Trustees Meeting 12/23/19

Web version

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, December 23, 2019

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Leonard “Joey” Stell, Chief of Police; Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator; Christine Sweeney; and Ch. 16.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

1. Call to Order:

Neal Speer, Village President, is unable to attend tonight’s meeting. Eugene LaBombard, Village Trustee, welcomed all to the Regular Board of Trustees meeting and called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.

2. Agenda Review:

None.

3. Public Comment:

Christine Sweeney, Healthy Community Task Force member, stated she would like permission from the Village Board of Trustees to apply for a grant from RiseVT to purchase and install a bike tower in the Village of Swanton. She said this is a no match grant and part of the 2015 community visit to make Swanton more bikeable. She said there is a $1500 grant available that would enable them to install this bike tower which would hold tools necessary to perform basic bike repairs and maintenance, from changing a flat to adjusting brakes and derailleurs. The tools are security attached to the stand with stainless steel cables and tamper-proof fasteners. The locations they are thinking about to install this tower are in front of the Chamber of Commerce, the Swanton Beach area, the Swanton Recreation Department or at the Railroad Museum on South River Street. Adam Paxman and Eugene LaBombard both thought this was a great idea. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve the Healthy Community Task Force to apply for this $1500 grant through RiseVT. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

Public Comment: Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, stated she is seeking permission for the Marble Mill Steering Committee to apply for the Outdoor Recreation VOREC Grant for a phase of the Marble Mill Master Plan. She said this grant ranges between $10,000 to $100,000 and she believes they will apply for approximately $50,000. She said this is also a no match grant and if awarded it’s a reimbursement grant. She said these funds would be used to implement part of the Master Plan for Marble Mill Park. She said once they have more information after their January 2^nd meeting she would come back and present more information to the Board. Elisabeth said the work must be completed by May 31, 2021 and grant recipients will be announced in February 2020. She also informed the Board that herself along with Reg Beliveau, attended a workshop on the VT Young Project being considered by MVUHS. She said this is an Icelandic model and Vermont is the only state in the nation who has requested this program. She said it is geared toward reducing alcohol and substance use by students.

Public Comment: Chief of Police Leonard “Joey” Stell presented Sgt. Chad Parah with an Outstanding Leadership plaque for all his hard work, dedication and leadership to the second shift crew. The Board thanked Sgt. Parah for his service.

4. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, December 9, 2019 Meeting:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from the Monday, December 9, 2019 meeting as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

5. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through December 20, 2019:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through December 20, 2019 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked about the payment made to Fitzgerald Environmental Association for $1355.85. Reg Beliveau stated that was for work done on the storm water and wetland issues. Eugene LaBombard asked about the payment made to EJ Barrette & Sons for $54,926. Reg stated that was for the new truck in the electric department. Motion carried.

6. Swanton Village 2020 Budget Discussion:

WATER FUND: Lynn Paradis stated this fund is collecting sufficient money and she doesn’t feel an increase is necessary in the water department. She said the solar credits they receive are helping with the electricity costs. She also said they are overbudget because of work that had to be done on the filters. Reg stated he is looking for a resolution on this with the manufacturer and said the Village initiated repairs on the filter with their guidance. Lynn said chemical cost are up as well as property insurance, workman’s compensation is staying about the same and health insurance is up overall by about 9%.

SEWER FUND: Eugene LaBombard wanted the public to know that the water, sewer and electric departments are not supported by tax dollars. He said these departments are supported by ratepayers. Lynn said she feels the sewer rate needs to go up. She said the maintenance of plant has increased as well as their chemical cost. She said the plant is 30+ years old and is in need of some repair. She said the chemicals needed to help reduce the phosphorus levels are not sustainable. Reg stated the Village met with Aldrich & Elliott and said they are meeting the standards needed with chemicals but that causes the sludge levels to increase. Lynn said they have started the engineering process looking at their options and said it would be a multi-year project to overhaul the plant. Eugene stated this is going to be very expensive and said they should have future meetings on this topic. Reg stated the State of Vermont has mandated they reduce their phosphorus levels and they are looking at anything they can to reduce this. He said it’s very difficult to manage. Adam said he fails to see how the Swanton is the problem with they contribute less than 2% to the lake Eugene stated that Lake Champlain is shared with New York and Canada and Vermont is the only state that has rules to follow, New York does not.

HIGHWAY FUND: Lynn stated the Highway budget is level funded this year. She said they have $40,000 in the equipment replacement fund and this year she can only put $10,250 in this account. She said their dump truck is pretty old and she thinks they will need to replace it in five years. She said they need a sidewalk blower and a skid steer. She said fortunately Dean Ryan is able to do a lot of the mechanical work in this department.

GENERAL FUND: Lynn stated this department is level funded this year too. She said the bulk of this fund is the complex and the parks downtown. She said they have talked with an architect on the new building design and she is hoping to get it ready for the taxpayers to vote on. She is hoping to present the design and potential cost after the first of the year. She said they are looking to see if there are any grants available because it’s a multi-use building which houses police, fire and rescue. She said the money for the architect is not in this budget.

FIRE DEPARTMENT: Lynn said this budget is still based on the grand list which is 24% Village and 76% Town. She said the department has one truck left to sell this year. She said they should at least get $20,000 for that truck and the department is requesting a new dryer and gear rack which totals $20,510. She said they also need an air compressor and this fund is up by approximately 10%. She said workman’s compensation and property insurance is down in this department. The Board discussed the wish list items and thought it was best for this year if the Fire Department purchased their air compressor and waited on the other two items they wanted.

POLICE DEPARTMENT: Lynn stated salaries are overbudget in this department due to full time officers having to work overtime because they have very few part timers who are willing to come in and work. She said they are working with two part-timers now trying to get them on the road by June. She said the department has also done some grant work this year. Health insurance is up because a couple of officers had changes in their insurance plan. Reg stated he checked with other nearby police departments and Swanton Village is not paying their officers what other departments are paying. Adam Paxman stated he would like to see how they can reduce the numbers in salaries and health insurance.

COMMERCIAL BUILDING FUND: Lynn said there was nothing to really report in this fund. She said other than the CBDG funds there isn’t anything. She said she will work on changing the name of this fund.

ESTIMATED TAX RATE: Lynn said overall there is a 4.46% increase and the estimated tax rate is going from 0.8431 to 0.8807. She said a 2020 Village Tax bill on a home assessed at $200,000 would be $1761.44, for a difference of $75.24 from last year’s tax bill.

Lynn informed the Board that her water rates are good for right now but said she is looking at a rate increase in the sewer department. She said she would like to increase the customer charge from $35.71 to $37.73 and the variable rate from $3.89 per thousand of gallons to $4.11 per thousand. She said the electric department revenue is down and she is expecting it to remain flat next year. Chris Leach asked if consumption was down due to solar and Lynn said yes it was. She said if she took solar out she would be where she budgeted.

The Board thanked Lynn for all her budget information.

7. Any Other Necessary Business:

Adam Paxman asked if any thought has been given to replacing the water line underneath the bridge. Eugene LaBombard stated that is being looked at. Lynn Paradis stated that whatever money goes into the study of this can be recouped when they incur debt with this project. She said the Board just needs to sign some paperwork for that.

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated he received a letter from a local attorney stating he is trying to sell a piece of property in the Village that has four mobile homes on it. He said he has a couple of interested parties in it and they would like to remove the mobile homes and build a triplex on this land. The State of Vermont Environmental Conservation committee is denying this because they say it’s too close to a wetland. They said four mobile homes could remain because that’s the original footprint. The attorney is asking for Village and Town support regarding this. The board agreed that this is illogical and doesn’t make any sense. Reg stated this would improve the property value and aesthetics of the area. He said he has a meeting in January with the State and would bring it up to them.

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

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into Executive Session at 9:10 p.m. to discuss customer accounts, personnel and real estate. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session at 9:24 p.m. and to re-enter Open Session. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: Chris Leach made the motion to authorize the Village of Swanton to write off $1495.43 in the electric department as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

9. Adjournment:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:25 p.m.  Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Eugene LaBombard, Village Trustee, adjourned the meeting at 9:25 p.m. Motion carried.

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

_____________________________________    ___________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date