Trustees Meeting 5/9/16

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SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, May 9, 2016

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Brad Aldrich, Aldrich & Elliott; and Ch. 16.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

1.      Call to Order:

Neal Speer, Village President, welcomed all to the Regular Board of Trustees meeting and called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.

2.      Agenda Review:

Adam Paxman advised he needed to go into an Executive Session to discuss Legal Matters and would like to move #9 to #5.

3.      Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, April 25, 2016:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, April 25, 2016 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

4.      Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, May 6, 2016:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants (#49-#54) through Friday, May 6, 2016 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

5.      Executive Session to Discuss Legal Matters:

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into Executive Session at 7:15 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session and re-enter Open Session at 7:47 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried, back in Open Session.

ACTION TAKEN: Adam Paxman made the motion to deny JP Sicard’s claim regarding directional boring on the Water Transmission Line job and directed Aldrich & Elliott to respond via a letter. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

6.      Brad Aldrich, Aldrich & Elliott, to discuss Canada Street Water Line Replacement Job, Bid Analysis and DBE Effort:

Brad Aldrich stated they advertised for bids and received 7 bids for the Project #5 Canada Street job. He said they opened bids on April 26, 2016 and JP Sicard came in with the lowest bid at $334,480. He said the bids ranged from $334,480 to $505,950. Brad stated Aldrich & Elliott are recommending the Village of Swanton award the bid to JP Sicard. He said they did the water transmission line job and that went really well. He said they like working with Mike Menard and Reg Beliveau and he feels the Village got a quality job from them. Brad stated he received JP Sicard’s Bid Analysis and DBE Effort (Disadvantage Business Enterprise) and is very comfortable with it. He said this entails JP Sicard documenting they followed all necessary procedures. Aldrich & Elliott sent a draft of this to the State of Vermont and they are happy with their bid package as well. Brad stated he needs the Village to accept JP Sicard’s bid and to also recognize their DBE Efforts. Chris Leach made the motion to accept JP Sicard’s bid of $334,480 for the Village of Swanton Project #5 Canada Street Job and to also recognize their DBE Efforts. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

Reg Beliveau advised there are some left over funds from the original contract as well as a $200,000 debt forgiveness. He said the Village has the authority to extend their two bonds by $75,000 without voter approval and he would suggest they do that for this Canada Street Job.

Adam Paxman made the motion pursuant to 24 VSA 4755(a)(4) to increase the amount of indebtedness authorized at the August 24, 2010 and March 5, 2013 special meetings of the Village of Swanton by $75,000 for each authorization. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: Brad Aldrich stated that Canada Street was recognized pretty early on as needing improvements. He said right now the pricing is very favorable. He said the other factor on getting this street done is that VTrans is resurfacing at the end of July and they only come in every 16 years so the need to do this now is urgent. Reg Beliveau said they will be replacing a 12” line with a 16” inch line and this will help the water pressure throughout the Village. Chris Leach stated there are some states dealing with pretty serious water line issues and the Village of Swanton would like to stay ahead of that. Reg also stated the Village has applied for a grant in which mapping of all their hydrants would get done. He said he’d like to commend Mike Menard and his crew because contractors like coming here to work with them. He said JP Sicard really helped them out on a water line break over the winter and that was very much appreciated. Motion carried.

7.      Property Ordinance Discussion:

Adam Paxman stated he’s been working with the Downtown Enhancement Project and they want the community to look as nice as it possibly can and for people to take pride in their property. He said there are a lot of properties not being cared for and he would like to enact a Property Ordinance to ensure properties are better cared for. Chris Leach said he believed this was a good idea but wondered how this could be done. He reminded the Board about the Pig Farm/Hotel situation that took place in Stowe, VT and the pig farmer was within his rights to operate it. He suggested maybe putting a question on the next ballot asking voters what they thought about this idea. Reg Beliveau said he would talk with Darlene at the Zoning Office and Dan Billado who is the Swanton Health Officer. He said a lot of these safety issues are already enforced by the Fire Department. Adam said maybe they didn’t need an Ordinance in place, maybe they just need to talk to residents. Reg Beliveau also said there are church groups and civic organizations where you can adopt a home and help them with painting, repairs, etc. He said there are grants available if you live in the downtown area as well as tax credits. Adam said he liked the idea of Reggie checking with Zoning and the Health Officer and they would continue to work on this to figure out the best way to go about it. Chris Leach said to keep this item on the agenda and they will do more investigating.

8.      Any Other Necessary Business:

Chris Leach stated the legislature just closed and he wondered how the decision on citing renewable power was made. Reg Beliveau said from what he understood this bill gives more say for citing agricultural fields and downtown areas for renewable power.

Any Other Business: Adam Paxman said he would like to remind everyone about the Memorial Day Parade coming up on Monday, May 30^th at 2:30 p.m.  He said the parade route starts at Raleigh Field and continues up Grand Avenue to the Village Green, with a special ceremony at Memorial Park (Flat Iron Park) honoring those Killed in Action during WWI, WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Iraq-Afghanistan Conflict. He said there will be an Open house and BBQ at the VFW Post 778 following the parade. For more information, please call 393-1840 or 868-5404.

9.      Public Comment:

None.

10.  Adjournment:

Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:27 p.m. Adam Paxman 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