Trustees Meeting 6/12/23

Web version

 SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

                       SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX                      

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

PUBLIC HEARING & REGULAR MEETING

Monday, June 12, 2023

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Jeffrey Lewis, Aldrich & Elliott; Dean Ryan, Public Works Foreman; Nick Michaud, Swanton Recreation and Ch. 16. Via Teams: Emily Hackett, State of VT CWSRF.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

Everyone in attendance stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

1. Open Public Hearing to Discuss Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrade Project, Environmental Effects, and Proposed Mitigation Measures:

Neal Speer, Village President, called the public hearing to order at 6:50 p.m. Jeffrey Lewis, Aldrich & Elliott was in attendance for this public hearing and went over topics from the April 10, 2023 trustees meeting (see Minutes from the April 10, 2023 meeting on Village website at swantonvt.gov). Jeff said unfortunately the dewatering system has failed so they are looking to incorporate that as part of the project as well. He also talked about environmental concerns and said there is an Indian burial site near nearby. He said they are aware of it and won’t be anywhere near it. He said they have had a wetland specialist come out and deal with any concerns they have there and either way will be very mindful about how they impact the wetland area. Bill Sheets asked if the dewatering system will be included in the upgrade. Jeff said they need to be under an agreement to do that but said that would be their recommendation from a funding perspective. Bill said it is barely functioning, so it really needs to be a part of this project. Emily Hackett said they already have a waiver for the centrifuge on this project. Jeff said all this information is on their environmental news bulletin and is open for comments for a 30-day period.

2. Public Comment on Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrade Project:

None.

3. Adjourn Public Hearing on Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrade Project:

Village President Neal Speer adjourned the Wastewater Treatment Facility public hearing at 6:58 p.m.

4. Call to Order Board of Trustees Regular Meeting:

Neal Speer, Village President, called the Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7 p.m.

5. Agenda Review:

None.

6. Public Comment:

None.

7. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, May 22, 2023 as presented:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve the Minutes from Monday, May 22, 2023 meeting as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

8. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, June 8, 2023:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #52-#56 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

9. Public Works Presentation with Dean Ryan:

Dean Ryan, Public Works Foreman, stated his team consists of himself, Gary Bouchard, Mike Boucher, Gary Longe and Matt Rollo. He said they will be holding interviews on June 14^th for an open position he has in his department and are staffing up to cover anticipation of vacancies. He said he is working with Heidi Britch Valenta on several grant opportunities to include stormwater, highway safety/village improvements, water and wastewater. He said some of his past improvements in the village include a new sidewalk on Fourth Street, he installed 5 main line insertion valves, paved Winters Court and some spots on Jones Court. He said they also installed a new ¾” CTS water line and a 6’ drain in the swan pond. Dean said his 2023 improvements so far include a new irrigation system has been installed for the flowers in the park and on the bridge, still have some street sweeping to do, have filled some potholes and are taking training classes on a lot of the equipment they work with. Dean said this year they also plan to pave Platt Street and the small end of Pine Street. He will rebuild sewer and storm structures, they are painting hydrants to coordinate with pipe sizes, he will install 6 insertion valves at the end of the summer and are installing a new sidewalk in front of Holy Trinity Church and in front of the drinking fountain next to the square. Dean told the Board that by painting his hydrants different colors the Fire Department will know what size line they are on in case of a fire. He said there are many benefits to this project.  Dean showed the board pictures of the street bags and yard waste at the Lafar Street and Route 7 dumping sites. He showed the compost that is ready for screening, the compost in various stages, the brush pile and wood chips on Route 7 and the finished screen they built to screen the compost. He said this saves money when he needs topsoil for various jobs. Neal Speer stated the bridge looked great for Memorial Day and the park looked great. Bill Sheets stated their summer mowing job starts tomorrow and interviews will begin this week also. He said they have very qualified candidates who have applied. Bill also said Heidi Britch Valenta will give an update at their next meeting. He said she will look for every grant available for the public works department. They are hoping to GIS map all their 2-inch lines, 16-inch lines, hydrants, and everything else in their system. The Board thanked Dean for his presentation.

10. Swanton Recreation Presentation on Cornfest Request:

Nick Michaud, Swanton Recreation Athletic Director and Facility Manager, stated this Cornfest event is a free community event for everyone here in Swanton and neighboring towns. He said this will be held on Saturday, August 12^th from 2 to 8 p.m. He said their event is to highlight the agricultural side of corn in our area. While other towns have dairy and maple events, we feel it's important to understand a major area of the agricultural sector in our area. He said Handy cars is sponsoring the entire event along with Poulin Grain being another big supporter. He said they drew up their vision on a big whiteboard and layed out the event.

Nick said he has lined up the following Food Vendors:

• Taco Truck All Stars
• Twisted Halo Donuts
• Pizza 44
• Smokin’ Joes BBQ
• Nick Ploof Food Truck

Nick said they will have the following events and games for all who attend:

Fun/Games:

• Touch-A-Truck
• Two large inflatables
• Face painting
• Cornhole Tournament - Teams need to register. $50 per team
• Corny Games
  • Shuck a cob
  • Huck a cob
  • Bob for cob

Nick said Kaiden Prim is a sophomore at MVU and his band will open at 3 p.m. He said they’re really great and cover a lot of rock and roll music. He said they will perform on a trailer dressed up with haybales and corn stalks.

Music:

• Opening: Kaiden Prim Band- The North Hero: 3-4
• Headliner: Bad Mojo- 6-8

Nick said in the event of a really hot day they will turn their office into a cool room. The AC will be on so people can come in a cool off for a bit.

Cool Room

• Office will have AC in the event of a hot day

Nick said he would like to request permission to allow Nelly’s to come in and serve alcohol during the event. He said he feels this will draw a lot more people to their event. He said Shannon from Nelly’s supports this and has donated her time and efforts to pull this off for them. He said with the Board’s approval this can happen.

Alcohol Vendor:

• Nelly’s- They have agreed to donate services of serving alcoholic drinks during the allotted time of 4-8 p.m.

He said with permission from the Board he has reached out to Chocolate Thunder from Burlington for security. He said there will be an alcohol only area fenced off from the family friendly area. He said he has a quote from the Franklin County Sheriff’s department but needs permission from the Board first.

Security

• Chocolate Thunder at checkpoints and Carding
• Quote from Franklin County Sheriff 2 officers

Nick said he is estimating 150 vehicles there and if they go over, they will move some of the boulders by their lower soccer field to fit more cars in there. He said if that gets filled up, he would like to be able to park cars on the Fourth Street property and people can walk down the rail trail to the event.

Parking

• Volunteer parking staff for backlot
• Will add temporary barriers for no parking on Jewett and Blake Street
• Overflow on the Soccer Field
• Transpiration for handicap overflow back to top field via donate side by side

Chris Leach said this sounds like a good event and he hopes there is enough time to get the word out. Nick said once approved they will advertise on their Facebook page and in surrounding towns. Chris asked if Nick has talked with the Village Police Department yet, he said he has not but would do so. Neal asked if the event was sponsored in full. Nick said yes, the whole event is being sponsored by Handy cars. Neal said this is like a mini Kingman Street Fest. Nick agreed and said he has been working with Lauren Warsofsky who organized Kingman Fest. He said she’s been a great liaison talking with the vendors, planning and organizing. Nick said he would like to see this event get bigger and better each year and being year one they will try some things, take feedback and if something doesn’t work, they will try something different. Neal Speer said his only concern is the alcohol part. Dianne Day, Village Clerk, stated there is a permit that needs to be filled out and approved by the Board.

11. Village Manager Update:

Village Manager, William “Bill” Sheets, gave the following updates to the Board:

1.  As a reminder to the Trustees, we have agreed to honor June 19th as a Village Holiday, Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery and a celebration of liberation and freedom in the U.S. We will need a motion to officially add this to our list of recognized and celebrated Holidays. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve adding Juneteenth to the list of Swanton Village paid holidays off. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

2.  Lamoille Valley Rail Trail:  On Saturday, July 15th, starting at 7:30 a.m. Governor Phil Scott will be riding the entire length of the Rail Trail, starting in Swanton. We will work with the town to identify leaders that the Trustees want to be present. This is a great opportunity for Swanton to highlight this incredible trail. 

3.  Ecopixel:  The new website is up and running and looking great. Now that we are live, we will begin to enhance and add content. Josh Ellerbrock from the St. Albans Messenger reached out to interview me about the new website and we talked about what is currently there and what will be there.  We will continue to add content to the site.  For example, we will add org charts, articulate job functions more clearly, highlight all Village Projects and provide more timely updates.

4.  NVEDD Meeting:  We hosted here on June 6th, provided them an overview of Swanton Village and then Dan Chevalier presented the group with an overview PowerPoint of our Hydroelectric Facility. Dan then gave the group a tour of that facility.

5.   74 Merchant’s Row:  The Village of Swanton is now the owner of this property. Heidi and I will begin to explore the best avenue for the creation of a parking lot with a level 3 charging station. This parking lot is not within the scope of the $300,000 grant we currently have. Options could include seeking alternative funding or seeking an amendment to the grant. Regardless, we will begin to determine any zoning restrictions and be ready to proceed. Bill said he doesn’t recommend amending the grant and says they should seek alternative funding to move forward with this. Neal Speer asked if this property was surveyed. Bill said it was not and said he recommends surveying this lot as well as 6 South River Street. He also said he will have better landscaping done at 6 South River St. with their summer mowing help.

6.  River Crossing Water Line:  We are making progress, but we do not have SHPO (State Historic) sign off and A&E are still awaiting follow-up on the additional soil sampling required as part of the archeological survey. A&E still plans on going out to bid on or about June 12th, with an onsite pre-bid meeting on June 20th, followed by a bid opening on July 11th.  

7.  Marble Mill:  The port-o-let has been installed for the summer. Heidi will be researching funding to explore grant funding opportunities for flood prone parks. This is in the early stages of exploration only.  I have met with Brian Savage, and we have discussed the displacement of the tennis courts and skate park from Marble Mill.  We will work collaboratively with the town to seek grant funding to find alternative locations for those recreational activities. 

8.  124 First Street:  Stormwater test pits were installed last Monday. Construction Manager bids are due soon and will be evaluated. We continue to make progress on the initial layout of the approximately 20,000 square foot complex with a concentration on critical need.  On Thursday, June 8th we met with Weimann Lamphere and for the first time discussed the renovation, or second phase of this project.  Work on both phase one and phase two will continue, with the addition of a construction manager beginning in two weeks. Eugene LaBombard asked if this bond vote would be ready for voter approval for the March Town Meeting Day. Bill said yes, that is the plan.

9.  I will be meeting with each of my ten direct reports one on one during the month of June. This process will be to conduct a comprehensive review of expectations, both ways, and to discuss specific priorities for their departments/sections.

10.  We are continuing with the practice of having monthly safety committee and leadership meetings with department leaders. The Safety Committee is with a focus upon taking a comprehensive look at improving our overall commitment to safety. The leadership meetings are a way for all leaders to receive timely updates from other leaders and to discover ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

12. Any Other Necessary Business:

Eugene LaBombard stated that residents who live on Spring Street have reached out to him and complained about speeding vehicles. He said he has also witnessed it. He also said bike riders from the Tyler Place will be out riding soon and this could be a safety issue. Bill Sheets stated this is an enforcement issue and said he would speak with the Chief of Police about it.

Neal Speer, Village President, asked if the scrub trees could be cut off the riverbank by the VFW outlook area. Bill said he would follow up with Dean Ryan about this.

13. Executive Session to Discuss Personnel and Contracts:

Chris Leach made the motion to enter Executive Session at 7:46 p.m. to discuss personnel and contracts.  Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to exit Executive Session and re-enter Open Session at 8:40 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to authorize the Swanton Village Manager to approve ReArch as the Construction Manager of record for the proposed Swanton Village Public Safety Facility and the renovation of the Swanton Village Municipal Complex. The motion includes the approval of a pre-construction services contract (pre bond vote) with ReArch in the amount of $17,399. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

Chris Leach made the motion to authorize the Swanton Village Manager to approve a water service line inventory with Aldrich and Elliott in the amount of $78,600. This amount is 100 percent reimbursable with original funding from the Vermont Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

Chris Leach made the motion to authorize the Swanton Village Manager and the Village of Swanton, to borrow up to $136,673 from Vermont Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The first $100,000 is forgiven, while fifty percent of the remaining balance is forgiven.  This loan provides the ability for the Village of Swanton to complete the required service line inventory Lead and Copper Rules Revisions by October of 2024.  Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

14. Adjournment:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:05 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 9:05 p.m. Motion carried.

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

__________________________ ________         ____________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date