Trustees Meeting 5/10/21

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SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, May 10, 2021

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; and Daniel Chevalier, Hydro Plant Operator; Via Zoom: Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Janet Dimick Soavi, Wayne Elliott & Michael Mainer, Aldrich & Elliott PC; Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator; Scott Mueller, Hydro Plant & Maintenance Supervisor 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.

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

3. Agenda Review:

Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, stated he would need to add Hydro Plant Production Update to Any Other Business.

4. Public Comment:

Janet Dimick Soavi, SPAN grant writer, stated they applied for an Art Display grant at Marble Mill and were denied it. She said they plan on re-writing their grant and resubmitting it in July when another round of funds become available. Adam Paxman stated although it’s disappointing SPAN wasn’t awarded the grant, he wanted them to continue on. Janet said they plan on continuing and mentioned an area that had overgrown plants and weeds on it. Reg Beliveau stated they have some work to do at Marble Mill such as removing some invasive plants but said he would work with SPAN on this project. Neal Speer stated they are closer to the finalization of Marble Mill’s master plan. He said more clearing needs to be done to make the area more visible and when SPAN applies again, they will know they are serious. He said he appreciates all their hard work and wants them to press on as well. Janet said they would and when she has more information she would let them know.

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, April 26, 2021:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, April 26, 2021 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, May 7, 2021:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #39-42 through Thursday, May 7, 2021 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

7. Update on Missisquoi River Waterline Crossing by Wayne Elliott, Aldrich & Elliott:

Wayne Elliott said Mike Mainer was with him to present this information to the board. He discussed the single water line that runs across the Missisquoi Bridge on Merchants Row and acknowledged their concern for redundancy. He said there are some great opportunities for funding right now and hoped the Village would qualify for some. Mike Mainer stated he would give a brief overview of the study regarding this single water line. He said the Village water serves approximately 1,900 people and the water comes from a surface water treatment plant and pumps it into the distribution system. He said water continues up into the storage tanks east of town. Mike said the purpose of this project is to improve the reliability of a critical river crossing by constructing a redundant river crossing, thereby preventing major health or sanitation issues that could occur if the existing non-redundant river crossing were to fail. The existing water line was installed in 1976 on a bridge that was constructed in 1966. Mike mentioned the three alignment alternatives that have been considered. He said they are Marble Mill Park & Foundry Street; Ferry Street & South River Street; and River Lane & South River Street. He said they are also considering Webster Terrace & Foundry Street. The board discussed these options and agreed that Webster Terrace and Foundry Street would be the best location to use. Neal Speer stated that Marble Mill was being worked on and also said there used to be marble quarries there which could potentially cause issues when trying to dig. The board agreed with Neal on this. Mike also discussed the cost for this new water line and possible funding available. He said the total project cost would be approximately $805,000 and suggested the Village hold a bond vote in November 2021 so that all funding applications and permits could be filed and construction could begin in June 2023. Mike also discussed the impact this could have on user rates. He said if the debt service came in at approximately $15,084 per year a customer would see an increase of 1.4% which amounts to $6.00 per year on a customer who uses about 5,000 gallons of water per month. He said their conclusions and recommendations are that the Village go out for a bond of $805,000 with the State of Vermont DWSRF program which offers the most favorable funding option for this type of project, with the projected expected to be eligible for a 0%, 40-year loan with a subsidy of 25%, not including additional subsidy that could be available. The board thanked Wayne and Mike for all their information that was presented.

8. VPPSA Update on Bill S.60:

Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, advised the Board that VPPSA has been working on a bill called the Rate Flexibility Bill S.60. He said it just passed and he wanted to thank Randy Brock, Corey Parent and Brian Savage for their work on this bill. Reg said this bill will allow cooperative and community-owned public power utilities the ability to make minor adjustments to electric rates and provide customers with new, innovative services without having to go before lengthy and expensive review processes with state utility regulators. He said now VPPSA can review rate cases and decide whether or not an increase is needed. He said when the Village went in for a rate increase several years ago the attorney fees were very expensive. He said this will help save utilities and rate payers money.

9. Discussion on AMI Smart Meters for Swanton Village.

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, stated when they first started working with VPPSA on this project they were considering 8-10 vendors and have now narrowed it down to 1 vendor, Aclara. She said VPPSA is still in negotiations, but she’s seen some rough numbers and it could cost approximately $2 million dollars to get all meters changed out. She said the electric crew could install the new electric meters and they would begin to change out water meters that are older than 15 years. She said the billing software would also need to be installed and they will see greater efficiencies in power outages. She also said customers would be able to track their power and water usage in 15-minute intervals and be able to make changes if necessary to help save them money. Adam Paxman asked about the life expectancy of these new meters. Lynn said they last about 15-20 years. Chris Leach stated he does not want to purchase any of these meters from China and would prefer they be made in the USA.

10. Discuss the Village of Swanton Formerly Changing the Name of Flat Iron Park to Veterans Memorial Park:

The Board was informed that an Ordinance update notice would appear in the St. Albans Messenger and that the new name for Flat Iron Park would become effective on June 25, 2021. Flat Iron Park will now be known as Veterans Memorial Park as unanimously voted on April 26, 2021.

11. First Quarter SQRP Acknowledgement:

Chris Leach stated he was very pleased with this first quarter report that grades the Village on the number of bills sent out, posting problems and work orders. He asked about the delinquent electric accounts at this time. He was told that the Village is carrying more debt in the electric department over the last year due to COVID. Chris stated on behalf of the Trustees he acknowledges receipt of this report.

12. Any Other Necessary Business:

Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, stated she wanted to give a quick update on the Riviera Property on South River Street. She said the BRELLA program will have more funds available in July and she will send in an application on behalf of the Village to see if there is funding for Phase II of the brownfield cleanup. She said they are slowly moving forward. She also stated there may be some petroleum funds available to help with the clean up. She also informed the board she will be giving an update on the Downtown Scoping Study at their next board meeting on May 24, 2021.

Any Other Business: Scott Mueller, Maintenance and Hydro Plant Supervisor; informed the Board that Dan Chevalier, Lead Operator at the Hydro Plant, was asked to research generation activity at the Hydro Plant. Dan informed the Board that he has spent the last year researching, comparing and studying water levels, weather conditions and power generation. He said he has found some considerable differences and is now leading the other hydro operators on how to run their generators during different times to capture the most generation. This has allowed the hydro plant to make more power and spend less on purchased power. Dan said he has worked with staff at VPPSA regarding this and they are now able to better gauge what their minimum power generation and maximum power generation are going to be on a daily basis. He said he pulled generation records from past years and studied them, made changes to what generators would be used at different times and this has helped capture more power for the plant. Dan said he is working with the other operators to help them understand the changes they’ve made and the benefits of those changes. The Board thanked Dan and Scott for their hard work and dedication to the Hydro Plant. They were very impressed with his research and appreciate what they have worked on for the last year.

Any Other Business: Chris Leach stated the swans are now in the park and he noticed several people enjoying them. The Board thanked Mark Rocheleau for getting them in to the park and also wanted to thank the gentleman who took care of the swans all winter long.

Any Other Business: Neal Speer stated the beautification committee has been working on flowers and getting the Village spruced up for Memorial Day. He said they installed plaques on the flower boxes thanking those who have donated to the committee. He said clean up on the Riviera Hotel property is moving slowly but said they will be getting the outside cleaned up and mowed. Neal also congratulated and thanked all those who worked in the remodel of the auditorium. He said they did a great job.

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau said Richard Copperthwait contacted him and wants to hold a Village meeting. Reg also said he keeps hearing about American Recovery money coming to the Village and Town and said everyone wants to have a say it what to do with these funds. He said he contacted James Guilmette from the Town Selectboard and asked him if he’d like to hold a joint meeting if and when these funds come in and discuss what they plan on doing with the money. James agreed this was a great idea. Reg said he has been working on a 5-year wish list which consists of the following:

Reg said as everyone can see, $600,000 will not go that far with the above needed projects that will benefit the community.

13. Executive Session if Necessary:

None.

14. Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:47 p.m.  Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:47 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date