Trustees Meeting 6/10/24

Web version

 SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON TOWN SELECTBOARD

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

JOINT TRUSTEE & SLB MEETING

AOT PUBLIC HEARING

B-6 BRIDGE UPGRADE SCHEDULED FOR 2029

Monday, June 10, 2024

7:00 PM

PRESENT: David Winchester, Village President; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Suzie Kelleher, Trustee; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Joel Clark, Selectman; Earl Fournier, Selectman; Cody Hemenway, Selectman; Steve Bourgeois, Selectman; Brian Savage, Town Administrator; Kyle Grenier, Northwest Regional Planning; Laura Stone, State of Vermont Agency of Transportation; Dennis Vertiyev and Frances Eisinger, Green International; Dean Ryan, Swanton Village Public Works Foreman; Dan Chevalier, Swanton Village Fire Chief; Matthew Sullivan, Swanton Village Police Chief; Heidi Britch-Valenta, Swanton Village Grants Specialist; Damon Broderick, Gordon Winters, Shannon Laroche, Ginette Young, Geoff Domey, Jody Tanner, Susan Leadbeater, Morgan Manning, Megan Vincent, Jonathan Griffin, Evan Haugh, Ross Lavoie, Matt Walker, and Ch. 16. Via Teams: Suzanne, Lisa Hango, Randy Brock, Tom Oliver, Tiffany Card, Kim, lin.

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. Joel Clark, Town Selectboard Chair, called town meeting to order.

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

Everyone in attendance stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. Agenda Review wasn’t added to the agenda, so it was discussed here. Adam Paxman, Village Trustee, stated the board has an easement agreement to review and approve and will add that as #9a. Joel Clark stated he would like to add bridge closure discussion at #5a. Lynn Paradis stated #8 will be tabled until July and said Dean Ryan will only discuss the bridge closure plans tonight.

3. Agency of Transportation Public Hearing – Call to Order:

Laura Stone, Agency of Transportation, called their public hearing to order at 7:04 p.m.

4. AOT Engineers Present B-6 Bridge Upgrade Scheduled for 2029:

Laura Stone from the Agency of Transportation began her presentation explaining that this is the Local Concerns Meeting for Bridge 6 on Route 78 over the Missisquoi River in Swanton. She said they are at a very early stage of the process right now. She said at this point they would look at alternatives for the bridge and discuss those options as well as discuss how they would manage the traffic. She said discussing the upcoming bridge repair will benefit them also. Laura then explained their agenda as follows:

1. Purpose & Need
2. Location Map
3. Existing Bridge Information
4. Inspection Findings
5. Project Alternatives
6. Resources & ROW
7. Anticipated Schedule & Next Steps
8. Your Input is Needed

Laura said the purpose of the Swanton BF 036-1(16) -Bridge 6 Project is to address the current structural deficiencies and ongoing deterioration of the bridge, which will improve the public safety for crossing the Missisquoi River.

 Need

She said there are two needs here, the condition of Bridge 6 needs to be improved to maintain public safety and there is a need to provide safe and efficient roadway infrastructure for the Swanton Community at this location.

Dennis Vertiyev stated he works for Green International and is one of the design consultants working with VTRANS assisting with the project. He showed the location of the bridge on a map and then gave the following information:

Ownership: Village of Swanton

Constructed: 1966

Spans: 4 Spans (70’-80’-80’-70’)

Bridge Type: Concrete deck with steel beams supported on concrete pier walls and abutments

Width: 41’-10” out to out

Typical Section: (2) 11’ lanes with 4’ shoulders and (2) 5’ sidewalks with railing

Avg. Annual Daily Traffic: 10,800

Truck Traffic: 15%

Dennis said the most recent inspection determined that the deck, superstructure and substructure are all rated a number 6 which is satisfactory condition. He said the ratings go from 1 to 9. He said the channel is rated a number 8 which is very good. Dennis then showed some inspection photos showing the deck joints, end diaphragms, beam ends, abutment seats and backwall, and downspouts. He said the deck shows significant deterioration and there is a lot of rust of the joints and the beams that support the deck. He said the downspouts have rusted through and there is a lot of decay throughout the substructure and decking. He then showed the beam ends, bearings, bridge seat at pier walls. Dennis said the project alternatives that are being considered are:

Deck Replacement

• New deck matching existing footprint, beams and substructure remain
• New railing, sidewalks, joints and pavement

Superstructure Replacement

• Same as deck replacement with new beams, substructure remains

Bridge Replacement

• Reduced number of spans (2-span)
• On alignment
• Off alignment

Maintenance of Traffic Options

• Staged with one lane alternating
• Closure with detour route
• Closure with temporary bridge

Initial Local Feedback

• The Swanton community has agreed to consider the implementation of a full closure of the bridge given that it is typically the most efficient, cost effective and safest way to approach rehabilitation or replacement.

Laura said she wanted to mention some of the funding options. She said the bridge is fully owned by the Village of Swanton and prior to 2012 the Village’s share would have been 10%. She said legislation passed Act 153 and it reduces the Village’s share by 50% if they close the bridge to traffic during construction and it reduces it an additional 50% if they go with a rehabilitation versus a replacement. She said the Village’s share can range from 2.5%, 5% or 10% depending on which alternative they choose. She showed the evaluation criteria to be:

Evaluation Criteria

• Initial construction cost
• Traffic impacts
• Extending remaining service life
• Public safety
• Impacts to resources
• ROW impacts
• Utility impacts
• Public input

Act 153 Funding Information

• Municipal owned structure
• Share of project cost reduces depending on scope and TMP

Local Share

                                    Road Closed                            Road Open

                                    During Construction               During Construction

Rehabilitation               2.5%                                        5%

Replacement                5%                                           10%

Dennis then talked about the Detour Route

• Approximately 5.5 miles long
• Uses South River Street, Beebe Road and Route 7 to reconnect with Depot Street
• Currently planned to be used this summer for repairs on the bridge
• Potential for regional truck detour

Dennis then went on to discuss the Resources & Right-of-Ways

Resource Considerations

• Upstream dam
• No wetlands
• Aquatic species in Missisquoi River, potential time of year restrictions
• Rivers and Lakes
• Archeological Phase 1

Right-of-Way

• Impacts dependent on selected scope and TMP

Laura said they are very early in the development process and currently plan to have the scoping report done in the summer or fall of 2024; will hold another public informational meeting which will lay out the alternative plans in more detail along with cost associated with each alternative plan in summer or fall of 2024; the design phase will kick off in 2025; advertising is scheduled for the winter of 2027 and construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2028. She said they try to stick with their timeframes as best as possible.

Laura explained the next steps include:

• Scoping Report development
• Public Information Meeting
• Incorporation of local input

Laura said community input is needed and showed a list of issues that could come up.

• Abutters concerns
• Emergency response routes
• Bridge usage and pedestrian usage
• Local events and impacts
• Detour route concerns
• Bridge safety concerns
• Maintenance concerns
• Other concerns

Adam Paxman asked what the average timeframe would be regardless of what option they chose. Laura said that depends on a number of factors because this is a large project but said she thinks it will be a two-year project. Laura stated there may be full closure of the bridge during construction for 60 to 90 days. Adam also asked if they were positive the Village owns this bridge. Laura said yes, they do, that Heidi Britch-Valenta found documentation attesting to this. Suzie Kelleher asked if there would be a different route for truck drivers during the 60-to-90-day full closure period. Dennis said they would need to study truck turning movements at all of these intersections and be able to find a route for these trucks that works. He said it’s likely their detour will be significantly longer, and this wouldn’t affect box trucks and pedestrian vehicles. Suzie said for this summer’s construction they will have signage in Alburg asking trucks to stay on Route 2. Dennis said they will find out what works and what doesn’t during this summer’s job and will take that information and apply it their bridge replacement job. He said it’s not unusual to put signage 20 to 30 miles away to let the trucks now about the detour coming up. Laura said they would also have a public outreach person on board to help get the word out to the trucking community long before construction begins. She said there would be a significant amount of outreach. Adam said a decision couldn’t be made yet until the Village decides what alternative they’re going with. Eugene LaBombard asked if they contacted officials in Canada alerting them about this yet. Suzie said Bill has already been in contact with officials at both Highgate Springs and Champlain so that they notify the truckers coming through. Eugene also mentioned the water line that runs across the bridge and asked if they considered keeping that on the new bridge. Dennis said that would be incorporated into the project and would be a participating cost. They were told there is also a natural gas line that runs across the bridge as well. Joel Clark stated they realize this is a Village owned bridge but said there is a much larger Swanton community that’s very concerned about this bridge being closed. He said after seeing photos of how bad the bridge is underneath, he doesn’t see how it wouldn’t be completely replaced. Joel said a “one lane open” option isn’t going to work either after seeing how that went when they cleaned the bridge a few weeks ago. He said that might work ok in North Hero but not here because there’s too much traffic. He said they are also concerned about the merchants on both sides of the bridge. Laura stated that if a temporary bridge was installed there would only be one day of closure to make the switch. Joel said the Town is concerned about the bridge closure coming up and said South River Street and Beebe Road aren’t made for this heavy traffic. He said they realize the repair is needed and will do what they can to help but said these are some of their concerns. Steve Bourgeois asked how many people attended a meeting and made these decisions to go in this direction. Laura said she hasn’t done any other outreach and said this is the very first outreach they’ve done. He also asked if the temporary bridge would be a one lane or two lanes. Laura said it would have to be two lanes to accommodate this kind of traffic. Steve also said he was concerned about the merchants and asked if there were any financial support packages available to them from the State. Laura said there wasn’t anything available that she knew of and said if they were to close a business due to construction there would be business compensation. Suzie Kelleher asked if the Police and Fire Chief wanted to address anything. Chief of Police Matthew Sullivan said they may have longer response times during the construction but said they can probably get through traffic with a cruiser faster than the larger fire apparatus. Earl Fournier asked if there would be extra police coverage in the detour area. Chief Sullivan said they would do that to the best of their ability and would set up cruisers in certain areas and would address traffic issues. Earl said they might want to consider hiring additional services. Fire Chief Dan Chevalier said he has talked with the Alburg Fire Department, and they have agreed to cover West Swanton all the way up to Swanton Lumber so essentially will have two departments covering that area. Dan said it might be harder with the big trucks to get through the detour area, but they will go slow and get to where they are needed. Earl Fournier asked about how tractor trailer trucks would be turned around if needed and would they be able to make the turns. Dennis said they would run test first before they signed off on any detour. Earl said the only other option would be Robinhood Drive but that wouldn’t be very popular with the people who live there. He said at a minimum if Robinhood Drive was even considered a proper crosswalk with flashing lights would need to be installed. Laura said that would be up to the Town or Village to do not the State. Adam wanted the Village taxpayers to know that once they get pricing this fall, this could be a 10% match and if this cost $10 million dollars the Village would need to pay $1 million dollars. Lynn said her and Bill have been having conversations about putting money aside for that now in the upcoming tax rates. Laura said this is a large structure and will be an expensive project. She said closing the road will save the Village thousands of dollars. The meeting was then opened to the public for discussion.

5. Public Comment:

Geoff Domey asked if a template has been designed as to where the temporary bridge would go. Laura said it couldn’t go on the dam side of the bridge so would have to go on the other side. She said right of way issues would be worked out if necessary. Geoff Domey asked why the temporary bridge couldn’t be built as the new bridge, instead of building a temporary bridge and then taking it out. Laura said that is one of the options of a full bridge replacement, either on alignment or not. More discussion took place about the options and the Village’s local share. Jody Tanner, who works for the State of Vermont, said the underneath of the bridge could be repaired and said there was a lack of maintenance done to it. Dennis said the only downfall to that would be the overall lifespan. Laura said as long as they keep the substructure that would be considered a rehabilitation, close the road and the Village’s share would be 2.5%. They discussed the lifespan of a rehabilitation being 30 to 40 years and a full replacement being 75 years. Jody discussed keeping one lane open during construction saying that would alleviate a lot of the problems and would keep businesses open. He stated Beebe Road is considered the old truck route and asked if that has changed. Earl Fournier said yes but back then they didn’t have trucks like they have today. Joel Clark said they had problems with Beebe Road a few years ago and after all this traffic on it those same issues will pop up again. More discussion took place regarding the detour and how backed up traffic is going to be and how emergency response vehicles aren’t going to be able to get through. Joel said if this is closed for a whole year there is going to be serious issues. Suzie Kelleher said it would only be 60 to 90 days that it’s closed not one full year. Jody asked if anyone from the Town has contacted the State to see if there are any funds available to fix and widen Beebe Road. Earl said there has been some bank issues on South River Street and that really needs to be checked out closer if they’re going to send all that extra traffic that way. Earl said that should be addressed in the scoping study. Joel said there is a study on South River Street at the Town office that they could look at. Ross Lavoie stated his concern is how narrow South River Street is especially in the S curve. He’s worried there will be accidents there and the road will be blocked for long periods of time. David Winchester said there will be signage to try and slow vehicles down. Everyone discussed how the signs don’t work in slowing people down. Kyle Grenier, from Northwest Regional Planning, said if there is a large truck detour that is going to affect not just Swanton but the whole Grand Isle area. He said if there were issues with the North Hero bridge again people would have to go through New York or Canada. He said there is a larger picture here to be considered. More discussion took place on the condition of the Beebe Road and the bad pave job done there, especially by the railroad crossing. Brian Savage said he’s been trying to contact someone at the railroad, and they won’t return his calls. He said they are not allowed to fix that area because the railroad will have a big problem with that. Ross said the problem arose after the Town paved it and the Town should fix it. Ross asked if it would be possible to put a three way stop at the end of Beebe Road and Route 7 during the construction. Dean Ryan said yes there will be a three way stop there. He said they have message boards and he’s been working with the state on all the extra signage that will go up. Dean said this will be a learning experience. Ross said maybe they need to look at hiring some outside services to help with this. He said Route 7 is a racetrack from 5 to 8 p.m. every night. Adam said Village Manager Bill Sheets and the police chief have had many conversations about this and will do the best they can to make sure it happens. Chief Sullivan agreed with Ross’s statement.

        5 a. Joel Clark said from a Town perspective he would like to go on record and support what Ross is saying and said there should be a blue light at Route 7 and Beebe Road flashing. He said there should also be one by the bridge for at least 3 or 4 hours in the morning and in the evening. Joel said a blue light may slow people down more. He said he wants to go on record from the Town and ask for extra police coverage in the construction area this summer at the Village’s expense. He said the Village is saving money on closing the bridge and should put some of that into extra police coverage. Suzie Kelleher asked Chief Sullivan if they plan on putting speed carts out on South River Street. He said yes they will be because data from last year did show some concerning speeds. Ross said a cruiser should be parked on South River Street by the Railroad Museum and walking path. Dean Ryan said they are putting electric signs with flashing lights by the walking path. Earl thought there should be flashing lights by the S curves also. Joel said again they are asking for the additional support of at least 8 hours of police coverage in that area. Chief Sullivan explained that having two officers on at night, depending on the nature of the call, both of those officers could be assisting one another. Suzie asked Chief Sullivan if they had the funding could they put a part time officer on that detail. Chief said it’s been a real challenge trying to get coverage from the part timers. Geoff Domey asked why they couldn’t go back to basics and put in some temporary speed bumps just before the walking path and just before the S curves. He said if you don’t slow down for those, they’re going to have damage to their cars. Chief Sullivan said those are the only things that really slow down traffic. Joel Clark said speed bumps will slow everyone down too much and will cause a traffic back up. Joel asked if they could hire some outside help for this and said he’s not a fan of slowing everyone down to 10 mph. Suzie said she didn’t know if they could put someone there for four hours in the morning and again for four hours in the afternoon. She asked Chief Sullivan to give her what he feels would be the best solution. He said hiring outside help isn’t an insult to him and also said having blue lights on scene is a big help too. Dean said having blue lights on scene during a water break definitely helped slow traffic down and asked to have some put in place during the construction this summer. Steve Bourgeois asked about having considerations for the school buses. He was told it was during the summer and school would be closed. Shannon Laroche said her business has been giving all her drivers a heads up about the upcoming detour. Jody said the Town should make sure their lines on the roads are nice and fresh. Joel said they’ve asked the state to repaint those and said the Village has agreed to paint the fog lines on South River Street and cover that cost. Joel said the Village has been very responsive to their concerns. Earl Fournier also wanted to say that there are a lot of people in the community who are not aware of what’s going on and asked if this information could go on the website. He was told it is already on the website and Facebook and has been for quite some time now. Dean said he’s worked with the Agency of Transportation, and they have put in a lot of thought and detail as to where all the signs are going. Dean then gave a detailed explanation of exactly where all his signs and message boards are going to be.

Laura Stone, State of Vermont, adjourned the B-6 Bridge Upgrade Public Hearing at 8:35 p.m.

Cody Hemenway adjourned the Town portion of the joint meeting at 8:42 p.m. Earl Fournier seconded. Motion carried.

6. Approve and Accept Minutes from the Monday, May 28, 2024 meeting as presented:

Suzie Kelleher, Trustee, made the motion to approve Minutes from the Monday, May 28, 2024 meeting as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

7. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, June 6, 2024:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Tuesday, June 6, 2024 as presented. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked about the payment made to USA Blue Book in the amount of $5726.00. Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, said that was for purchasing a turbidity meter for the Water Treatment Plant. Adam also asked about the payment made to Facility Technical Services for $7860. Lynn said that was for a vibration test at the Hydro Plant.

8. Swanton Village Public Works Update with Dean Ryan:

Tabled until 7/22/24.

9. Village Manager Update:

June 17^th:  Our Trustees are invited to attend the Selectboard meeting to discuss economic development and other related topics. This meeting will be held at the Town Offices.

Public Works:  After an exceptionally long wait our new Box Truck is in at Barrette Ford. Lynn said this truck took two years to come in and cost $68,209. She said it will be taken to Yipes Stripe for the Village’s logo and striping.

Missisquoi River Crossing:  We still anticipate a June 24^th start date for this project, with the boring the first step. G.W. Tatro’s staging area will be across from the boat launch on Foundry Street on Village owned land.

6 South River Street:  We have created and posted a Request for Proposal to generate interest in this site. Interested partners have 30 days to respond, responses will be evaluated internally and presented to the Trustees for a public dialogue and selection process.

Merchant’s Row:  The handicap ramp for Merchant’s Row has arrived and we will install that within the next week.

Stone Garden Award: Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, said the Village received almost a quarter million dollars in federal grant funds for Operation Stonegarden. She said they plan on purchasing a truck to tow the boat, and UTV and trailer. She said this will leave approximately $111,000 for salaries and fringe costs. Lynn said the Police Department will purchase this equipment at absolutely no cost to the Village taxpayer.

Hydro: Lynn said Units 1 and 2 are still down and will be for another 4 to 5 weeks before they are up. She said they produced about 7 ½ megs and said the recent rain will bring those numbers up.

         9 a. Real Estate Easement Agreement:

Adam Paxman said they have been asked to sign a real estate easement agreement between the Village of Swanton and Ted Pelkey of Robin Hood Storage LLC. Adam said Ted plans on installing electric service to the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail parking area located on the opposite side of Robin Hood Drive. Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize Village Manager William Sheets to sign the Real Estate Easement Agreement between Ted Pelkey of Robin Hood Storage LLC and the Village of Swanton. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Motion carried.

10. Any Other Necessary Business:

None.

11. Executive Session If Necessary:

None.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

12. Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:55 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand, David Winchester, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:55 p.m. Motion carried.

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David Winchester, Village President                  Date

__________________________ ________         ____________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date