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Trustees Meeting 2/28/17

  • Tuesday, February 28, 2017
    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

INFORMATIONAL MEETING & PUBLIC HEARING

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Leonard “Joey” Stell, Chief of Police; Jason Butler, Deputy Fire Chief; Jason Cross,  Deputy Fire Chief; Kathy Lavoie, Suzanne Washburn, Anthony Russo and Ch. 16.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

1.      Call to Order:

Neal Speer, Village President, welcomed all to the Informational Meeting and Public Hearing and called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.

2.      Moment of Silence:

Neal Speer asked everyone to stand and give a moment of silence for those who have recently passed away and for those in the military – past, present and future.

3.      Pledge of Allegiance:

Pledge of Allegiance was said by all in attendance.

4.      Agenda Review:

None.

5.      Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, February 13, 2017:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, February 13, 2017 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

6.      Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, February 24, 2017:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Village warrants through Friday, February 24, 2017 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

7.      Informational Meeting & Public Hearing – 2017 Village Annual Warning:

Neal Speer, Village President, read the 2017 Annual Warning to those present. He advised that Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, would present her budgets and then Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, would do the 2016 Year In Review. He also stated that Kathy Lavoie would give a presentation on the Swanton Enhancement Project.

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, stated she would begin her presentation with the General Fund. She said there is less revenue in this fund and she also said that she increased Outside Services Employed so that the Village could preserve some very old Minutes and Village Reports. She said they would break this down over three years or so. She said there is some work that needs to be done on the Village Complex such as some painting, some more awnings built over doors and some needed repairs need to be done in the employee lunch room.

Lynn stated that the Fire Department is level funded this year after a lot of hard work on this budget. She said this is the last year for the new fire truck payment so that will free up approximately $58,000 for next year.

Lynn said the Police Town Contract will be renewed on March 31st and she said the Village was able to reduce the cost of that contract for the Town because one of their new police cruisers is being used by both the Village and the Town. She said liability and workmen’s compensation are up in the fund and that is out of their control. Suzanne Washburn asked about the Student Resource Officer (SRO) at Missisquoi Valley Union High School. Lynn stated this line item is reimbursed 100% by the school as it is billed to them quarterly.

Lynn said the Highway Fund is also level funded this year. She said they purchased their new backhoe with surplus funds as the old one was 20 years old. She said they received a good trade in on the old one. She said that Mike didn’t do any paving last year because of the Class I Paving Project done by the State of Vermont. She said this year he plans on using his $30,000 in surplus funds along with this year’s budget amount and getting a lot of his paving done. She said he will do all the abutting streets. She also said street lighting went down in this fund because of changing lights in Highgate, Swanton Town and Village to new LED lighting. She said the cost was cut in half. Lynn said they are getting prices on purchasing a new sidewalk machine but said the attachments will still work with a new one.

Lynn said there is a change in the tax rate of .0228. She said on a home assessed at $150,000 there will be a $34.14 increase, a $175,000 home there will be an increase of $39.82 and a home assessed at $200,000 will see a $45.52 increase.

Lynn stated that in the Electric Department they are seeing an increase in the Maintenance to Plant line item because there are three big maintenance projects scheduled to happen this year. She said they implemented a maintenance program a few years back and this ends up saving the Village money in the long run. She said each department has a five year plan so they can plan on capital purchases and maintenance projects. Lynn also said she lowered the Maintenance to Rights of Ways because tree trimming isn’t needed as much this year. She said they are at a good place with tree trimming and plus the line crew can do a lot of it themselves. Lynn said there are two very large solar projects in the works and these will have an adverse effect on the electric rates. She said she is hoping they don’t need a rate increase this year but may need one in 2018. The rubber bag is also scheduled to be replaced in 2018. She said because of this engineering and legal costs are up in this fund. She said there will be a FERC process as well as a 108 filing and they will need to get Public Service Board approval. She said they will need a bond for the rubber bag replacement. Lynn said the Village paid off another bond in the electric department and that freed up approximately $400,000. She said the bond bank looks at all their bonds and sees what ones can be refinanced. She said this has saved the Village money.

Lynn said she feels it isn’t necessary for a rate increase in the Water Department this year even though the first payment is due on the Water Line Project. She said chemical costs are up as well as workers comp and health insurance. She said the Village is now working on replacing the water line at MVUHS. She said some engineering has already been done on this and MVU will reimburse the Village. She said this line was installed in 1968 and is very old and in need of replacing.

Lynn also said she is not expecting a rate increase in the Sewer Department for this year. She said Maintenance is also up in this fund. She said they will be working on their centrifuse as well as doing some dredging of the lagoons. She said the Marble Mill Stormwater Prevention project is now complete and was done with a $74,000 grant. Lynn said a $120,000 CSO bond was also paid off in this department.

Lynn said that in the Commercial Building Fund the Village receives rent money and if there are any issues or needed repairs the Village uses that money to do them. She said the Village receives $6000 annually from the School Street Apartments project and they now have approximately $59,897 in restricted cash. She said these funds need to be revolved in the community or the money will have to go back to the State of Vermont. She said the Village wants to use these funds to help replace the water line at MVUHS. She said they will borrow that money from the Village and then pay it back. She said the Trustees will designate the rules of the loan. She said if the MVU budget gets approved then they will have the necessary funds to do this project along with the restricted cash from the Village. Kathy Lavoie asked if MVU didn’t get voter approval of their budget was there a second opportunity to use those funds on. Lynn said the money needs to be spent on water lines or sidewalks.

Kathy Lavoie was present to give an update on the Swanton Enhancement Project. She said there will be a steering committee meeting on March 15th and urged everyone to check them out at swantonenhancement.org or on Facebook. She said they are waiting on their 501C3 and that will give them new avenues for grant money, etc. She said they are requesting donations and they can be accepted through their website. She said the interest in their committees is still very high but she said they need more people to join them. She also urged residents to get involved in one of their committees. She said they are looking for people to start plants from seed this year to help save money from having to buy the plants from a greenhouse.

Reg Beliveau stated this was his 6th year at the Village and thanked the Board of Trustees for supporting him. Reg then presented his 2016 Year In Review. He said this year’s Village Report is dedicated to the Hydro Plant employees. He said Wanda Sloan has been working for the Village for 22 years; Albert Paradis 9 years; Floyd Tatro 10 years; Noel Anderson 3 years; Jason Starr is a new hire and Matt King is a new hire. He said Scott Mueller, Plant Superintendent, has been here 4 years.

He said some highlights for 2016 include:

Projects

  • Water Project was completed on Canada Street
  • Looking into the MVU waterline replacement
  • Storm Water Grants
  • Marble Mill Park  Grant was completed this summer
  • Paving Project
  • More work needs to be completed in 2017
  • Additional Parking Downtown
  • Church Parking Lot  and  next to Merchants Row 
  • Solar Project
  • Net Metered solar array on Frontage Road 2- 500kW
  • EV Car Charging Units in the Municipal Park and Ride

Public Works

  • Construction of the transmission lines – Completed in March
  • Paving Project 2016
  • VT 78 (First Street) and US RT 7 (Spring St) Grand Ave – 2016
  • Bike Lanes/Share the Road Bike
  • Grant for Flashing crosswalk signs/adding cross walks
  • First and Liberty/Grand Ave by Rail Trail/Grand Ave by Post Office
  • Merchants Row Traffic re-design
  • Marble Mill Storm Water Project Completed

Electric Department

  • Continue to keep up on tree trimming
  • Received the Bucket Truck
  • We have had many requests from customers and builders for line extension estimates pertaining to small and large scale solar projects within our service territory
  • Two 500kW projects have been approved by the Public Service Board and will be constructed in 2017.
  • The potential impact on revenues may apply rate pressure to our utility

Waste Water Plant

  • Solar Aerators are up and operational
  • TMDL standards will challenge us
  • We continue to do small upgrades to the infrastructure

Water Treatment Plant

  • Performing well – low lake levels were a concern
  • Looking at replacing the MVU waterline -1960’s

Hydro Plant

  • General repairs continue; preparing for re-licensing in 2023 (6 yrs out)
  • FERC visit and inspection of the Rubber Dam
    Need to replace the rubber bag in 2018
    Reviewing what permits will be needed
  • FERC Inspection –
    No issues found. The plant continues to operate and maintain its equipment and infrastructure in accordance to FERC guidelines.

Reg then showed pictures of installing the storm water catch basin at Marble Mill; the new sidewalks being installed at the Village Complex; work being done on the Skate Park at Marble Mill; the EV Car Charging Station at the Village; the new flashing crosswalks that were installed; and the new bike lanes.

Reg also wanted to recognize Michael Menard for his 25 years of service to the Village of Swanton. He showed a picture of Mike and his crew that was in the Village report. Reg then announced the 2017 candidates that are running for election. They are: Neal Speer, Village President for a 1 year term; Adam Paxman, Village Trustee for a 3 year term; Dianne Day, Village Clerk for a 1 year term; and Betty Cheney, Delinquent Tax Collector for a 1 year term.

Kathy Lavoie thanked the Board of Trustees and the Village staff for everything they do in the community.

8.      Any Other Necessary Business:

None.

9.      Public  Comment:

None.

10.  Executive Session (If Necessary):

None.

11.  Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Informational Meeting and Public Hearing at 8:27 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:27 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                           Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                               Date