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Trustees Meeting 10/24/22

  • Monday, October 24, 2022
    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, October 24, 2022

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Chris Leach, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Mark Rocheleau, Sandy & Ron Kilburn 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.

  1. Pledge of Allegiance:

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

  1. Agenda Review:

None.

  1. Public Comment:

Sandy Kilburn stated that the Swanton Enhancement Project will be having their first public meeting since Covid. She said the meeting will be held this Thursday, October 27, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. upstairs in the library. She said Tim Smith will be there and she encourages everyone to attend.

Mark Rocheleau stated he wanted to thank the public works crew for all the work they did on the swan pond in the Village Green.

Neal Speer stated that after almost 40 years the Champlain Theatre sign has been put back up on Canada Street and looks great. He said Merchants Row is getting busy with Divine Treasures, Swanton House of Pizza, Scampers, Karen’s Hair Salon and Vision Nutrition. He said Bees on Broadway is just across the street and doing great also. Sandy Kilburn asked if the theatre sign had lights on it and Neal stated it did and was all re-wired with LED lights.

  1. Approve and Accept Minutes from Tuesday, October 11, 2022 as presented:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Tuesday, October 11, 2022 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

  1. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, October 20, 2022:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #95-#99 through Thursday, October 20, 2022 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked what the payment to Qualis Services for $18,554.24 was. Reg Beliveau stated that company used to be known as 3 C’s Electric and they did work for the hydro plant during plant shutdown. Motion carried.

  1. Review and Acknowledge 3rd Quarter SQRP Report:

Chris Leach stated this is an internal report forced on the Village by the State of Vermont. He said it evaluates customer compliance and all levels are extremely well done. He said it reports on the amount of bills sent, posting errors, and customer work orders completed. He said all are well within very good numbers. Chris Leach made the motion to officially recognize the 3rd quarter SQRP report. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

  1. Any Other Necessary Business:

Adam Paxman stated he needs to follow up with the tree warden as well as a Swanton Village customer.

Any Other Business: Chris Leach stated he wanted to thank everyone at the Village for the get well card. He said he appreciated it.

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, stated that VPPSA will be holding a 90 minute focus group on Wednesday, October 26 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. He said there is an urgent need to improve the public’s understanding of the value of public power in Vermont and after several months of looking at best practices and meeting with Directors, they need to choose a one-line message for all VPPSA member utilities to use regularly in outreach to their customers and community. He said this meeting will be via ZOOM and they will help decide which message they think captures the spirit and value of public power. The Board said they would be here and would do the ZOOM meeting with Reg.

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, informed the Board that last week he attended a meeting at the P-10 site with Randy Brock to discuss what is important to Vermont utilities. He said the most important part of this meeting was seeing the letter that was sent to FERC regarding the Village of Swanton’s relicensing their hydro plant permit.

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, stated he received their contract from ECI for the Bridge Expansion Joint Repair job. He said he had the Village attorney review it and now it needs to be signed and returned to ECI. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve the Village Board of Trustees to sign the Village of Swanton Contract for Bridge #6 Expansion Joint Repair job. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated the Chamber of Commerce will be holding their Halloween In the Park event on Saturday, October 29th at 5 p.m. He said there will be a lot of local businesses and they have a special attraction making a comeback. Reg said Swanton Energy Committee will have a booth there as well along with Efficiency VT.

Any Other Business: Chris Leach asked how the collection of Village taxes went. Reg stated they had a very good year and only turned over approximately $48,000 in delinquent taxes to Betty Cheney. Neal Speer stated their joint meeting with the Town of Swanton went very well and was very productive. He said the Village will do a 99-year lease with the Town so they can build their community center.

  1. Executive Session to Discuss Personnel:

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter Executive Session at 7:28 p.m. to discuss personnel. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

Chris Leach made to the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:10 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

  1. Adjournment:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:10 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:10 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date