Trustees Meeting 12/27/23

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SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Matthew Sullivan, Chief of Police; Dan Chevalier, Fire Chief; Ashley Chevalier, Karen Drennan, Shayne Mott, Damon Broderick, Renee Cioffi and Ch. 16.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried, unanimously.

1. Call to Order:

Chris Leach, Village Trustee, 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. Approve and Accept Minutes from the Regular Board Meeting held on Monday, December 11, 2023 as presented:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the Minutes from Monday, December 11, 2023 meeting as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

5. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, December 21, 2023:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Thursday, December 21, 2023 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

6. Appoint Daniel Chevalier as new Swanton Village Fire Department Chief:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to appoint Daniel Chevalier as the new Swanton Village Fire Department Chief effective immediately. Adam Paxman seconded the motion. Chris Leach congratulated Dan stating this was a longtime coming and said he is the right man for the job. Motion carried.

7. Swanton Village Police Department Update:

 Chief Matt Sullivan stated the Village Police Department responded to 95 incidents during the month of November, conducting 6 traffic stops which resulted in 1 ticket and 5 warnings. There were also 8 arrest charges involving 4 individuals. He said the top ten calls for service included: 13 suspicious person/circumstance; 12 property/home watch; 6 traffic stop; 6 citizen dispute; 5 citizen arrest; 5 community outreach; 4 agency assistance; 3 crash, property damage; 3 theft; and 3 welfare/suicide check.

Chief Sullivan said they responded to 202 incidents for the Town and Village combined during November, conducting 31 traffic stops which resulted in 10 tickets and 25 warnings. He said there were 14 arrest charges involving 7 individuals. Matt said the top ten calls for service included: 31 traffic stop, 22 property/home watch, 20 suspicious person/circumstance; 13 agency assistance, 11 directed patrol, 8 juvenile problem, 8 citizen assist; 7 community outreach, 7 welfare/suicide check, and 7 citizen dispute. Matt said his officers have been busy addressing the drug problem. He said they’re doing great work and also utilizing federal resources as well. Chris Leach said the board appreciates his efforts.

8. 2024 Budget Discussions:

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, informed the Board that she received her audit engagement letter from Kittell, Branagan & Sargent showing the audit this year will cost $37,500. Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize Village Manager William Sheets and one Trustee to sign the Kittell, Branagan & Sargent audit engagement letter in the amount of $37,500. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

Lynn also informed the board that in this budget she has factored in a 3.2% wage increase. She also mentioned the legislature approved childcare act and how that is an additional tax on wages. She said they plan on hiring an additional lineman so that they’re trained prior to some upcoming retirements. She said she also factored in an additional person at the water plant, an administrative position in the police department as well as another full-time police officer. She said they are doing the same thing in the public works department so that they’re all set for an upcoming retirement in that department as well. Lynn said she needs to sit down with Bill and discuss the fix to the bridge and she also informed the board that property insurance and workman’s compensation rates have gone up across the board.

ELECTRIC FUND: Lynn said Purchase Power is underbudget as of now and she has budgeted $2,329,410 for next year. She mentioned budgeting $269,490 for VPPSA and said part of that is IT jobs they help the Village with. She said she also budgeted $305,690 for Renewable Energy Credits. Lynn said she budgeted $43,000 for the AMI project and that will be shared with the water department. Lynn said once these new AMI meters are installed, they will be able to take multiple readings per day so when there is a spike in water usage they can pinpoint it to exactly when it occurred. Lynn showed how property insurance in the electric department has gone from $86,100 to $100,670 and showed how workman’s compensation went from $33,320 to $47,900. Lynn said she also increased the interest & dividend income from $315,000 to $400,000.

WATER FUND: Lynn said in this fund she increased outside services employed from $5365 to $19,845 and that’s because of the AMI meter job. She said all water and electric meters will need to be changed out. She showed how the property insurance went from $19,080 to $23,145 and employee’s health and insurance went from $75,605 to $127,850. Lynn said she doesn’t feel a rate increase is needed at this time.

SEWER FUND: Lynn said she reduced her plant maintenance line item from $72,000 to $36,500. She said chemicals increased from $81,500 to $98,500 and that’s for phosphorus reduction. Lynn also said she increased shop tools from $1,500 to $6,665 because there are items that are needed.

HIGHWAY FUND: Lynn mentioned the bridge job that needs to be done and said they will be going out for bids in the next 2 to 4 weeks. She said there are programs with the State that offer short term loans. She said her and Bill will need to sit down and discuss how this will be funded.

GENERAL FUND: Lynn said in this fund she increased property taxes from $950 to $5000. She said this covers the Goosepoint property as well as 124 First Street property.

FIRE FUND: Lynn showed the town fire assessment going from $278,225 to $298,875. She said this is based on the last 5 years of grand list and then she averages them. She said both Town and Village taxpayers pay the same exact tax rate. Lynn also showed how she increased dispatching fees from $20,520 to $25,000. She informed the Board that after discussions with the fire chief they have increased the equipment replacement fund from $55,000 to $70,000.

POLICE FUND: Lynn showed how the Student Resource Officer position is changing from $83,635 to $98,750. She also showed the Town police contract is changing from $179,150 to $405,489. She talked about the grant income going from $68,088 down to $12,000 and how dispatching is now costing $65,000. Lynn said she increased employee’s retirement from $58,025 to $84,215 and employees health and insurance from $159,940 to $237,345. She also showed how she increased training and transportation expenses in this budget. Lynn said because the cost of vehicles now she increased the equipment replacement fund from $8,300 to $15,000.

ESTIMATED TAX RATES: Lynn showed the following tax rates in each department: General fund would go from $0.0836 to $0.1044; Fire Department would go from $0.0528 to $0.0536; Police Department would go from $0.5124 to $0.6001 and Highway Department would go from $0.3455 to $0.4153. She said the tax rate would go from .9943 to $1.17351. Lynn said this is her first rough draft and she encouraged the Board to look each fund over and get back to her with any questions they may have. The board thanked Lynn for all her hard work preparing these budgets.

9. Village Manager Update:

Joint Annual Board Meeting for Town Meeting:  The Town has proposed that we hold our annual joint informational meeting for Town Meeting on Monday February 26^th at 7 PM.

FERC relicensing update:  At this point we will receive a formal project relicensing report to the Village on 01/10/24 from Paul Nolan. We are tentatively planning for a technical presentation and consultation with VANR and the USFWS on 02/26.

Municipal Planning grant:  We have formally been awarded a $13,950 grant to conduct capital planning for public works. We do have a hard match of 10 percent, or $1,550 of the total project and this award expires in January of 2025.

Downtown parking concern:  On 12/18 I was contacted by Karen from Karen’s Hair Studio. She was pointing out several issues that are impacting her business. All are related to accessibility, forcing some of her elderly clients to go elsewhere. She inquired about the status of long discussed accessibility solutions, to include:

-The installation of a rail (two steps) at the far end of the parking area directly in front of her business. There is another rail that is bent over and needs repair and replacement. Dan and his team in maintenance will look at making these repairs.

-The consideration of a handicap space at this location (closest spot to 74 Merchant’s Row). We are exploring this as an option, seeking feedback here.

-The installation of a ramp on the 74 Merchants Row side of the building. We are exploring a cost sharing option with Renee Cioffi to see if we can install a metal temporary ramp.

-The installation of a light facing the parking lot, as they often leave in the dark. Our Electric Department has already installed an additional light here.

I followed up with Renee Cioffi, the building owner, who is on board with all these changes. We will continue to work with all involved to get as many changes as possible made, as quickly as possible. We will immediately research grant funding/tax incentives for a temporary handicap accessible ramp and work with Renee to share costs, as appropriate.

Northern Forest Canoe Trail:  We are in discussion with NFCT to formalize and improve accessibility and overnight camping possibilities in Marble Mill Park. They indicate a past informal agreement for camping below the tennis courts. We would consider moving these to a location above the tennis courts, or in the skate park. We would like to proceed with an informal discussion and to create a formal agreement with NFCT and the Trustees in the spring. Looking for Trustee feedback on this proposal.

Hydro:  Unit 1 is still down. The control ring is out for 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.

As of 12/21 Unit 2 has developed a significant vibration, likely a bearing failure. We will be contracting with a consultant to look at the options. This unit will be down for a while.

Unit 5 is back online, as of Monday 12/17/23.

12/18 we activated our EAP for High Water level activation. We reached 118 ft activating high level emergency condition A. This was a wonderful experience as we had only minor damage, but we were able to utilize our plan (also in updating process for 2024) to notify SEOC, Highgate, our EMD’s, etc. We had Jason Starr come for a Wastewater inspection and completed visual inspections of our normal problem areas. Floods were high but we escaped considerable damage based upon the fact that we had no ice flow to deal with.

Units 3 and 4 are operating smoothly and we are producing a significant amount of power based on recent rainfall.

Handouts:

FCIDC report:  This will be included in our annual report.

NRPC report:  This will be included in our annual report.

The next 27 Public Safety Facility and Complex renovations handout

Trustees:  These are informational open houses only and will not be warned. Please ensure that we do not have a quorum for any of these open houses.

10. Any Other Necessary Business:

None.

11. Executive Session to Discuss Personnel and Real Estate:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to enter Executive Session at 8:27 p.m. to discuss Personnel and Real Estate. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session at 9:14 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

12. Adjournment:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:14 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Chris Leach, Village Trustee, adjourned the meeting at 9:14 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date