Trustees Meeting 12/11/23

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SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, December 11, 2023

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Damon Broderick; Heather Lavoie, Swanton Historical Society and Ch. 16.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried, unanimously.

1. Call to Order:

Neal Speer, 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 Regular Board Meeting held on Monday, November 27, 2023 and the Joint SLB and Trustees Meeting held on Monday, December 4, 2023 as presented:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the Minutes from Monday, November 27, 2023 and to also approve Minutes from the Joint SLB and Trustees meeting held on Monday, December 4, 2023 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, December 7, 2023:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #119-#124 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked about the payment made to Stewart Irby Co. for $37,666.80. Bill Sheets, Village Manager, said he couldn’t remember and would get back to him. Bill looked that invoice up, it is for electric department. Motion carried.

7. Swanton Historical Society Update with Heather Lavoie:

Heather Lavoie was present for this, and she is here representing the Swanton Historical Society. She said they are run by volunteers and are dedicated to preserving Swanton’s history through memorabilia, artifacts, oral history, photos, buildings and recordings. She said the Swanton Train Depot was rescued from destruction through their volunteer’s determination to preserve its charm and value of Swanton’s past. She said it’s with great appreciation that Swanton Town has donated the maintenance, repair and utility cost of running the building for them. She said they have made it full access, have visitors, community events, presentations and general visiting hours at the Railroad Depot. Heather said she feels this isn’t their home because it focuses mainly on railroad memorabilia. She said the land the Depot sits on has a round house foundation still on the property and they also maintain the Caboose and the Toll House from the Swanton/Alburg train area with their own funds. She said she loves that this sits across from the new bridge, and said it was devastating losing the old, covered bridge that sat there to fire. Heather said currently they have been seeking a new home alternative as they had a room in the basement of the Swanton Library. She said there’s been some contention for space there because of the programs the library does. She said Roy’s Insurance building is being generously offered to them as a potential home by David Horton. She said she now has permission to share this publicly and said David is offering them this building for $124,000. She said the location is amazing and said it’s the perfect spot for the Historical Society. She said this building was built in the 1800’s and survived the Merchant’s Row fire. She talked about the vault, the former businesses that were there and said it has been meticulously maintained by Mr. Horton. She said it’s been heated and cooled since it’s been empty. Heather said preserving this building aligns with a lot of Swanton’s goals to protect historic qualities of Swanton’s village, a traditional New England settlement and recognize that these resources contribute to the Town’s economic wellbeing. She said it would be wonderful to see this building brought back to life and something that everyone would see driving through town. Heather said they hired Kevin Nichols to do an inspection and are waiting on that information. Neal Speer asked how much land came with that property. She said there is only a small patch of land in the back for maybe a garden patch. Heather said they are thinking about putting a lift in the front of the building for handicap accessibility. They discussed how much parking there is and also said they would love to have the Chamber of Commerce join them in this building. Heather said at this time the Historical Society does not have the funds to purchase this and said they run on a very small budget. She said this would need to be a community effort in order for this to happen. They all discussed the beauty of the building and the different businesses that were there. Adam Paxman, acting as President of the Chamber of Commerce, asked Heather to contact him to discuss her offer. Chris Leach said it was a great idea and asked if there was a chance, they could do a lease instead of a purchase because of all the expenses the community is being asked for now. She said she could look into this option as well. Chris said this is the perfect location for the Historical Society. Neal Speer asked if this building was on the historic registry. Heather said she is going to begin the process of that very soon. Neal said it would be great to get grant money for this purchase and asked Heather to keep the board posted on what happens and thanked her for coming in.

8. Appoint Representative to the Northwest Communications Union District Legislative Body:

Adam Paxman made the motion to appoint Swanton Village resident Larry King to the Northwest Communications District for 2024. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

9. Approve and Sign Vermont State Revolving Fund Loan Agreement for Wastewater Plant Upgrade:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to authorize the Swanton Village Board of Trustees to approve and sign the Vermont State Revolving Fund Loan RF1-250-2.0 in the amount of $491,190.00 for the Wastewater Plant Upgrade. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

10. Village Manager Update:

Hydro:  Unit 1 is still down. The control ring has been sent out for possible repairs. They will create a 3D model and determine if they can replicate the control ring into two sections. This repair/replacement will take several months to complete.

Unit 5 will be back online next Monday. As of this afternoon, we were at 116.5 feet, so by the time we have this meeting Unit 5 will need to be taken offline when we reach 117. Bill also said our electric department has a crew out helping Vermont Electric Coop regain power due to the storm.

Wastewater:  As of today, the centrifuge has failed, and it is not repairable. We will no longer have the ability to dewater our sludge. This will have an impact on the buildup of sludge in the right lagoon. We will make this part of the upgrade a priority and will verify with the engineers that there are no affordable alternatives for a temporary dewatering solution. Bill also said Pecos Wind is still researching the Wastewater plant area to install one wind turbine.

Missing Piece Bakery:  We need a final decision related to Jessica’s request for additional funding. The board agreed that the State Revolving Loan Jessica applied for can be used for any expense she may have opening up her bakery and said the Village has no additional funds to help her with her sign. Bill said he would reach out to her and explain this.

EV Charging stations at 120 First Street:  We need to determine what you would like us to do starting January 1^st. As of right now, the Paxman family has stopped paying for charging services. We have had issues with the vendor, Watt Point, in finding a credit card machine that works for customers.  Heidi has been tasked with following up with them to find an alternative. Shall we proceed with this exploration, or do the Trustees wish to have the Village pay for all charging costs? If we need to find a new vendor, we may as well explore a new level three charger. Likely costs are 92k, with 90 to 95 percent being grant funded. The Board agreed to continue the research on grant funding for level 3 charging stations and to not offer the car charging for free. Bill said they will continue to work on getting a card reader that will work with these chargers. Damon Broderick suggested the board talk with Tesla about level 3 charging stations.

Day Land Surveying:  We have the final Boundary Survey’s for both 6 South River Street, as well as for 74 Merchants Row. We have Mylar’s for both that we will be filing with the Town Clerk’s office later this week.

124 First Street:  We held the kick-off meeting for the Proposed Public Safety Facility and renovations. That meeting was the first of ten scheduled for December with the next three being tomorrow, Tuesday December 12^th at 10 am, 2 pm and 6 pm. On Wednesday KAS will be marking the site for sampling which will occur in December. These costs will be covered by the Petroleum Cleanup Fund (PCF) and Brownfields fund through the NRPC.

Meeting adjustment for 12/25:  We would like to move to Wednesday 12/28 and one of the line items will be for budget approval.

11. Any Other Necessary Business:

Eugene LaBombard asked how the Winter Parking Ban was going. Bill Sheets said they had to tow two vehicles during today’s storm. He said they’d been warned but parked there anyways so had to be towed.

Any Other Business: Chris Leach said he talked with a Post Office worker, and they had no idea why the mailbox in the park was removed. Bill said he heard several towns had to remove some.

12. Executive Session to Discuss Customer Accounts, Personnel and Real Estate:

Chris Leach made the motion to enter Executive Session at 8:03 p.m. to discuss Customer Accounts, Personnel and Real Estate. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session and re-enter Open Session at 9:07 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: Adam Paxman made a motion to approve the Village of Swanton to write off $14,445.98 in the electric department and $4500.00 in the fire department. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

13. Adjournment:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:08 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 9:08 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date