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Trustees Meeting 11/9/20

  • Monday, November 9, 2020
    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 9, 2020

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Heather Buckowski, Town Selectboard member; and Channel 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:

Neal Speer, Village President, stated the flags in the park look great and he would like to thank David Jescavage, Town Administrator; the Boy Scouts as well as local citizens for helping to put them up. He said the individual tag on each flag is nice. Adam Paxman stated it was nice to see positive news from the three local news stations that covered it.

  1. Approve and Accept Minutes from Thursday, October 26, 2020:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Thursday, October 15, 2020 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

  1. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, November 6, 2020:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Friday, November 6, 2020 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked about the payment made to the Town of Highgate in the amount of $581,294.13. Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, stated this was the tax bill owed to the Town of Highgate and said it was based on the prior year’s generation. She said it’s up some this year because the rubber bag was down and not in operation. Motion carried.

  1. Village of Swanton Ordinance Update:

Dianne Day, Village Clerk, stated that herself along with Lt. David Kachajian are still working on all Ordinances and should have some solid changes for their next meeting.

  1. Sign Interdepartmental Borrowing Resolution for Depot Street Water Line:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion authorizing Neal Speer, Village President and Dianne Day, Village Clerk, to sign the Interdepartmental Borrowing Resolution for the Depot Street Water Line for the sum of $25,000 from the Village of Swanton Community Development Block Revolving Loan Fund. Chris Leach seconded. Lynn Paradis stated the water line was replaced during the summer and said the Village will use CDBG revolving loan funds and will pay $5000 per year with 0% interest. Motion carried.

  1. Review and Acknowledge SQRP 3rd Quarter Report:

Chris Leach stated this is a report of how well the electric department is serving the public and said the Village’s baseline is always in the single percentage numbers and all services are above and beyond. Chris Leach made the motion to acknowledge receipt of this report. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

  1. Any Other Necessary Business:

Adam Paxman asked if the Village would be seeing budgets soon. Lynn stated she has been gathering information and has been sitting with department heads. She said she still needs to talk to the Electric Department and Police Department but should have a draft for them very soon. Eugene LaBombard asked if they can get the fire departments information to the Town sooner than usual. Lynn stated she still needs to build her budgets together because of how she splits certain costs and insurances. She said she is still waiting on Workman’s Compensation and dispatching numbers to come in. She said this is all information needed for the fire budget but said any of the Selectboard members can call her or come in and go over it and ask questions if they’d like to.

Adam also said there will be no Christmas in the Park this year but said the Chamber will decorate the trees and there will be a skating rink. He said he also wanted to remind people of the Winter Parking Ban that goes into effect December 1st through April 15th of each year. He also asked residents to please slow down while driving through the Village. Eugene LaBombard asked how Halloween in the Park went. Adam stated it went well and they all practiced social distancing.

Any Other Business: Chris Leach stated himself along with the Postmaster are still working on a drive through mailbox and they are waiting until after the election is over to continue. He said this is still in the works. He said he has received many good comments about the flags in the park for Veterans Day and asked if there was anything going on for the holiday. Adam stated some clubs are doing take out dinners for the veterans. He said the flags will be up until Saturday. Chris Leach also said the leaf pick up service is very much appreciated. He also asked if there was an update on the Downtown Traffic Study. Neal Speer stated Reg Beliveau, Elisabeth Nance and Betsy Fournier met with the State a couple of weeks ago and said it’s ongoing.

Any Other Business: Neal Speer, Village President, said last Wednesday the VFW called and their group of Veteran motorcycle riders came up with another donation for maintenance of the park. He said they might install some lighting there. He said himself along with James Guilmette went and received a check for $1500 and said they thank them so much, it’s greatly appreciated. Neal also said the Riviera Hotel property has been secured and no trespassing signs have been put up.

Any Other Business: Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, said the bucket truck for the Electric Department that was ordered last year is almost ready to be picked up. She said they may do a ZOOM meeting to go through the truck with the manufacturer. She said she just started working on getting interest rates and should have documents for the Board at their next meeting. She said they should have the truck in a couple of weeks.

  1. Executive Session If Necessary:

None.

Heather Buckowski asked why there wasn’t a public comment at the end of the meeting. (See #4 Public Comment). She asked how the Village reviews the electric department and asked if they surveyed the customers. Lynn stated VPSSA did a phone survey last year of random Swanton Village customers. She was given more clarification on what the SQRP report tracks as far as customer work orders, billing, complaints, etc.

  1. Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 7:30 p.m.  Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date