Trustees Meeting 9/24/18

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SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, September 24, 2018

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Roger Langevin, Candidate for Franklin County Sheriff; Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator 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 p.m.

2.      Agenda Review:

Adam Paxman stated he would like to add a second customers’ account to discuss in Executive Session.

3.      Public Comment:

Roger Langevin stated he wanted to stop by and introduce himself to the Board and discuss any issues or concerns they may have. He stated he’s a retired detective sergeant with the VT State Police and was a supervisor in the Intel Division. He explained to the Board his law enforcement career and said he is now working in the St. Albans schools. He said he feels drug education is how they are going to get ahead of the current drug problem. He mentioned the new street crimes unit in St. Albans City and said he would like to see that program go county wide with the Swanton Police, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the VT State Police (VSP). He said they need to find a way to work together and said VSP recently received $4 million dollars to help fight the opiate issue. He said he’d like to see a program put together and do a county wide effort. He talked about the number of drug related deaths in 2016 and in 2017 and said these deaths were related to heroin and fentanyl. He said there was a recent drug bust with a 22 year old female being caught with 10,000 bags of fentanyl. He said information sharing is a big deal and said they need it. He said all law enforcement agencies need to work together to address the heroin problem. The Board and Mr. Langevin also discussed ATV issues, speeding cars and working in the school system educating young students about the dangers of drug use. The Board thanked Mr. Langevin for coming in and introducing himself.

4.      Approve and Accept Minutes from the Monday, September 10, 2018 Regular Meeting and Public Hearing:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from Monday, September 10, 2018 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Chris Leach asked Reg Beliveau if the highway department had gotten the SLOW stencil yet. Reg stated he believed it was in. Chris Leach asked if all dead end streets could be stenciled and requested that Gallup Court be done as well. Motion carried.

5.      Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, September 21, 2018:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through Friday, September 21, 2018 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

6.      Discuss Police Cruiser Lease Options:

Dianne Day, Village Clerk, explained to the Board that Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, received three payment and interest quotes from leasing companies. They are as follows: Municipal Leasing Consultants, 4.71%, $1,240.09 per month; Tax-Exempt Leasing, 4.98%, $1,244.85 per month; and Ford Credit, 6.90%, $1,295.63 per month. Municipal Leasing Consultants has the lowest interest and payment rate, so that is who Lynn is recommending to the Board.

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to authorize the Village of Swanton to accept Municipal Leasing Consultants lease interest rate of 4.71% with a monthly payment of $1,240.09 per month for the Swanton Village Police Department cruiser. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

         7. Any Other Necessary Business:

Elisabeth Nance, Economic Development Coordinator, stated the VT Council on Rural Development will be having their community visit on Wednesday, October 10^th. She said there will be Power Week, the Community Visit and a Ducky Derby. She said there is a free community dinner at the Swanton School on Fourth Street at 6 p.m. on October 10. Some of the events being held will be Home and Apartment Energy Improvement Opportunities from 3-4:15 p.m. and Business Energy Improvement Opportunities from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m., both at the Swanton Public Library. There will be Improving Transportation Options in Swanton from 3 to 4:15 p.m. and School/Youth Engagement and Municipal Energy Opportunities from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m., both at the Municipal Complex and Agriculture, Working Lands, and Local Food from 3 to 4:15 p.m. and Lodging, Tourism, Recreation, the Arts, and Marketing Swanton from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m., both at the Methodist Church. There will be a free dinner and an evening forum held at the Swanton Central School. Dinner will be at 6 p.m. and Action Idea Pitches and Final Brainstorming Session from 7 to 8:30 p.m. All members of the Swanton Community are invited and encouraged to join the discussions and free dinner. Reg Beliveau stated he has contacted some local vendors such as Bourne Energy to attend and they will be offering a sale on pellet stoves. He said Chevalier Drilling will be there with some geo thermal units. Reg also said this is a good opportunity for landlords to look into winterizing their rental units and apartment buildings. Chris Leach stated this would be a good time to print a utility bill and have it blown up and explain all the monthly charges on that bill. He also said an information booth set up about the Hydro Plant and the dam installation would be a great idea also.

Any Other Business: Reg Beliveau stated he contacted the Vermont Gas company regarding the recent explosions that happened in Massachusetts. He read the following response that he was given by Thomas Murray from the gas company: In light of the tragic events outside of Boston last week we wanted to reach out to the towns we serve and explain why our system is different and safer.

From what the NTSB has stated, this system in Massachusetts was an older “low pressure” system operating at a ¼ psi. On these older, low pressure systems they often do not have pressure regulators (releases) at the homes.  In the course of doing some upgrade work Columbia Gas connected a medium pressure line to this low pressure system. This would have blown out pilot lights on older equipment, the homes could fill up with gas and could ignite.

VT Gas has a modern, medium pressure system with redundant regulators on our system and one regulator at every premise. Our system is monitored 7 x24 by our control center in South Burlington. We are confident that this type of situation could not occur on our system. We are 100% committed to the safety of our customers every day.

Here is a link to our website if you get any concerned citizens:

https://www.vermontgas.com/important-safety-message-regarding-massachusetts-incident/

Don’t hesitate to call if you get other inquiries. Thanks, Tom

The Board thanked Reg for that information.

Any Other Business: Eugene LaBombard asked about the ton truck lease and asked if it cost more than what was anticipated. Reg stated the price for outfitting the body of the truck was misinterpreted. He said the price they were given didn’t include that and it needed to be done.

Any Other Business: Chris Leach stated the water is coming up at the dam. He said he checks it every day and it’s beginning to rise. Reg Beliveau stated generators #2 and #5 are running.

Any Other Business: Adam Paxman stated he wanted to give an update on the speeding issue. He said he’s received more emails from residents and he said he is thinking of requesting stop signs be put on certain streets. He said people don’t want that but he doesn’t know what the answer is but said they have to do something. Adding a stop sign would need an ordinance and would take 60 days to go into effect. Adam asked about having fog lines painted on Canada Street. The Board discussed patrolling and getting ticketed. Adam stated he doesn’t feel this would matter to some people.

Any Other Business:  Reg Beliveau stated September is National Preparedness Month and said that Dianne Day would be mailing letters to the families affected by the flood giving tips on how to be prepared in case something like the flood happened again. He said there was some great information on emergency kits and what to gather and how to store it in case of an emergency. Chris Leach stated the recognition Reg, Dianne, Tim and Joey received was well deserved.

8. Executive Session to Discuss Customer Account:

Chris Leach made the motion to enter into Executive Session at 8:07 p.m. to discuss customer account. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

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

ACTION TAKEN: None.

9. Adjournment:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of Trustees meeting and Public Hearing at 8:40 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                           Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                               Date