Trustees Meeting 7/24/23

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SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, July 24, 2023

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; and Ch. 16.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried, unanimously.

1. Call to Order:

Neal Speer, Village President, called the Village Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

2. Agenda Review:

Chief of Police Matt Sullivan couldn’t make tonight’s meeting so Officer Don Gilbert will give the police update.

3. Pledge of Allegiance:

Everyone in attendance stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

4. Public Comment:

None.

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from the Monday, July 10, 2023 meeting as presented:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve the Minutes from Monday, July 10, 2023 meeting as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, July 20, 2023:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #68-#73 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

7. Swanton Village Fire Department Update with Jason Cross:

Jason thanked the Board for having him in tonight and said as of today they have 28 personnel with 25 being active members and three honorary members. He said out of the 25 active members they have 16 are firefighter #2’s, 4 firefighter #1’s and 5 non-certified. He said approximately 90% of the department are #2’s which helps them apply for and receive grants. He said 6 members this year took the firefighter #2 class and it’s about a three-month course. He said four out of the six passed and are still working on the testing portion. Jason said so far this year they have responded to 62 motor vehicle accidents, 1 vehicle fire, 19 fire alarms, 3 structure fires, 2 trash/rubbish fires, 2 brush/grass fires, 3 gas leaks, 3 burn complaints, 3 road hazards, 6 C.O. incidents, 18 medical assists, 6 good intent, 9 mutual aid calls, 6 boat rescues, 4 smoke investigations, and 3 ice water rescues. Chris Leach asked what a boat rescue call was. Jason said any emergency on the water they respond to such as if a boat capsized. Adam Paxman asked what the good intent calls were. Jason said those calls are like a cat in a tree call, any non-emergency they are called out for. Jason said right now they are working on switching the department over from gas to electric. He said they are noticing things like their chainsaws that aren’t used a lot get gummed up a little bit. He said they’re trying to transition to battery. Adam asked if the recent storms kept them busy. Jason said they had about 20 calls during that time. He also said during holiday weekends or fishing derbies they will be out on the water so they will be better able to respond to a medical emergency or call for service. He said this will eliminate the travel time. Jason said they are the only boat on this side of Lake Champlain other than the police department boat that responds to calls. He said they go right to the Canadian border. Chris Leach asked if they responded to all motor vehicle accidents. Jason said Central dispatch knows that if there are no leaking fluids or injuries, they don’t get toned out, but if it’s unknown they do just in case. He said between the Interstate, Route 78 West and the Highgate Road and Woodshill intersection, they are very busy. Neal Speer asked if all their equipment was in good shape. Jason said yes everything is and they have a small maintenance crew that does a lot of things and keeps things scheduled. Jason said currently the fleet is perfect. Jason said everyone comes in on Monday nights and trains so they can stay up to speed with all the new technology. He said with all the new battery-operated things they need to stay up to date. Jason said the electric car batteries are pretty dangerous if they catch on fire. Jason said the batteries are located underneath the car so are very difficult to get to. They also emit thermal runoff that can make someone sick if inhaled. He said he’s heard of situations where a tow truck has taken them away and the car has reignited. Jason also asked the Board if he could sit down with them at some point and discuss their truck replacement fund. Neal said they could do that at some point. Jason said he wanted to thank the Board and all the residents for their support and said they try to make everyone proud when they leave those bay doors. The Board thanked Jason for his update.

8. Swanton Village Police Update with Matthew Sullivan:

Don Gilbert provided the Board with handouts pertaining to their June calls for service. He said in the month of June the Village police department responded to 104 calls for service. He said there were 13 traffic stops which resulted in 2 tickets issued, 12 warnings, and 1 arrest; there were 9 arrest charges with 6 individuals. He said the top ten calls for service were 13 traffic stops, 11 suspicious person/circumstances, 10 alarms, 9 citizen assist, 6 motor vehicle complaints, 5 community outreach, 5 agency assistance, 5 welfare/suicide checks, 4 citizen disputes, and 4 juvenile problems. Don said for the Village and Town combined they responded to 190 incidents and conducted 20 traffic stops which resulted in 11 tickets, 19 warnings with 1 arrest; 15 arrest charges involving 8 individuals. He said the top ten calls for service included 16 agency assistance, 16 directed patrols, 16 suspicious person/circumstances, 12 alarms, 12 citizen assist, 11 community outreach, 10 motor vehicle complaints, 8 welfare/suicide checks, 8 juvenile problems, and 20 traffic stops. Chris Leach asked if Border Patrol ever calls Swanton police for assistance. Don said the police department meets regularly with them and they keep the department informed about what they are working on. He said Border Patrol doesn’t usually call them for assistance, but they have called them in for assistance. He said they work Operation Stonegarden with them on land and in the water. He said this operation works on human trafficking cases across and on the border. He said Swanton Police department officers work Stonegarden on their time off and are paid through a federal grant. Don said there are many other agencies who also work this grant with Border Patrol. Chris Leach asked if their K-9 unit was being used often. Don said they get a fair amount of calls for the dog and said Scout has been staying busy. Village Manager Bill Sheets stated that the Chief of Police would be in soon to discuss purchasing a new cruiser in the very near future. Chris also asked if the officers have a lot of court time. Don said the court system is finally catching up on cases and said they do have cases that go to court and said they are starting to see an uptick in cases.

9. Village Manager Update:

River Crossing Water Line: On Tuesday July 18^th we had our bid opening for the Missisquoi River Crossing project. The total project budget was 1.2 million with the actual construction budget less than one million. The four bids were all significantly over the Engineer’s estimate of $828k. The bids ranged from just under 1.9 million to over 2.4 million. The most significant overage was the cost of the directional drilling. We do have up to 400k in subsidy based upon loan forgiveness, but that still leaves us well short. On Monday July 24^th we had a conference call with the Engineers to discuss options and next steps. We will be working with the State SRF drinking water program to see if there are additional funds available. We have 60 days to officially accept a bid or reject all bids. The goal will be to find funding up to the low bid cost, maximizing our approved bond amount of 1.2 million, without going over requiring additional village funding or going back out to bond.

Culvert Repair Proposal:  The culverts located at hydro are in critical need of repair. The culverts are located as you enter the Hydro plant. It begins on the left side of the driveway as you enter, going through the upper substation, and comes out onto the back of the river. There are two culverts, one 36” x 140 feet that goes from the left side of the road as you enter the facility to a storm drain in the middle of the sub-station. The second one, 30” x 80 feet, starts at the storm drain and continues toward the river.

The failure of these culverts is creating a sinkhole in the middle of the substation. Extensive research has led to a proposed solution by E.J. Prescott, who will re-line the inside of both pipes.

We are seeking a motion to accept the proposal of E.J. Prescott to install a pipe liner inside both existing culverts, for a total cost for this project of $75,000.

Chris Leach made a motion to approve the Village of Swanton accepting E.J. Prescott’s quote to install a pipe liner inside both existing culverts at the Hydro Plant, for a total cost of $75,000. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

Swanton Beach on Maquam Shore:  We are now locking the gate at night again due to a significant increase in late night activity. We are researching the installation of cameras to deter this activity. We will also post something on Facebook about the cameras, monitoring, and enforcement activity in this area.

Vermont DEC Leak Detection Program:  We applied for and were granted five free days of leak detection through the State of Vermont. A vendor will be in the area in the late summer and will work with Public Works to survey our system to detect leaks.

Chris Leach asked if there was an update on the FERC relicensing case. Bill said there are several more studies that have been requested so they are working on those. He said there are a whole series of things they will get to the Agency of Natural Resources and he’s hoping to get some things resolved very soon. Bill said he would keep the Board informed on this topic.

Neal Speer asked if there were any updates on 6 South River Street. Bill said he had a conference call with the State of Vermont and KAS as well as Northwest Regional Planning. He said there is additional groundwater sampling that needs to be done and is in the works. Bill said Bethany from NWRP was great about insisting this get done so the Village can mitigate this property and get it on the market for sale.

10. Any Other Necessary Business:

Adam Paxman stated he wanted to give a shout out to the Village’s Public Works department for all their hard work at Marble Mill. He said the pickle ball courts look great and are getting a lot of use. He said kudos to them for a job well done.

11. Executive Session to Discuss Real Estate:

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter Executive Session at 755 p.m. to discuss Real Estate.  Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:56 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

12. Adjournment:

Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees meeting at 8:57 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:57 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date