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Trustees Meeting 1/25/16

  • Monday, January 25, 2016
    7 PM – 9 PM

Village Trustees

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SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, January 25, 2016

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk & Treasurer; Joel Clark; Wayne Elliott, Aldrich & Elliott; and 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.

2.      Agenda Review:

None.

3.      Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, January 11, 2016:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, January 11, 2016 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

4.      Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, January 22, 2016:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants (#1-#5) through Friday, January 22, 2016 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion:  Eugene LaBombard asked about the Cogsdale invoice and Lynn Paradis stated that was the Village’s software company. Motion carried.

5.      Joel Clark to Discuss a Memorial in Flat Iron Park:

Joel Clark informed the Board that he has done some background on making some possible changes to Flat Iron Park. He said that Flat Iron Park has two monuments that honor veterans past and present. He said the Civil War monument on the Village Green has the names of those that have given their lives serving their country in that conflict. Joel said there is no permanent monument that carries the names of those that have lost their life in combat since the Civil War and the time to change this has passed. He said he recommends adding the names to the monument in Flat Iron Park but also add a viewing center to add the pages of military history as shown in the Swanton History book. He said these pages identify those veterans that served in the major conflicts. Joel said this is going to cost approximately $3500 and the funds would be raised through donations. He said he will form a committee with representatives from the Village, Town, VFW, Historical Society and Mr. Warren Fournier. He said he would keep everyone updated and confirm his plan is acceptable to all on the committee. He would like to dedicate the changes made on Memorial Day 2016. Adam Paxman asked how he could help and Chris Leach said he thought this was a great idea that he really believed in. All Village Board members agreed that this was a good idea and offered their support.

6.       Wayne Elliott, Aldrich & Elliott – Discuss Water Transmission Line:

Wayne Elliott informed the Board that the he wanted to give an update on the water transmission line, the MVUHS water line and Canada Street. He said the design is already done on Canada Street but because of the archaeological issues that came up they couldn’t complete that project. He said the Village would need approximately $470,000 more to complete the MVUHS water line and Canada Street. He said while boring across the river the contractor got a $20,000 30 inch reamer stuck in there. He said he plans on them coming back and asking for a claim. He said they are going to move down about 15 feet and will do the bore from there in a couple of weeks. He said as far as the claim goes they will have to wait and see what they submit. He said they got the reamer stuck because they chose to go deeper than the specs and also because of operator experience. He said they were supposed to drill in October but didn’t make it there. He said daily records are kept and feels they don’t have much of a basis. He said he would review that information with the Board when he gets it.

Wayne said that if the Board wants to go ahead with the MVUHS water line they would need to go back to the voters and ask for a supplemental bond. Reg Beliveau stated they already have voter approval for the Canada Street project. Eugene LaBombard stated he is in favor of doing Canada Street now and he doesn’t recall when the MVUHS water line discussion even started. Chris Leach said they hypothetically talked about it last year. Eugene asked if MVU is asking for this new line and Reg Beliveau said no they are not. Eugene stated that must be somewhere in the past the Village took that water line over. Reg said that was the case but he wasn’t sure what year it was. Chris Leach asked how much money the Village would need if they tabled the MVU line and just did Canada Street. Wayne stated the Village would need about $110,000 more to complete Canada Street. He said the archaeological dig took the funds allocated for Canada Street.

Chris Leach made the motion to shelve the MVUHS water line replacement and to continue with the Canada Street water line project. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried. Wayne Elliott advised the Board there is a State Clean Water Revolving loan fund available and he will request an application on behalf of Swanton Village. He said this will give the Village a place holder just in case the phosphorus removal issue comes up. Reg Beliveau stated he attended a class in St. Albans and said they have a system in place there that would work well for the Village’s lagoons.

7.      Approve and Adopt 2016 Budgets:

Lynn Paradis gave each Board member her final budgets for each department for 2016. She said all numbers are final and all her purchase power bills are now in. She said they are $328,000 over budget in the Electric Department and VPPSA is putting together a rate case for the Village to make up the loss. Lynn also said the Village is at their cap with solar projects so all customers now going solar will be told that. The Board members all stated that they have gone over the budgets several times now over the last couple of months and were good with her numbers.

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and adopt the 2016 budgets as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

8.      Approve and Adopt Village of Swanton 2016 Annual Warning:

Neal Speer read the 2016 Annual Warning. Chris Leach made the motion to adopt and approve the Village of Swanton 2016 Annual Warning as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

9.      Approve Water and Sewer Rate Increase:

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into a Water Commissioner’s meeting at 8:08 p.m. to discuss water and sewer rates. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

Lynn Paradis advised the Board that she needs to increase the residential Village fixed rate from $22.14 per month to $23.16 and the variable rate from $2.28 per thousand gallons to $2.56 per thousand gallons. She advised that the residential Town fixed rates would go from $44.29 to $46.31. Chris Leach asked Lynn if the Village could do a rate comparison with other water systems. Lynn stated she would look into that and see if VLCT had that information for her. Chris also asked if this increase was due to bond payments. Lynn said the newest bond isn’t scheduled to begin until 2017, one year after the completion of the job. She advised the Board that she needed to increase the residential Village sewer fixed rates from $29.39 per month to $35.59 per month. She advised the variable rate is going from $3.64 down to $3.60 per thousand gallons.

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the Village of Swanton’s water and sewer rate increase for 2016. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried. Adam Paxman made the motion to exit the Water Commissioner’s meeting at 8:20 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

10.  Swanton Missisquoi Valley Lions Club request Coin Drops on June 4, 2016 and September 3, 2016:

Village Clerk Dianne Day explained that the Missisquoi Valley Lions Club was requesting two different coin drops in 2016. They would like one on June 4 and one on September 3, 2016. The Board decided that they would not allow a coin drop on a Holiday weekend. They advised the Village Clerk to find out if they were interested in their September 10th coin drop because the June one would interfere with the Fire Department’s Auxiliary coin drop. Dianne Day stated she would send them a letter to find out and would bring their request back before the Board at a later date. Item tabled pending further information.

11.  Swanton Village Fire Auxiliary request Coin Drops on May 28, 2016 and September 11, 2016:

The Board decided that this was two separate entities requesting coin drops, one being the Fire Department and one being the Ladies Auxiliary. The Board stated they would not allow the Auxiliary’s request to hold one on May 28th because of the Memorial Day weekend. They also denied the Fire Department’s request of September 11th pending the Lion’s Club coin drop request. Village Clerk Dianne Day stated she would ask the Auxiliary if they wanted their June 25th date and she also stated she would work out a date with the Fire Chief and bring both requests back before the Board. Item tabled pending further information.

12.  Any Other Necessary Business:

Chris Leach asked if there was any word on the rubber bag issue at the Hydro Plant. Reg Beliveau stated they will be going in for re-licensing in 2023 and said he had a conference call to discuss figures for a new rubber bag. He said the expected life of a rubber dam is approximately 30 years and this one is now 22 years old. He said he is waiting on more information and would get back to the Board when he had it.

Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated the Chamber of Commerce is requesting permission to hold their Annual Car Show in the Village Green on Saturday, July 30th. Chris Leach made the motion to approve the Chamber of Commerce’s request to hold their Annual Car Show in the Village Green on July 30, 2016. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

Any Other Business: Adam Paxman also stated that the Chamber of Commerce is requesting permission to hold their 4th Annual Memorial Day Parade on May 30th, 2016. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve the Chamber of Commerce’s request to hold their 4th Annual Memorial Day Parade through the Village on May 30, 2016. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried. Adam stated if anyone was interested in volunteering to contact him. Lynn Paradis suggested he contact the Boy Scouts Troop #823.

Any Other Business: Lynn Paradis stated that the $94,000 they are requesting to be put in the highway department’s capital fund is high because the Village didn’t do any paving last year. She said they are also planning on purchasing a backhoe with some of that money and has received three quotes so far. She said the backhoe they have is approximately 17 years old and she said they are getting good money in trade for it. She said the Village has gotten some very good prices and if the Board agrees to one of them they can get it ordered after Town Meeting Day if approved.

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated that February 18, 2016 marks one year from the Community Visit last year and there will be a celebration at the Swanton Central School. He said there will be a slideshow of what’s been happening and there will be hors dourves. He said they often get asked how they get information out to the public. Reg stated if you want to get involved look into what’s going on in your community.

13.  Public Comment:

None.

Chris Leach stated he needed an Executive Session to discuss personnel. Reg Beliveau stated he needed one to discuss legal matters.

14.  Executive Session (If Necessary):

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into Executive Session at 8:45 p.m. to discuss personnel and legal matters. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

Chris Leach made the motion to exit Executive Session at 9:50 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

15.  Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:50 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 9:50 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                           Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                               Date