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Trustees Meeting 11/22/21

  • Monday, November 22, 2021
    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, 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.

  1. Pledge of Allegiance:

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

  1. Agenda Review:

None.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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 27th 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.

  1. Executive Session If Necessary:

None.

  1. 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.

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date