Lynn said she adjusted this fund by removing the salary that was allotted for the new officer but hasn’t been able to hire. She said this results in a $30,000 savings on the Town’s police contract. Suzie Kelleher asked how that would be split between the Village and the Town, Lynn said 2/3 and 1/3. They discussed how the contract runs from April 1 to March 31. Lynn said this fund is going from $0.5962 to $0.5998 for a total of $0.0036.

Commercial Building Fund – Lynn said the only thing in this fund is their revolving loans.

Estimate Tax Rate – Lynn then showed the general fund and highway fund tax rates. The general fund tax rate for 2024 was $0.1037 and is going to $0.1176 for a change of $0.0139 cents; and the highway fund will go from $0.4126 in 2024 to $0.4556 in 2025 for an increase of $0.0430. Lynn said the estimated tax rate will go from $1.1653 to $1.2294 for 2025 which amounts to an increase of 5.50%.

The board thanked Lynn for all her hard work on the 2025 budget.

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and adopt the Highway, General, Fire and Police budgets as presented. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Discussion: Lynn said she would send the Town over the fire and police budgets in the morning. She also said the electric, water and sewer budgets would be ready for adoption at their next meeting. Motion carried.

8. Review and Approve Updated Water Ordinance:

Dianne Day, Village Clerk, stated they’ve made some changes to the water ordinance Definitions, Use of Swanton Village Water System and Water Rates and Charges sections. She said since the Village is going to AMI meters some language needed to be updated. Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve and adopt the Water System Rules and Regulations Ordinance as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

9. Review and Approve Updated Park Ordinance:

Dianne Day, Village Clerk, stated the Village of Swanton no longer owns Tacquahunga Park and said that needed to be removed from the ordinance. She said she added Taylor Drive Park to the ordinance as well. Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and adopt the Park Ordinance as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded the motion. Motion carried.

10. Review and Approve Updated Parking Ordinance:

Dianne Day, Village Clerk, stated the Village decided to make some changes to the parking ordinance which consists of adding Section 5503B Church Street Parking Restriction. No person shall park any vehicle on the southerly end of Church Street alongside the Town Clerk’s Office and the Village Green. She said they also added Section 5504A – Parking Time Limited on Certain Streets. She said the two-hour parking limit on downtown streets was reenacted in the ordinance. Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and adopt the Parking Ordinance as presented. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Discussion: Dianne said all Ordinances can be viewed at the Village office and said the ordinances will be in effect on March 14, 2025 if no one petitions them. Motion carried.

11. Appoint Representative to the Northwest Communications Union District Legislative Body for 2025:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to reappoint Larry King as the Swanton Village representative to the Northwest Communications Union District Legislative Body. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

12. Discussion on Swanton Village Annual Report:

Dianne Day, Village Clerk, said this year she reached out to a few printing vendors to get quotes on printing the Village Report. She said the company they used last year increased their cost considerably, and went from $3198.86 to $4587.43. She said it’s because she wanted the Village book to look as nice as the Town’s report with a glossy cover and a glued spine. She said the Village’s book was stapled and had a matte finish for the cover. The other quote received was for $6258.60 but she said this company called her back and said they made a mistake, and the cost would be $3400.00. The other company that gave a quote was Repro in Winooski and that’s who prints the Town’s report. She said their quote came in at $2409.00 but said she needed to increase the quantity to 800 and not 700 so said it would be $2755. She said this is a lower price than last year and said if she enters into a 3-year contract with Repro the cost will go down by approximately $100 each year. She also said the Town leaves their report in various drop locations but said she would recommend still mailing about 600 of the books to Village taxpayers. The board agreed with this. Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into a three-year contract with Repro for the printing of the Swanton Village Annual Report. Suzie Kelleher seconded. Motion carried.

13. Village Manager Update:

Bill Sheets, Village Manager, handed out copies of the Village’s organizational chart to the Board members for review. He said this will run in the Village’s Annual Report.

Trustee Meeting Dates: Looking to move two of the meeting dates in 2025 that fall on a Holiday.

05/26: Memorial Day we will move this to 05/27 and 10/13: Columbus Day/Indigenous People Day

We will move this to 10/14. The Board agreed to these changes.

Reminder: Joint Planning/Selectboard/Trustee meeting 01/22 at 5:30 here at the complex.

Department of Housing and Community Development: Will be holding a meeting here, sponsored by FCIDC, on Thursday 1/23 from 3:30 to 5:00 PM. We will cover this meeting but just want to know if two or more Trustees plan to attend so that we can warn that properly.

Grants: We have received a grant in the amount of $149,502 based upon our application for level 3 (fast charge) for 74 Merchants Row. We are required to produce a 5 percent match, or roughly $7,868.55. In-kind match is acceptable, and we anticipate meeting this with work performed by the Electric Department and Public Works. This grant will provide two chargers, both with two charger ports and will require four dedicated parking spaces.

Swanton Village Electric: We had zero power outages during the month of December.

The Electric Department continues to make significant progress with the installation of the DCU units as part of the AMI project. The fiber enhancement that the Trustees approved several months ago is progressing with the 16-week lead time for the fiber itself. The fiber is due this week and just needs to be installed.

At our next meeting we will receive a presentation from Weimann Lamphere Architects, as well as from Connor Contracting, outlining project parameters and costs as the Swanton Village Trustees determining whether to place a bond for a new Swanton Electric Department Facility on the March ballot. Adam Paxman asked if all Board members were in favor of this building project and said he hoped so and wanted to present this on a united front. All Board members individually stated that they were in favor of building a new electric building.

January 27 (7 PM Trustees meeting) This will be a warned Trustees meeting where all project details will be presented to the Board of Trustees, who will decide whether to move forward with a bond vote.

If the Trustees approve, we will hold informational meetings on the following dates and times to inform the public about this project. These meetings would be attended by WLA and Connor Contracting.

February 10^th(Monday at 7 PM/Trustees Meeting):  This is a Trustees meeting date, and we will provide all details, concept plans, poster boards, anticipated costs.

February 15^th (Saturday at 1 PM)

February 19^th (Wednesday at 6 PM)

February 24^th (Monday night joint budget presentation with the Town).

Hydroelectric: Unit 2 remains down with a repair plan in place, hoping to have this repair fixed by spring runoff.

Unit 3 is now down, with nine broken bolts in the lower block housing, which is the original housing for this nearly 70-year unit. Some of these bolts were likely broken decades ago. A significant vibration has occurred in the shaft. The most recent bearing addition might be causing this issue based upon its placement, higher up on the shaft. An immediate evaluation is being made to determine an alternative fix, with the possibility of returning to the older style wooden blocks. This fix will take significant personnel and once again many different departments are pitching in.

Based upon the various projects at the hydro we are making a change in the responsibilities of the leadership team so that Dan can concentrate on repairs to the various projects. Jason Starr will be leading the maintenance team, effective immediately. This should be a force multiplier for all the things that we have put in place to continue that team approach to project management.

Grant Application: We are exploring a $60,000 grant to develop a capital improvement plan for requisite updates to our hydroelectric facility. We are early in this process, and we will keep you updated.

Wastewater: Our upgrade project is progressing well, with Kingsbury Construction and Aldrich and Elliott working diligently to be on time and on budget. We still have a December 2025 completion date.

Water:  Work has begun on the installation of the 12 new chemical pumps.

Public Works: The team has been busy with the recent weather. The liquid application that is being used this year has proven effective, decreasing our call-in volume during the early morning hours. It looks like more weather ahead that will keep the team busy.

14. Any Other Necessary Business:

Suzie Kelleher congratulated Tanner Benoit on the birth of his new baby daughters. She also asked if the Village was open or closed on Martin Luther King Day. Bill Sheets stated the Village is open that day.

Any Other Business: David Winchester gave kudos to those involved with getting a warmup hut at the Recreation Department’s ice rink.

Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard stated he wasn’t running for Village Trustee again this year due to health reasons. He said he almost had to resign in August but pushed through and stayed on the Board. He said he was going to miss everyone. The Board applauded Eugene for his many years of service and said he would be missed.

15. Executive Session if Necessary:

None.

16. Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees at 8:19 p.m. Suzie Kelleher seconded. There being no further business at hand, David Winchester, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:19 p.m. Motion carried.

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David Winchester, Village President                  Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date