Trustees Meeting 3/11/24

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 SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, March 11, 2024

7:00 PM

PRESENT: David Winchester, Village President; Suzie Kelleher, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Jason Starr and, Dillon Dupont, Wastewater Plant; Jason Booth and Jeff Lewis, Aldrich & Elliott; Damon Broderick, Allen Letourneau, Ed Daniel, Shawn Cheney and Ch. 16. Via Teams: Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried, unanimously.

1. Call to Order:

Eugene LaBombard, Village Trustee, called the Village Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

Everyone in attendance stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

3. Agenda Review:

Bill Sheets, Village Manager, stated that he’d like to add legal to executive session.

4. Swear in elected officials for 2024: David Winchester, Village President (one-year term); Suzie Kelleher, Village Trustee (three-year term). Dianne Day, Village Clerk (one-year term) and Betty Cheney, Delinquent Tax Collector (one-year term) were sworn in on March 6, 2024 to perform duties:

Village Clerk Dianne Day swore in David Winchester as Village President for a one-year term and Suzie Kelleher as Village Trustee for a three-year term. Dianne Day and Betty Cheney were sworn in on March 6, 2024.

5. Appoint a Treasurer for the Village of Swanton for 2024 and swear in:

Adam Paxman made the motion to appoint Dianne Day as Village Treasurer for a one-year term. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried. David Winchester, Village President, swore her in.

6. Motion that the Swanton Village Board of Trustees Adopt Robert’s Rules of Procedures for the rules of procedure for Village Trustees for the upcoming year through March 2025:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adopt Robert’s Rules of Procedure for the rules of procedure for Village Trustees. Suzie Kelleher seconded. Discussion: Allen Letourneau asked for Robert’s Rules to be explained. Suzie Kelleher stated this ensures procedures such as motions are made and seconded appropriately. Motion carried.

7. 2024 Official Voting Results:

Village President David Winchester read aloud the following results:

Official Return of Voting Results

OFFICIAL RETURN OF VOTES

ANNUAL SWANTON VILLAGE MEETING ELECTION OF VILLAGE OFFICERS

MARCH 5, 2024

BALLOT ACCOUNTABILITY

Number of Voters on Checklist                                                 1624                                       

Number of Ballots Counted (including absentees)                       579                                         

Number of Absentee Ballots Counted                                        139                             

I, Dianne Day, Swanton Village Clerk, hereby certify that the results of the ELECTION OF OFFICERS by AUSTRALIAN BALLOT at the ANNUAL SWANTON VILLAGE MEETING held in the Swanton Village Complex in the County of Franklin and State of Vermont on the 5^th day of March A.D. 2024 were as follows:

VILLAGE PRESIDENT, for one-year

NEAL SPEER                                                                                      275                             

DAVID WINCHESTER                                                                       285

Write In                                                                                                4

Total Votes                                                                                          564

Overvotes                                                                                            0

Undervotes                                                                                          15

TOTAL BALLOTS COUNTED                                                            579

VILLAGE CLERK, for one-year

DIANNE DAY                                                                                     542

Write In                                                                                                1

Total Votes                                                                                          543                                         

Overvotes                                                                                            0

Undervotes                                                                                          36

TOTAL BALLOTS COUNTED                                                            579

COLLECTOR OF DELINQUENT TAXES, for one-year

BETTY CHENEY                                                                                531

Write In                                                                                                4

Total Votes                                                                                          535                 

Overvotes                                                                                            0

Undervotes                                                                                          44

TOTAL BALLOTS COUNTED                                                            579

VILLAGE TRUSTEE, for three years

 SHAYNE MOTT                                                                                 203

SUZIE KELLEHER                                                                              313

Write In                                                                                                4

Total Votes                                                                                          520                             

Overvotes                                                                                            1

Undervotes                                                                                          58

TOTAL BALLOTS COUNTED                                                            579

Attest: _________________________ Dianne Day

Swanton Village Clerk

Official Return of Voting Results

OFFICIAL RETURN OF VOTES

ANNUAL SWANTON VILLAGE MEETING BUDGET VOTE

MARCH 5, 2024

BALLOT ACCOUNTABILITY

Number of Voters on Checklist                                                             1624

Number of Ballots Counted (including absentees)                                   579                             

Number of Absentee Ballots Counted                                                    139                                         

I, Dianne Day, Swanton Village Clerk, hereby certify that the results of the BUDGET VOTE by AUSTRALIAN BALLOT at the ANNUAL SWANTON VILLAGE MEETING held in the Swanton Village Complex in the County of Franklin and State of Vermont on the 5^th day of March A.D. 2024 were as follows:

ARTICLE II, General Fund, $173,825                                                  

Yes Votes                                387                                                                             

No Votes                                  188                                                                             

Undervote                                4                                                         

TOTAL BALLOTS COUNTED 579

ARTICLE III, Highway Fund, $691,290                                               

Yes Votes                                406                                                                                         

No Votes                                  170                                                     

Undervote                                3                                                         

TOTAL BALLOTS COUNTED 579

ARTICLE IV, Fire Department, $88,480                                               

Yes Votes                                425                                                                             

No Votes                                  146

Overvote                                  1                                                                     

Undervote                                7                                             

TOTAL BALLOTS COUNTED 579

ARTICLE V, Police Department, $998,967                                           

Yes Votes                                306                                                                 

No Votes                                  266

Overvote                                  1                                                         

Undervote                                6                                                         

TOTAL BALLOTS COUNTED 579

ARTICLE VI, Public Safety Facility, $14,833,613

Yes Votes                                130                                                                 

No Votes                                  444                                         

Spoiled/Overvote                      1                                             

Undervote                                4                                                         

TOTAL BALLOTS COUNTED 579

Attest: _________________________ Dianne Day

Swanton Village Clerk

8. Approve and accept Minutes from Monday, February 12, 2024 and Minutes from the Informational Meeting Monday, February 26, 2024:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept the Minutes from February 12, 2024 and February 26, 2024 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Suzie Kelleher stated that her comment in the February 26^th minutes was incorrect and asked that it be fixed. Motion carried with correction.

9. Approve and accept Village Warrants through Thursday, March 7, 2024:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #16-#24 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Suzie Kelleher stated that she had several questions regarding the warrants. She was advised to come into the Village office and meet with Lynn Paradis so that she can review all of the invoices in question. Motion carried.

10. Jason Booth & Jeff Lewis, Aldrich & Elliott, Review Step III Engineering Services Agreement:

Jason Booth said they are here tonight to discuss the Step III Engineering Services Agreement that refers to the construction phase of the contract. He said there’s three phases they go through with the State Funding and they are Step I being preliminary engineering, Step II Phase which is final design and Step III Phase which is construction and engineering services. He said they are now at the third step. Jason said along with each Phase there is an engineering services agreement that goes along with that phase. He said all of this encompasses the total project cost they bonded for in November and said these are part of the original cost. Jason said this is Amendment #2 and is a document approved by the State of Vermont for these engineering services. He said this also encompasses the bid phase for this project and they will then do a bid analysis once bids come in. He said the construction phase includes two parts, one for the duration of the project and also monthly meetings of the construction project. Jason went on to explain what this entails during the projected one-year construction phase. He said the final portion of this is for special services which are separate Add On’s for this job and he explained what those are to the board. Adam Paxman asked about the 455 days and asked if that was from the start of the project to completion. Jason said yes that is correct and they take into account the lead time, orders, time of year and what can be done, etc. Adam asked if a contractor has been hired yet and Jason said no but they will be sending out bid requests soon. Jeff Lewis explained that by using the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program that brings a bunch of requirements but also has benefits such as favorable loan rates. Adam also asked with the labor shortage the country is facing do they foresee any of that being an issue here. Jason said he believes there will be less of a labor shortage issue and more of an equipment shortage issue. He said the biggest delay they are seeing lately is equipment shortages. David Winchester asked if construction would begin in 2025. Jason said they are looking to get started within the next two months. Bill asked where they stood regarding the centrifuge. Jeff said the centrifuge has failed and they will address that as quickly as possible. He said they received three bids back and they have moved forward with a purchase order and said so far the project is on budget. Jeff said this has been moved to the front end of the project and will set right in where the old one was located. Jeff said the last one lasted 30 years and they hope this new one will too. Jeff said they are at 90% of the final design and the steps that need to take place before they can go out to bid is get through permitting, the Act 250 permit, the Wetlands Permit and a local permit. He said the state also needs to review this and is on its own timeline. He said they are also working on their final budget analysis and mentioned Heidi Britch-Valenta is working on a grant now. The Board thanked Jason and Jeff for their update.

11. Approve and Sign Step III Bond Loan Application for Wastewater Plant Upgrade:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the State of Vermont State Revolving Loan Program, Step III Clean Water Loan application, including the Engineering Services Agreement with Aldrich & Elliott for upgrades to our Wastewater Treatment Facility not to exceed $635,800. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Motion carried.

12. Annual Wastewater Plant Update with Jason Starr and Dillon Dupont:

Jason Starr introduced himself as Chief Operator of the Wastewater Treatment Plant and also introduced his Assistant Chief Operator Dillon Dupont. Jason began his presentation showing some of last year’s improvements. He said they added some emergency lights at the Foundry Street pump station and also removed some old piping from there. Jason said the lights they replaced were original from 1972 and desperately needed changing. He said they also replaced some of the aging infrastructure at the pump station. He said the motors were almost 30 years old and they budgeted for the replacement of them and did the installation as well. He said they also changed four valves out and this should eliminate any failures there. Jason explained they have the Foundry Street Pump Station as well as the Bell’s Pump Station that run 13 miles of wastewater lines. He said things like flushable wipes are really not flushable and cause a lot of problems at these pump stations. Jason said his pumps get clogged and they were called there weekly to unclog the pumps. He said they budgeted and installed chopper pumps there. He also talked about the stainless basket that catches non liquid items. He said he wants to also install a grinder pump and remove the basket, so things are ground up into smaller pieces.  Jason also showed pictures of the solar aerators that were not working at the plant. He said they converted them to electric and also installed a pump at the Bell’s Pump Station. He said they’ve been busy cutting trees off the lagoon fence as well.

Jason said some of his 2024 projects will include the start of the upgrade at the plant, installing the new centrifuge, work on finishing the causeway and installing new task master grinders at the Bell’s pump station. He said they purchased a boom arm for their mower and can now mow close to the lagoons. He said this year they will need to land apply bio solids and because of this they contacted the State in January. He said the State will inspect the bio solids in June or July and will tell them how much they can land apply. He said in September or October they will mark out the boundaries on the fields and the state will inspect that and then the farmer can apply the bio solids to the field. Bill said this procedure is very scripted and if they discontinued this process, they would need to find an alternative and it won’t be free. Bill said they will land apply this on Village owned property on Route 207. Allen Letourneau asked if this bio solid could be burned. Jason Booth stated some states allow that procedure but not the State of Vermont. Suzie Kelleher asked what needs to happen to the lagoons now that the solids are being stored there. Jason said the lagoons are designed to hold sludge, they are 4 to 5 feet deep, but said the State of Vermont is asking the Village what year they plan on cleaning them out. He said there is still good capacity there but the downside to having two large lagoons is it is going to be a massive undertaking to have them cleaned out. Bill said they need to start discussing what they need to set aside yearly for this purpose. He said he believes this will cost $15 million dollars to do. More discussion took place regarding dealing with this issue and the cost of it.

13. Village Manager Update:

Hydro:  Unit 1 and Unit 2 turbines are still offline for repairs. The part for Unit 1 has been produced and we are awaiting an installation date. Unit 2 thrust bearing was replaced but during startup they discovered additional issues that will require disassembly and further analysis and repairs. This comes at a tough time during spring runoff but represents the challenges of running a Hydroelectric facility. Despite these smaller turbines being down we are producing 6.8 megawatts.

Police Department:  We will begin the process of advertising approved and budgeted positions within the department, to include for the additional police officer and the administrative assistant.

At the request of WCAX myself and Chief Matt Sullivan conducted an interview about the results of the bond vote and answered their question about what the next steps are.

Electric:  We will begin an internal discussion (no cost) about what approximate square footage estimates would be required for a new Electric Department Facility located next door. That would include all personnel located in the customer service area. The relocation of all personnel except the PD would be the goal, with the renovation of that wing and a portion of the current Electric Department being renovated in the future to increase the size of the police department. Suzie Kelleher asked if Missisquoi Valley Rescue was leaving this building. Bill said they purchased the land next door but said they are not leaving at this time. Suzie asked if because their budget was voted down in Highgate, if that changed their plans at all. Bill said he wasn’t sure about that and said the long-term goal for the Village is to identify a concept of regionalized policing where they can improve policing for the community and surrounding communities while lessening the impact on the taxpayers. He said that is their ultimate goal. He said this is a 3-to-5-year plan. Eugene LaBombard said they are open to suggestions from anybody. David Winchester said the big concern is how they pay for it versus property taxes. Bill said if it’s the electric department it would be paid for in electric fees and going to the PUC for a rate increase and spread evenly over the 3,800 electric customers. David said he thought the public would be more receptive to that scenario for that piece of the puzzle.

Depot Street/Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Bridge:  The RFP was issued from McFarland Johnson on March 5^th and bid Opening is on March 20^th at 10 a.m. David asked if they are still considering shutting down the bridge while the repairs are being made to save on flagging, etc. Bill said they incentivized the contracts to do just that.

124 First Street:  KAS has reported that all testing has been completed on this site. We are waiting for the results and then will proceed with a plan to move forward with the required clean-up/remediation and obtaining a certificate of completion.

Total Eclipse:  The State of Vermont is assisting in planning and preparation (no statewide events are planned) for the April 8^th Solar Eclipse. There is no school on that date. There will be a partial eclipse from 2:14 PM until 4:37 pm, with a total eclipse at around 3:26 pm, for approximately 3 minutes and 30 seconds in our area. We will be closing the Village offices at noon on that day. The next informational meeting is on March 13^th, Heidi will be covering this for the Village.

Maintenance and Hydroelectric:  We are now fully staffed, adding three positions over the past two weeks.

Local Option Tax:  Looking for your position on partnering with the Town on the creation of a local option tax. I believe that we should start this process with me working with Brian Savage, to get this to a point where we can potentially take this to the voters.

14. Public Comment:

Adam Paxman said as he welcomes Suzie and David to the Board, he also read the following letter:

I want to thank Neal Speer for all his tireless efforts over the years in working to make Swanton a great place to live. I want to thank him for sharing his vision of Swanton with me. And I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart for believing in me.

I remember the day on my porch when I spoke to him about me running for trustee. I told him that I had my doubts about being able to do the job if I was elected. I didn’t go to college, and I didn’t have a degree. And this is what he said… “if you have common sense, and a love for your community, which you have, you’ll do just fine”. He was right. And for that, I owe him a debt of gratitude.

We had a great team. We were family. Neal made sure that regardless of the circumstances, we remained family. Neal was the glue that bound the board together, even though he did not have a vote in any outcome. He was the one who held us together when the art wall fiasco happened. He kept us calm when we were called racists and got calls for our resignation. He kept us calm when some citizens were creating unrest and division within the community. He never backed down from a challenge and never hid behind a computer screen when things got tough. But most of all, he had our backs… and we had his. He taught me a lot about being a good citizen. As a leader his guiding principles were humility, trust, and teamwork. The team worked extremely well under these principles. Swanton will be a better place if these principles are continued.

Mr. President, thank you for everything! You will be sorely missed.

Adam Paxman

David Winchester said thank you Neal and thank you Chris.

Public Comment: Shawn Cheney said with the possibility of maybe building next door he wanted to know what the gross revenue is for the electric department. Dianne Day, Village Clerk, looked in the Annual Report and said the total sales of revenue for 2023 was $6.7 million dollars and the 2024 projected revenue is $6.8 million dollars. Shawn said with a stick-built building this could possibly be done for a third of the cost the public safety facility was projected at. He said would the electric department be able to do this on their own and would they raise electric rates. He said if they’re looking at a 2,000 square foot facility it could be built for approximately $500 to $750 thousand dollars. Bill said the electric department has a half million dollars in the bank. He said it would be the electric department and their square footage needs plus everyone from Heidi to the front office staff except for the police department. He said you’re looking at 10,000 square feet that would be needed. Bill said it would be much more than just a bay for the trucks. Shawn Cheney thought they were looking at a couple million dollars to build then. Bill said he thought it would be much more than that. David Winchester said what would be great is doing something similar to what the Town did with Cross Consulting. He said that was done for under a million dollars. He said adding the administration part to it would cost more but it would be great to pay for it through rates. He said they also have one of the lowest electric rates in the State of Vermont. Bill said the Village of Swanton doesn’t set the rates, the Public Utilities Commission does. He said they do that on a comprehensive review of all the things involved, plus debt ratio. Allen Letourneau asked what falls under the non-profit? He said the electric, water and wastewater departments are non-profit but there’s an income in the water department. Bill said those are separate parts of the organization. Allen asked if there was any water money in the bank. Bill said there is some and that’s why they don’t need to raise the rates this year for water and wastewater. He said it’s not their private bank account and they can take water money and use it for the electric department. He said they aren’t allowed to do that. Allen said they didn’t need to take it all, Bill said you can’t use any of it. Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, said that in the electric rates right now there is that $440,000 principle payment that they were making on the hydro bond that is now paid off as of December 2023. She said they already have that built into the electric rates. Lynn said water and sewer now have roughly a million dollars in the bank each but that can only be used to fund their projects and operating money. She said they can’t use that to fund anything for the electric department because they do fund accounting in each department and each department stands on its own. She said they do this every year, she has a CPA license and she will not compromise that for anything or anybody. She said you have to play by the rules. Lynn also said when she joined the Village almost 20 years ago the Hydro plant had $15 million dollars outstanding and now have about $2.7 million. David Winchester said in theory without raising rates the electric department may be able to afford this. Lynn said without knowing what the project cost along with interest rates, debt service all that needs to be factored in. Allen Letourneau said the problem is they can’t afford any more and they’re trying to make this work with everybody. He said everyone has bills, on their homes or cars, everyone deals with it, and said the Village has an income and has money coming in. David asked about the generation being sold at the Hydo plant. Lynn said they load shed, some months they make money from VPPSA but then there are months the Village needs to purchase power and that is very costly as well.

15. Any Other Necessary Business:

Adam Paxman stated they are holding their Annual Car Show in the Village Green on Saturday, July 27, 2024. Allen Letourneau asked why they don’t have more than one car show each year. Adam said because it’s a lot of work. He told Allen to contact him and they could discuss it.

Any Other Business: Adam Paxman made the motion to appoint Suzie Kelleher as Commissioner of the Electric Department for her three-year term as Trustee. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

Any Other Business: Suzie Kelleher asked if there were any plans to upgrade the bandstand on the  Village Green. Bill Sheets, Village Manager, said maybe there are some grants out there to help with this. He said they need to have discussions and figure out what their starting point is. Do they want to completely remove it and build something completely different or do they just want to upgrade the existing bandstand. She also asked about the sidewalk on Pine Street. Bill confirmed with Dean that he will replace the existing sidewalk there and extend it to Canada Street. Suzie then mentioned that while out campaigning she heard from several residents that they would prefer a five-member board. Adam Paxman stated that they should let the voters decide. David Winchester also asked if there was a sidewalk policy in place that dealt with sidewalks being damaged by construction equipment. Bill said he hasn’t had to deal with this but said he would hope that if that happened it would be brought to his attention. David said it’s unfortunate when taxpayers have already paid for the sidewalks through taxes but then they get damaged afterwards.

16. Executive Session to Discuss Personnel, Real Estate and Legal Matters:

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter Executive Session at 9:00 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Suzie Kelleher asked if these topics met the criteria provisions of Title 1, Section 313(a)(1) of the Vermont Statutes. Bill Sheets, Village Manager, assured her they did and suggested they have that language included on all future agendas. Motion carried.

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session at 10:29 pm. Suzie Kelleher seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

17. Adjournment:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees meeting at 10:30 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, David Winchester, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 10:30 p.m. Motion carried.

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

David Winchester, Village President                  Date

__________________________ ________         ____________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date