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Trustees Meeting 12/29/21

  • Wednesday, December 29, 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

SPECIAL MEETING

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Chris Leach, Village Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk. Via Zoom: Channel 16.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

  1. Call to Order:

Chris Leach, Village Trustee, 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:

None.

  1. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, December 13, 2021:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, December 13, 2021 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

  1. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, December 23, 2021:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #120-#123 through Thursday, December 23, 2021 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

  1. 2022 Budget Discussions:

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, said this is draft #3

ELECTRIC FUND: Lynn said she is still waiting on her revenue numbers and needs to adjust wages and overtime hours. Lynn said they still need to bill cycle 4 so her numbers in this fund will change some. She said interest on long term debt has gone down and they are showing a net income of over $600,000. She said she won’t need to go in for a rate increase but said she would keep an eye out. Chris Leach stated they had very little water this past year and that will affect purchase power numbers.

WATER FUND: Lynn said she has calculated her revenue in this fund and also needs to do a wage adjustment as well. She said she has budgeted for a loss of about $30,000. She said she feels a water rate increase of .67 cents for Village residential customers will be necessary in her variable rates. She said the Village hasn’t raised water rates for quite some time now.

SEWER FUND: Lynn said her plant labor line item is over budget because they had a retirement this year and had to hire a third person and train. She said they have very little debt service in this fund and also said they are struggling some because of a couple of special sewer account customers. She said over the last couple of years what they’ve put through our plant has decreased and she will need to make that revenue up elsewhere. She feels an increase in this fund is necessary also and would need an increase of $1.58 in her variable rate and an increase of $.67 cents in her fixed rate.

HIGHWAY FUND: Lynn said nothing has really changed in this fund and she will do a final run through on the wages. She said this fund is showing a profit of $52,000 and she will ask to put approximately $24,000 in the equipment replacement fund. She said they bought a new truck and hopefully it gets here soon.

GENERAL FUND: Lynn said this fund is up $43,000 and she needs to do a wage allocation here as well.

FIRE DEPARTMENT FUND: Lynn said she is in the final stages with this fund and doesn’t see any other changes coming in. She said they have asked to increase the equipment replacement fund to $45,000. She said they have had quite a few truck repairs this past year and gas prices are up.

POLICE DEPARTMENT FUND: Lynn said the new Police Chief starts on Monday and they have been trying to figure out their shift schedule. She said they are contemplating working either an 8 hour shift or a 10 hour shift and will continue to work on that. She said they need to really work on pay rates in this fund so they don’t lose officers. She said she needs to do some adjustments in salaries and also said the Town Contract numbers aren’t solid yet. She said the Village’s invoice for the SRO officer will be paid and more grant income has come in so she hopes to flip the loss to a profit.

COMMERCIAL BUILDING FUND: Lynn said the only thing in this fund is the property taxes on the Riveria Hotel property.

ESTIMATED TAX RATES: General Fund tax rate is going from 0.0927 to 0.1010 for a change of $0.0083; the Fire Department tax rate is going from 0.0496 to 0.0511 for a change of $0.0015; the police department tax rate is going from 0.4210 to 0.4719 for a change of $0.0509; the Highway Fund tax rate is going from 0.3172 to 0.3477 for a change of $0.0305. She said the total tax rate would go from 0.8805 for 2021 to 0.97167 for 2022, about .09 cents on the tax rate. She said her biggest concern is in the police department with an almost .5 cent increase. She said as the budget stands right now a $200,000 home would pay $102.14 per year for fire protection and $943.87 per year for police protection. She said the highway fund would cost $695.42 and the general fund would be $201.91 for a $200,000 home.

CAPITAL PROJECTS/EQUIPMENT: Lynn said the following are some of the items needed in different departments: Electric Department: Air Switch for $35,000. Battery and charger at the Hydro plant for $50,000; wire puller & tensioner in Electric Department for $85,000; Unit 3 bearing for $500,000 at Hydro plant; servers in the front office for approximately $20,000; insertion valves in the water department for $63,000, new sander for the sidewalk trackless for $8800.

Adam Paxman asked if the grand list had any potential to grow. She said all she could think of was the Riveria Property and the Fourth Street property. She said the grand list is determined by a 5 year average and right now it’s 76% Town and 24% Village. She said it’s so close to flipping that next year she feels it will be 77% to 23%.

  1. Any Other Necessary Business:

Adam Paxman said his word for this week is HOPE. He said let’s hope 2022 is a better year for everyone.

Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard said he wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, showed a picture of a large clump of sludge. He said it was the size of a basketball filled with anti-bacteria wipes and dental floss. He read a list of things that cannot be flushed and reminded everyone to be more careful.

  1. Executive Session If Necessary:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to enter Executive Session at 8:00 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:20 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

  1. Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:20 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand, Chris Leach, Village Trustee, adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date