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Trustees Meeting 3/22/21

  • Monday, March 22, 2021
    7 PM – 9 PM

Village Trustees

Web version

March 22, 2021

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, March 22, 2021

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Via Zoom: Tim Smith, FCIDC; Betty Cheney, Delinquent Tax Collector; and Ch. 16.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

  1. Call to Order:

Neal Speer, Village President, 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. Tim Smith, Franklin County Industrial Development Corporation (FCIDC) Update:

Tim Smith from FCIDC stated he wanted to give the Trustees a quick overview of what’s been happening. He said the number one issue they’re facing is the difficulty employers are having trying to find help. He said Mylan printing division is preparing to close so they send the State a rapid response. He said there are easily 75 vacant jobs on the list and he also received information from other manufacturers saying they needed to shut down lines because they can’t find help. He said they have a company in Georgia that is desperately looking for help and some of those jobs start at $14 to $16 per hour and some go as high as $22 per hour with benefits. They can’t find help he said. Tim said two things come in to play here, one is being drug tested and many fail because they have marijuana in their system. He said there is a 40% failure rate and some feel that it’s ok because it’s legal in Vermont but in the business world it’s still being tested as a drug. He said on the federal front when dealing with global organizations like Barre Callebaut, Ben and Jerry’s and Mylan it’s not acceptable. He said the other issue is one that is the most frustrating and that’s the federal government wanting to add additional unemployment benefits to those already on unemployment. He said the new three trillion dollar aid package has another $300 on top of the sate unemployment. To add to the frustration, he said the unemployment insurance fund, which is not quite exhausted but has taken a strong hit during the pandemic, Senator Kesha Ram from Chittenden County felt the need to add an additional benefit for those unemployed. He said that additional benefit would be to add for everyone unemployed and for each dependent you have at home you will receive an additional $50 per dependent per week while on unemployment. He said that benefit would total between approximately $14 to $21 million dollars that businesses would be covering if this legislation is passed. It’s not passed yet and there is a lot of push back on it he said. Tim said currently businesses pay about $50 per year per employee for unemployment. He said if this new bill passes that would increase to about $189 per employee per year. For a company with 250 employees that could be a $50,000 hit. Tim said he sent emails with a list of all the job vacancies to Senator Welch’s office to inform him of this fact. He said the Pine Cone in Berkshire is calling around to find help because they need a cook, waitresses and servers. He said it’s really become an issue which is crucial to our economy and any future growth. He said hopefully they are coming out of COVID and trying to help get businesses back on their feet and then have someone initiate legislation like this. He said it got voted out of the Senate Economic and Housing Committee with a vote of 4 to 1. He said the no vote came from Randy Brock because he get’s the situation. Tim said businesses have come together to push back and said something needs to be done regarding the unemployment fund but adding $50 per week per dependent is not the way to go. He said people can make more money than when they were working while sitting at home so it’s very frustrating. Tim said going back to Mylan, they are looking at an August timeframe for closing and this could have a silver lining. He said not that they want to lose Mylan but potentially that space could be accessed by other businesses. Tim said over the last 9 months they have had 8 or 9 inquiries for space which there is none. He said the two exceptions are the former Habitat for Humanity site but the State is very hesitant to lease to anyone unless they are doing direct business with the airport. He said the other one is the old VT Brick Factory. He said both these locations are in Highgate but they are the only vacant buildings they have.

Tim said on another topic, it will be interesting to see where all this municipal money is coming from. He said each town is given an amount and each county is allocated money as well. He said because they don’t have a county type of government those funds will be dispersed throughout the towns on top of the original money. He said there will be lots of opportunity for infrastructure projects and for businesses. Reg Beliveau stated Swanton would be getting $650,000. Tim said he thought another $1.9 million dollars would be added to that amount. He said St. Albans City would be getting $2 million dollars, Swanton would get close to that amount and Sheldon was getting $360,000. He said it’s unfathomable the amount of money being distributed. Reg said his grandkids grandkids would be paying for this. Adam Paxman asked if Swanton Town and Swanton Village get their own amounts or will it just go to the Town. Tim said he wasn’t sure but said they could reach out to Senator Welch’s office for more clarification. Tim said Senator Welch can also have ten $1 million dollar projects for communities. Adam said this would greatly help the Town of Highgate.

Tim said workforce is going to be the issue for the next decade for sure and they need to educate their high school students about workforce development. He said they may see some plants close and go elsewhere if they can’t supply manpower for their workforce. He said they have already heard of one line closing and they have a sister plant out west. He said they could easily pack up and go there. He said this is their number one problem, businesses can’t find help, no one wants to work, they don’t show up and they get paid more to stay home. Adam asked how the expanded minimum wage would effect things. Tim thought it would hurt main street more than the industrial parks. He said he thought small retail shops will be hit harder because of this. Tim said Perrigo is hoping to build a brand new facility expected to cost $310 million dollars. He said this will not create more jobs and they will maintain the same number of employees but will focus on automation. He said they will increase production by automation not manpower and they are positioning themselves for the long haul with understanding help is not going to be easy to come by because they can’t find people to show up or even apply. Betty Cheney asked if this was a nationwide problem or a Vermont problem. Tim said he thinks it is in many parts of the country, it’s still an issue and unemployment makes it easy not to work. The Board thanked Tim for his annual update.

  1. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, March 8, 2021:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, March 8, 2021 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

  1. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, March 9, 2021:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through Friday, March 9, 2021 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

  1. Any Other Necessary Business:

Adam Paxman said now that nice weather is here people are out walking and outside enjoying the weather. He reminded people to please slow down while driving through the Village.

Any Other Business: Chris Leach asked if the Village was doing leaf pick up again this Spring and asked if we had any bags yet to hand out. Reg said now that the snow just melted the guys would begin picking up and he said bags would be ordered soon. Chris also asked about the FERC relicensing at the Hydro Plant. Reg said they are still working on it and it’s due in 2024.

Any Other Business: Neal Speer stated he’s heard about some negativity on Facebook regarding the art walls being reinstalled. He said hopefully SPAN is handling the negative aspect of this and wished them the best of luck. He said they are moving forward with this and hopefully this spring will see some refreshing artwork.

  1. Executive Session to Discuss a Legal Matter:

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter Executive Session to discuss personnel at 7:25 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:55 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

  1. Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:55 p.m.  Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:55 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date