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Trustees Meeting 7/26/21

  • Monday, July 26, 2021
    7 PM – 9 PM

Village Trustees

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SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, July 26, 2021

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Chris Leach, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau Jr., Village Manager; and Ch. 16. Via Zoom: Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Jen Cortez.

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.

  1. Pledge of Allegiance:

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

  1. Agenda Review:

Neal Speer stated he needed an Executive Session for real estate.

  1. Public Comment:

None.

  1. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, July 12, 2021:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, July 12, 2021 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

  1. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, July 22, 2021:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #66-71 through Thursday, July 22, 2021 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked about the payment made to Peoples United Bank in the amount of $329,417.12. Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, stated this was for bond payments in the water department. Motion carried.

  1. Swanton Energy Committee Update:

Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, introduced Jen Cortez and said she helped revitalize the energy committee. He said she was a member of the planning commission and wanted to help with the energy committee as well. Jen Cortez said she wanted to talk about the event they have planned for this Wednesday from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. here at the Complex. She said they will be hosting an EV (electric vehicle) test drive event. She said as people are aware, vehicles are the largest impact to transportation in Vermont. She said at the last EV test drive event in 2019 the feedback was that it was great to test drive a vehicle without the pressure of a salesman and feeling like they needed to buy a vehicle. She said they coordinated with EJ Barrette’s for a Ford and Handy’s will be here with a Chevy and a Toyota. She said she also has a couple of private Tesla owners who will be here to talk about their experiences. She said she can also demonstrate how the car charging stations work. She said taking fears away about how these cars work and the salesman pressure off will help people get more comfortable. Neal said one of his customers has a Tesla and is leaving for the west coast this week. He said he’s had it for a few years and is real happy with it. Jen said just talking with people and having conversations about these vehicles is very helpful. Adam asked if there was a map that shows the car charging stations available. She said there was but said most EV car owners use their own power to charge their vehicles. Neal said they are looking forward to Wednesday and they hope to see everyone there.

  1. Merchants Row Bridge Repair Update:

Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, said the highway crew went over and inspected the bridge today and will be getting the welder back because what he had done broke loose so they will be welding it straight across. He said the Village highway crew hopes to get it done this week. Reg said the Village received $175,000 from the State of Vermont for a structures grant. He said he talked with the engineer and will again on Wednesday to talk about the repairs. He said basically they probably wouldn’t get done the true repairs this year but would in the spring. He said they can do some of the repairs now which will last until spring but then if they can’t get any more funds they will have to ask the Village voters for $550,000 to do bridge repairs. He said they would put this on the March ballot. Adam asked if there was an opportunity to restrict traffic during certain times of the day. Chris asked if he see what happened on the bridge the other day. He said the traffic was backed up beyond Fournier’s Farm Equipment. Adam said he thought they could talk with the State to say the bridge would be closed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. He said it doesn’t make sense.

  1. Any Other Necessary Business:

Adam Paxman said their 11th Annual Car Show will be held this Saturday in the Village Green. He said they should have had one last year so this is long overdue.

Any Other Business: Neal Speer asked if there was a good turnout for the Fourth Street Property discussion. Adam said he heard 9 people attended and said on Front Porch Forum a survey was sent out.

Any Other Business: Chris Leach said Lynn Paradis has done a great job sending them the financial reports but requested a report or summary on how well collections are going. Lynn said she has noticed they are under a little bit in revenue in the electric department. She said the numbers look pretty good and she said she will be asking for a tax rate at their next meeting. Adam asked if they were able to collect arrears in water, sewer and electric. Lynn said they are now able to disconnect water but can’t electric. She mentioned the VERAP grant and said they are now able to get into it. She said the VCAAP II grant is now open as well and the Village will be uploading information to both those grants. She said their electric disconnect has been approved and they should have those soon. Chris also mentioned the Downtown Scoping Study and said it should reflect an accurate number of tractor trailer trucks going through the Village on a daily basis as well as the amount of destruction done by this traffic. He said this amount of traffic is a very big deal. Reg said he’s been complaining about this for 10 years. Chris said they need to stress it more. Chris also mentioned the new art wall up and how nice it is. Adam said SPAN has done a great job managing this and he appreciates the rules and regulations.

  1. Executive Session to Discuss Personnel:

Chris Leach made the motion to enter Executive Session to discuss real estate and personnel at 7:30 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

Chris Leach made the motion to exit Executive Session at 7:55 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

  1. Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 7:55 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 7:55 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date