Trustees Meeting 12/30/24

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 SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, December 30, 2024

7:00 PM

PRESENT: David Winchester, Village President; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Suzie Kelleher, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Matthew Sullivan, Village Police Chief; Henry Lambert, Swanton Beautification and Ch. 16. Via Teams: None.

To watch this meeting in its entirety, go to Northwest Access TV on YouTube. Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried, unanimously.

1. Call to Order:

David Winchester, 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:

Bill Sheets, Village Manager, stated he needed an Executive Session to discuss legal and personnel.

4. Public Comment:

None.

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from the Monday, December 9, 2024 meeting as presented:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve Minutes from Monday, December 9, 2024 meeting as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, December 26, 2024:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Thursday, December 26, 2024 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded the motion. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked about the payment made to Vanasse in the amount of $12,303.35. Bill Sheets stated that is the legal name for VHB, engineers for the Downtown Scoping Project. Motion carried.

7. Swanton Village Police Department Update with Chief Matthew Sullivan:

Chief of Police Matthew Sullivan was present for this update and said the Village Police responded to 161 incidents in the Village during the month of November. He said the top ten calls for service were: 24 traffic stop, 23 directed patrol, 12 suspicious person/circumstance, 11 citizen assist, 8 motor vehicle complaint, 7 theft, 5 crash, property damage, 5 trespassing, 5 alarm, and 5 welfare/suicide check. He said out of the 24 traffic stops they issued 9 tickets and 18 warnings. He said there were 15 arrests, and 25 arrest charges with 12 individuals.

Chief Sullivan said his department responded to 91 incidents in the Town of Swanton for the month of November and the top ten calls for service were: 24 traffic stops, 23 directed patrol, 5 crash, property damage, 4 motor vehicle complaint, 4 agency assistance, 4 citizen assist, 3 suspicious person/circumstance, 2 threatening, 2 welfare/suicide check and 2 community outreach. Chief Sullivan said out of the 25 traffic stops 3 tickets were issued and 24 warnings. There were 1 arrest, 4 arrest charges with 1 individual and they worked 4.75 additional hours.

Chief Matt Sullivan stated so far this year they have responded to a total of 3,200 calls between the Village and the Town. He said he hasn’t seen a year this busy in a long time. He said his officers have been busy with drug busts and a lot of additional hours. Matt said filling open shifts continues to be a struggle but said they have a good part time candidate in the hiring process. Adam Paxman asked if there was anything the Trustees could do to help them out. He thanked the Chief and his officers and reminded people that if they see something to say something. Chief Sullivan agreed with this and encouraged people to call and report things they see.

8. Approve and Sign Urban and Community Tree Removal Grant Application Letter:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve a letter of support requesting $20,000 from the Urban and Community Tree removal grant to address trees in various stages of declining health located within the Swanton Village Green. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Discussion: The trustees agreed it was very informative having their site visit along with tree cutting experts. Bill Sheets stated that once they hear whether or not they have received this grant, they can then go over the bids and select a company for the tree removal process. Motion carried.

9. Approve and Sign Swanton Beautification’s Urban and Community Tree Planting Grant Application Letter:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve a letter of support for the Swanton Beautification Committees application to the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission for $50,000 to plant more than 100 streetside trees in Swanton. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Henry “Hank” Lambert was present for this discussion. He stated that the beautification committee has a plan in place to plant 10 trees per year for seven years highlighting the six entrances into Swanton Village. He said they met that goal by donations they received. He said if they receive this grant, they can hire someone to put a plan together and plant 25 trees in the first year. He said they will focus on the six entrances into the Village as well as side streets. Adam Paxman asked that they also focus on the Village Green and Hank agreed to this. Motion carried.

10. Approve Proposed City of St. Albans 18-Month Dispatching Contract for Swanton Village Police Department:

Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize the Village Manager, William Sheets, to sign the Swanton Village Police Department 18-month dispatching contract with the City of St. Albans from January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, in the amount of $165,000. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

11. Approve Proposed City of St. Albans 12-Month Dispatching Contract for the Swanton Fire Department:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to authorize the Village Manager, William Sheets, to sign the Swanton Fire Department one-year dispatching contract with the City of St. Albans from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, in the amount of $23,700. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

12. Approve and Sign Resolution for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Allocation, Obligating Remaining Funds of $113,213.93:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Resolution 24-001, Resolution for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Allocation. This motion, in part, obligates and expends remaining funds in the amount of $113,213.93 for the purpose of municipal workforce retention and its operations for the period of January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

13. Discuss Website Additions:

Suzie Kelleher informed the Board that she attended a meeting regarding the Village and Town website and changes on how to promote Swanton using the website they already have. She said they really like the looks of the Enosburg website and Ecopixel will make the changes they discussed. She said this change will cost approximately $6000 and the Town of Swanton has agreed to pay this in full using ARPA funds.

14. 2025 Budget Discussion:

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, handed the Board her second draft of the 2025 budget. She gave a brief explanation on each of the following funds:

Electric Department – Adjusted wages and received the correct split from VLCT for the workman’s compensation split. She has budgeted a loss of $743,090 in this fund and said they haven’t raised the electric rates since 2016 and still feels they don’t qualify for one.

Water Fund – Lynn said she has budgeted a loss of $220,000 in this fund. She made workman’s comp and wage adjustment changes as well as the rent. Lynn said they will need to raise the rates in this fund and could use a 22% increase but because there is still some cash on hand she would recommend a 5% increase for 2025.

Sewer Fund – Lynn said she budgeted a $125,652 loss in this fund and said she would also recommend a rate increase of 5%. She made adjustments in wages, insurances, and rent.

Highway Fund – Lynn said she made changes in wages, rent and insurance in this fund and also had an increase in paving.

General Fund – Lynn said she adjusted insurances and rent income in this fund.

Fire Department – Lynn said the town’s share of this fund is 77% and she adjusted property insurance cost. She said she has sent this information to Brian Savage so the Town has it for their budgeting process.

Police Department – Lynn said she adjusted salaries, property insurance and rent in this fund. She also said when she adjusts the salaries that also affects the social security and retirement benefits.

Commercial Building Fund – Lynn said the only thing in this fund is their revolving loans.

Estimate Tax Rate – Lynn then showed how each fund was affected by her budget. The general fund tax rate for 2024 was $0.1037 and is going to $0.1344 for a change of $0.0307 cents; the fire department budget will go from $0.0528 in 2024 to $0.0564 for an increase of $0.0036 cents; the police department will go from $0.5962 in 2024 to $0.6723 for an increase of $0.0761 cents and the highway fund will go from $0.4126 in 2024 to $0.4480 in 2025 for an increase of $0.0354. Lynn said the estimated tax rate will go from $1.1653 to $1.3111 for 2025 which amounts to an increase of 12.51%.

The board thanked Lynn for all her hard work on the 2025 budget.

15. Village Manager Update:

Clarification/Update: Fire Department Bunker Gear: The life expectancy, replacement schedule, is every 10 years. The FD replaces, on average, three sets annually, at an approximate price of $3,600 per set.

Hydroelectric Dispatching: The Town of Swanton has asked for our assistance in dispatching after hour emergency requests for the Swanton Town Highway Department. This should not be a heavy lift, and we are happy to help. Examples would be a tree across the road, flood damage, or similar incident. With the recent rain and snow melting we are maximizing hydroelectric production with the four available units, producing 8.6 megawatts this morning, more than covering our load during that snapshot in time.

Swanton Village Electric:

We continue to make progress on the planning for the bond vote in March for consideration of a new facility for our Electric Department and administrative staff. We will be establishing four public informational meetings to highlight this bond request.

We continue to make progress on our AMI project, with the hope of completing automated electric and water meters in 2025.

Wastewater:  This project is progressing and remains on schedule with a completion date at the very end of 2025. The control cabinet for the centrifuge has arrived so we will begin to concentrate on the substructure enhancements that will be required to be completed before installation.

Water:  The 12 new chemical pumps have arrived to replace the older models who have outlived their life expectancy. These pumps should alleviate the ongoing problem that we have encountered with older pumps having repeated problems.

Public Works: The team was busy with snow and ice but the change in the weather over the Christmas holiday changed that. Public Works will be working on the dump trailer this week, doing a complete rehab, saving thousands of dollars compared to purchasing a new one.

16. Any Other Necessary Business:

Suzie Kelleher stated that friends of Kyle Cook paid for two additional Hometown Hero Banners. She said she is using one of them to honor Ms. Babcock and if anyone needs financial assistance to honor one of their veterans to contact her. She said the end date for the banner program is March 10^th to plan on having them hung for Memorial Day. She said she has exceeded her goal for this program.

17. Executive Session to Discuss Personnel:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion, seconded by Adam Paxman, to go into Executive Session at 8:18 p.m. to discuss confidential legal and personnel issues where premature general public knowledge of the subject matter would place the Village and others at a substantial disadvantage. Motion carried with three yays.

Adam Paxman made the motion, seconded by Suzie Kelleher, to exit executive session at 8:47 p.m. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

18. Adjournment:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees at 8:48 p.m. Suzie Kelleher seconded. There being no further business at hand, David Winchester, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:48 p.m. Motion carried.

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David Winchester, Village President                  Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date