Joint SLB & Trustees Meeting 11/13/23

Web version

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON TOWN SELECTBOARD

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

JOINT MEETING &

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, November 13, 2023

6:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Brian Savage, Town Administrator; Cody Hemenway, Nicole Draper, Ed White Sr., Steve Bourgeois, Earl Fournier, Town Selectboard Members; Heidi Britch-Valenta, Grant Specialist; Matthew Sullivan, Chief of Police; Chevon Cooper, Rich Kelley, Joel Clark, Steve Martel, Bruce Spaulding, Hank Lambert, Sandy & Ron Kilburn; Ch 16.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried, unanimously.

1. Call to Order:

Neal Speer, Village President, called the Joint Trustee and Selectboard meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

Everyone in attendance stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

3. Joint SLB & Trustees Meeting to Discuss the Future of Policing in the Town of Swanton and Beyond:

Bill Sheets, Village Manager, explained to the Boards that they had some paperwork in front of them showing what next year’s budget would be for what they have for policing services now as well as what it would look like if they went with full police coverage starting in 2025. He said if they chose to go with this full coverage every Swanton taxpayer, Town or Village, would pay exactly the same thing. He showed two organizational charts, one with what they work with today, the other showing what it would look like with the mirrored coverage. He said they need to add one more full-time officer in 2024 because of weekend and overtime coverage. He said he wanted to remind everyone of where this all started. He said the Trustees decided to purchase the land next door using ARPA funds because the five departments that are housed in this building are bursting at the seams. He said they’d like to move both the police and fire entities so that public works and the electric department can spread out and assume the fire department space. Bill said they’d love to be able to park a couple million dollars’ worth of equipment indoors year-round. He said anyone that comes in the office can see five people working in one office. He said they’d love to be able to remodel this building as well. Bill said they have a footprint that will meet the needs of our community for the next 50 years. He said they want to specifically talk about what it would look like to have mirrored police coverage for everyone. He said he hears a lot about “one Swanton” so at the end of the day here’s the factual figures. For a $250,000 home if you live in the Village right now you pay $1,282 just for policing services. He said they could double the size of the police department and build a modern facility, roll the 30-year bond amount into the operating expenses of the organization and everyone, Town and Village, would pay the same rate. He said taxes for Village residents would go down a bit and everyone would pay about $1,000 per year for a $250,000 home. He said everyone would then have the same police coverage.

Matt Sullivan, Chief of Police, began his Power Point Presentation showing where they are now and where they would be with the one Swanton Police Department.

Where we were to where we are now:

• Old schedule:
•  Chief of Police worked Monday through Friday 0900-1700
• Administrative Officer worked Monday through Friday 0800-1600 plus fingerprints Tuesday and Wednesday until 1900
• Lieutenant position worked 0600-1400 Sunday (0900-1700) through Thursday
• Sergeant worked with patrol officers Sunday through Thursday (Sunday and Monday 1700-0100) (Tuesday-Thursday 1400-2200)
• One Officer worked 1700-0100 Monday through Friday (part-timer covered Saturday and Sunday) 
• One Officer worked 1800-0200 Tuesday through Saturday
• One Officer worked 1700-0100 Wednesday through Sunday
• One Officer assigned as the SRO working 0700-1500 Monday through Friday
• Saturday Day shift open to be filled by part-time officers
• Problems: Clear as mud: least senior officer always working weekends with no chance to rotate off and there is no staffing buffer

Current Schedule

• Current schedule was modified to address deficiencies related to officer quality of life. Depending on seniority, officers always had to work weekends.
• Chief of Police works Monday through Friday 0900-1700
• Administrative Officer works Monday through Friday 0800-1600 plus fingerprints Tuesday and Wednesday until 1900
• Day shift officer works Monday through Thursday 0600-1600
• Evening shift officers work on two separate teams:
• Evening Team 1: Sergeant and Officer work Monday through Thursday 1600-0200
• Evening Team 2: Sergeant and Officer work Thursday through Sunday 1600-0200
• School Resource Officer works Monday through Friday 0700-1500
• Day shift on Saturday and Sunday is open to be filled with part-time officers
• Problems: Part-time officers are not regularly filling open weekend day shifts and no staffing buffer

One Swanton Schedule

• Chief of Police Monday through Friday 0900-1700
• Administrative Officer Monday through Friday 0800-1600 plus fingerprints
• Possible Lieutenant Position Monday through Friday 0800-1600
• Day shift consists of two teams:
• Day shift Team 1: three officers Monday through Thursday 0600-1600
• Day shift Team 2: three officers Thursday through Sunday 0600-1600
• Evening shift consists of two teams:
• Evening shift Team 1: one sergeant and two officers Monday through Thursday 1600-0200
• Evening shift Team 2: one sergeant and two officers Thursday through Sunday 1600-0200
• Detective position works Monday through Friday 0900-1700 or modified as required
• School Resource Officer works Monday through Friday 0700-1500
• Advantages: three officers on each team allow coverage for the diverse geography of Swanton East, Swanton Central, Swanton West. There is a buffer of one officer to account for sick, vacation, training, etc. Double Thursday training day, and every shift has adequate coverage. On-call officer response is limited to the hours of 0200-0600. Also allows for more quality control due to depth of administration.

Chief Sullivan showed the current organizational chart and the one that would be needed if the Town had mirrored police coverage. He went on to show and discuss the current contract for next year and how that will impact the Town.

Maintain (current) coverage 1600-0200 70 Hour per week

Full Time (24 Hour coverage) 2025

Chief Sullivan said the above spreadsheet shows what the impact would be for all Village and Town taxpayers if they went to full-time 24-hour coverage.

Village Manager Bill Sheets said they need to present worst-case scenario, one with no grant money etc. He said it’s likely to be less than this but they can’t make those kind of promises. He said there is also no way of knowing if the Town taxpayers would support this without asking. Earl Fournier said there is some sticker shock here. Bill agreed with that and said they have the choice to remain with the schedule they have now but also said that price is increasing as well. He said they could rely on Swanton police part of the time and VSP the other times for services. Earl said it’s important to start these discussions and show the numbers. He said as a rule people want to see more coverage but the talk is a lot easier than the walk. Matt Sullivan said other towns, Sheldon and Enosburg, have reached out to him asking for coverage, but he said they don’t have the ability to offer this coverage at this time. Earl asked if this facility would be able to handle coverage for these other towns. Bill said they would be uniquely suited to be a model for the State of Vermont and said they’d be able to offer these services to other communities, add more grand list, and start to see the numbers soften for everyone. Bill said this is conceivable, but a lot of things will need to happen to make it work. Earl said the service is definitely needed because the Vermont State Police aren’t going to offer the same kind of service. He said he understands the confusion as well and said this amount of money is not going to be an easy thing. Steve Bourgeois said these figures show a home assessed at $350,000 the police tax amount would be $1452.59. He asked what a Town resident is currently paying. Bill Sheets said they pay $92 a year on a home assessed at $250,000. Lynn Paradis said that is for 8 hours of police coverage per day and this model is essentially 24/7. Earl Fournier asked Rich Kelley what he thought about this offer. Rich said personally he would be in favor of the increased coverage but said he’s biased because he works in law enforcement. Hank Lambert said he lives in the Town and would definitely support this as well. Joel Clark said he had a few thoughts on this. He said he understands the need for this but said this is a huge increase. He said what contractual tool would the selectboard use to lock into this for 30+ years to make sure they cover the bond. He said if the board members change and someone else doesn’t want it, what would happen. He said the Village taxpayer would be stuck with a huge amount to pay every year. He wondered how they would do that. He also said the Town needs to answer how many serious crimes have been committed because of a lack of police coverage. How much property damage has happened over the course of a year because of a lack of police coverage. He said hard questions need to be asked. He said this is a huge sell with a very long commitment. Bill said he didn’t think there was a construct that existed and said they need some assurances if they grow the police department. He said the current cost is for 8 hours, they need to go to 10 hours because it mirrors their schedule. Bill said it’s a game changer, they are now paying for dispatching services and candidly they’re not taking a loss. He said the new contract for part time coverage has increased to $326,429.62 per year with a monthly fee of $27,202.47. Bill said this is the beginning of some very big discussions over the next few months. He said no building, no space, no capability to expand. He said he would love nothing more than to have everyone here walk through the existing department, he said it would take 35 seconds and they can see there’s no room to expand. Bill said what they’ve done in St. Albans is kind of a model and they just had their first joint police force meeting and both sides will need to vote on their budget every single year. Bill said they are now at the decision point and asked if they are happy enough now with what they have or do they want more coverage for more cost. Earl asked how this would be governed. Bill agreed and said a joint police commission would be made up of both Trustees, Selectboard and Village Manager. He said the City of St. Albans kept the responsibility for discipline and other issues just for continuity purposes. He said they’ve gone to a structure that provides input from both sides. Chevon Cooper asked if this would be an advisory board like St. Albans has and also asked what this would cost a town taxpayer. Chief Sullivan said his officers would be held to the same standards they are now whether it’s in the Village or the Town. More discussion took place on the standards that police officers are held to. Earl said taxpayers are going to need to decide if this is something they want and said it could bring more things to Swanton that they don’t have now. He said as long as this is governed by both boards, he doesn’t see why it can’t be done. Joel Clark said he’d like to see the police department in the heart of the Village and suggested they look at the old Bourne Energy building. He said he was in Ace Hardware the other day during a burglary, and it would have been nice if the police were right there. He also asked what the fire budget impact would be. Joel said he’d love to see this all happen but there is a cost to it. Lynn Paradis said if they did the “One Swanton” police department based on the grand list today the bond cost for the fire and the police would be about a .16 cent increase in the tax rate for both. She said .10 cents on the fire department and .6 cents in the police department.  Steve Bourgeois said he wished Lynn would use homes assessed at higher prices rather than the $250,000 range so that it be more accurate. He asked if there were going to be any rebates towards this line item. The Boards stated no not that they’ve heard of. Steve said this increase will be coming out of their pockets with no help. Bill said a good way to look at this based on a $250,000 home is it will cost $2.84 per day. Steve said his taxes already cost him $75 per day. Chris Leach said the track record for the Swanton Police Department is excellent. He said look at Burlington and other towns nearby. He said we have a full force doing a great job. He said this is a 50-year plan and something that will carry our Village for years to come and said the impact of having a successful police department is necessary. Chris said he wished the elementary schools had SRO officers in place as well. Bill said the two homicide victims that were executed in Burlington over the weekend, one of them was a known drug dealer here in Swanton. He said this could have happened here. Chris said he encourages a Village and Town board to oversee the police department but said there can’t be any politics involved. He said the Chief of Police does a great job. Rich Kelley asked about a 30-year commitment for this budget and asked how the fire department budget is done without a term contract in place. Brian Savage said the Town taxpayers vote on the fire budget each year and said Town and Village taxpayers pay the same rate based on the Grand List. He said this system has worked for many years. Rich said that’s great and said there shouldn’t be any issues with the police budget working the same way. Earl asked about part of the bond going to renovate the Complex. Lynn said she has an amortization schedule for the renovation on this building as well as the new public safety facility. She said the Town taxpayers will not be paying for the renovation here. Joel Clark said there are complaints about speeding and asked what the real lack of coverage is here. He wanted to know what violent crimes are happening in the Town to justify this kind of proposal and what kind of property damage is being done as well. He said as a Board they should have this information available to explain to the taxpayers. Cody Hemenway said those were his concerns too until about two months ago when he was woken up by gunshots and his neighbor being shot three houses down. He said Vermont State Police didn’t show up until hours later. He said it’s a big concern of his. Sandy Kilburn said if anyone watched the Channel 3 news tonight, they would know how important this police department is. She said the Village already had one terrible incident on First Street and this is all related to drugs. She said she would rather be safe than sorry. Earl said this is a great first meeting and there will be more meetings to come. Chevon Cooper said a lot of the drug issues stem from needing more to do in our community and she hopes everyone supports the Community Center vote next year. She asked how everyone felt about having an advisory committee for the police department. Bill said they have an open-door policy and residents do come in almost daily. Chief Sullivan said his door is always open as well and said he meets with community members often. He said the homicide on First Street was drug related and said the homicide in Leicester, VT was by an individual that was pushed out of Swanton for dealing drugs. He said crimes like this are hard to predict and they are not immune from it. He said when he started here two years ago he was surprised at the level of drug activity here. He said they’ve been able to address it and push it out of this area. He also said he’d like to see these individuals get the treatment they need rather than criminal charges but said that is up to the person. Nicole Draper said they have the opportunity to discuss having a different culture put in place and this will help the younger generations in the area. Neal Speer said he agrees with most of what’s being said tonight, and everyone needs to

think about this as an investment. He said it’s going to be expensive but if they wait it will be even more expensive. Neal said the Board agrees that the department is doing an excellent job of handling all these issues and said they need more space to work out of. He hopes they can also begin to work with other communities and divert some of the cost. Sandy Kilburn said it’s not wise to step over a quarter to pick up a nickel and she feels that’s what they will be doing if they don’t support this. Earl said they will also work on getting more information available and ready for their next joint meeting on this topic. He said it’s going to be a lot of work but will do so.

4. Discussion on Local Option Tax:

Earl Fournier said he’s asked for some research on the Local Option Tax. Brian Savage said they contacted the Department of Taxes and showed that in 2022 the State collected $39,206.91. If they added the 1% local option tax to this that would have generated $392,069. He said the state keeps .30% and the town would get .70% which would have amounted to $274,448 in funds. Brian said there would need to be a Charter change with legislative approval. He said this process takes about one year to complete. They also discussed some of the rules and said the local option tax money needs to be earmarked for a specific purpose. Brian also said this applies to mail orders with a Swanton zip code. Chris Leach didn’t feel like we had big stores here to generate much money. He also said the point of this is to get visitors to your community to pay part of this tax. He said you can only extract money from people in so many ways and feels like the tax bills do that and that the taxpayers appreciate that. Earl said the points Chris brought up are valid and said maybe they need to concentrate on getting more business to Swanton first. He said some of the reasons they need to consider it is because of all the upcoming things they are asking for. Earl said both the Town and Village need to want it before they ask the voters. Neal said he has to respectfully disagree with Chris and said it won’t be just the locals that pay this 1% tax. Earl said it should be kept on the agenda and further discussed. Chevon Cooper said she talked with a business owner about this local option tax and they said they would like help with the necessary paperwork on how to do this. Brian Savage explained it to her.

Earl Fournier also said they have a Resolution they’d like signed for Small Business Saturday. He said by signing this by both boards it shows they support their local businesses. He said once signed they’d like to put it on their website. Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and sign the Resolution Proclamation supporting Small Business Saturday. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

5. Public Comment:

None.

6. Adjourn Joint Meeting:

The Town Selectboard and Village Trustee meeting was adjourned at 7:42 p.m.

7. Call Regular Trustees Meeting to Order:

Neal Speer, Village President, called the regular Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:45 p.m.

8. Agenda Review:

None.

9. Public Comment:

None.

10. Approve and Accept Village Minutes from Monday, October 30, 2023 as presented:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, October 30, 2023 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

11. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, November 9, 2023 as presented:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Thursday, November 9, 2023 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

12. Review Official Return of Voting Results from Wastewater Sewer Bond Vote Held November 7, 2023:

Dianne Day, Village Clerk, informed the Board that on Tuesday, November 7^th the Village had 124 registered voters come out and vote for the Wastewater Treatment Facility’s sewer bond in the amount of $8 million dollars. She said there were 104 yes votes and 20 no votes. She said there are 1589 registered voters and 57 of those votes came by absentee ballots.

13. Delinquent Tax Collector Request to Use Attorney Vaughn Comeau for Upcoming Tax Sales:

Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve Delinquent Tax Collector Betty Cheney to use Attorney Vaughn Comeau for upcoming tax sales. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

14. Review and Approve 2024 Emergency Communications and Dispatch Services Contract with the City of St. Albans in the Amount of $65,000:

Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize the Chief of Police, Matthew Sullivan, to establish an Emergency Communications and Dispatch Services Contract with the City of St. Albans to provide Police Dispatching. This contract will run for Calendar year 2024 in the amount of $65,000.  Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Eugene asked if this was for fire dispatching and police dispatching. Bill Sheets, Village Manager, stated this was only for police dispatching. Motion carried.

15. Discussion on Invoice Cloud Fees:

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, informed the Board that this year the Village’s processing fees for credit card and check payments will exceed $50,000 through Invoice Cloud. She said right now Invoice Cloud charges .95 cents to process a payment made with a checking account. Lynn said the Village of Enosburg is charged $3.95 to process a credit card payment and she’s going to reach out to Invoice Cloud to find out what our fee is. She also said right now a customer is allowed to make payments up to $3500 and she would like to reduce that amount to $500. She said she’d also like to change the credit card processing fees from the Village paying the convenience fee to putting that fee onto the customer. She said by doing this it will dramatically reduce her bank fees. Lynn said hopefully this will make more customers use their checking account instead of a credit or debit card.

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the Village of Swanton to pay Invoice Cloud processing fees on ACH (checking account) payments only and to reduce the cap to $500 instead of $3500. He also moved to have all credit/debit card payment processing fees be the responsibility of the customer and not the Village of Swanton and for these changes to begin January 2024. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

16. Review and Approve VT Transco LLC Equity Call:

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, stated VT Transco aka Velco has a big call for equity coming up. She said the Village’s share is $181,910 with a rate of return of 9.59 to 10%. She said the Village has the money to purchase this equity without going through VPPSA. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to authorize Village Manager William Sheets to purchase VT Transco/Velco Equity in the amount of $181,910 and also gave permission for the Village to purchase any available unused shares as well. Adam Paxman seconded the motion. Motion carried.

17. Sherri Fadden, 8 Wheeler Round, Request Water and Wastewater Allocation for 400 GPD:

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into Water Commissioner’s meeting at 8:08 p.m. to hear the following request. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.

Sherri Fadden is requesting a water and wastewater allocation for 400 gallons per day because she is converting her three-bedroom home at 8 Wheeler Round into a four-bedroom home. Adam Paxman made the motion to approve Sherri Fadden’s request for a water and wastewater allocation of 400 GPD because she is converting her home from a three-bedroom to a four-bedroom single family home. Chris Leach seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Water Commissioner’s meeting at 8:10 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

18. Village Manager Update:

SEP Meeting:  Neal and I attended the November 2^nd meeting. Great feedback for the efforts of our Public Works team and for Dean’s leadership.  Many appreciate the collective efforts at Marble Mill Park.  We will be partnering with SEP to purchase and install two pickleball posts and nets on two of the three courts at Marble Mill.  We also purchased a replacement tennis court net for the furthest court.  We had to defer that purchase from last season.  SEP has approximately $800 to commit to the pickleball posts and nets.  One court will be maintained to accommodate tennis players.

Bandstand in the Village Green:  We heard again at SEP that the bandstand is in rough shape, it needs sandblasting and painting, as well as the bench seating replaced or repaired. We need to create a plan, and to budget for these repairs in 2024.  We do not yet have estimates for these projects, some of which might be able to be handled internally.  Heidi will explore grant funding for this project and any enhancements.

Applied Solution Consultants (ASC):  ASC conducted safety site analysis at Public Works, Hydro, Water and Wastewater (Main plant and Foundry Street) to check on the progress of our comprehensive safety analysis. We are continuing to create policies and procedures, as well as ensuring we are doing everything possible to help ensure the safety of our members and all visitors.

Thanks to the Voters, 104-20/WWTF 60 percent meeting:  On 11/13 A & E and State officials met for the 60 percent meeting. All is on pace at this point for an on-time construction start in 2024.  As we get closer to bid documents, we will have a 90 percent meeting.

Depot Street Bridge:  We are utilizing a portion of the existing 200k grant to ensure that we can get a new RFP out for bid review soon. We have contracted with McFarland Johnson in the amount of $26,951 for this project.  This funding will come from existing grant funding, and it is important to add traffic studies as we include a possible option of closing the bridge during construction.  Reminder:  We will need to set aside an additional 300k in next year’s budget to cover these repairs.

Social Media:  This past week we highlighted the Swanton Village Electric Departments grid resiliency project on Rollo Road. This extensive project should serve to significantly reduce outages in a historical problem area. 

Public Safety Proposal Update: 124 First Street:  DRB meeting was on October 26^th. Our site plan and conditional use applications were approved. The CM continues to finalize work on cost estimates, and they have provided us with a mid-November cost estimate.  We have had extended media coverage by the SA Messenger, and on 11/13 WCAX reporter Hailey Morgan spent a couple of hours at our facility conducting interviews with Matt, Dan and myself and touring the facility.On 11/29 I am scheduled to present to the NRPC, highlighting this proposed project. We are working on establishing this as a regional priority.  Jeff Carr, the Economist, has begun work on looking at this project from an economic development point of view.

Carroll Concrete Property (other side of Short Street):  On 10/31 Shawn Carroll contacted me to let me know that we have until mid-December to relocate the material that we have located on this property. We are in the process of moving those materials over to 124 First Street.  It does restrict any remaining viable space needs.

November 27, 2023:  We will be holding a joint meeting with the Selectboard and VHB to have a public forum related to the Exit 21 project. We will also be talking about Church Street modifications and Transportation Alternatives grant application. 

19. Any Other Necessary Business:

Neal Speer asked if Bill had heard anything from KAS regarding 6 South River Street. Bill said they are working on the final clean up plan and he’s asking where they stand. He’s hoping to have this complete and the property on the market very soon. Neal also asked about the sign loan for the new bakery that’s coming on Canada Street. Adam Paxman stated they have approved her for a $5000 revolving loan and she can use those funds for whatever she needs. Neal said he thinks there’s some misunderstanding about this and said he’d call her and straighten it out.

Any Other Business: Chris Leach asked about the mailbox in the Village Green that’s coming out. He said he’d still like to see a drive-up mailbox in place. He asked about the water line job. Bill said that is scheduled to take place in the spring and hopefully connect the line in April of 2024. Chris also asked about the street signs that were knocked down in the park. Adam Paxman said he believed an 18-wheeler tractor trailer hit them.

Any Other Business: Adam Paxman said the Veteran’s flags are up in the Village Green and he thanked all veterans, past, present, and future, for their service. He said there are 150 flags in the park and said there is a waiting list for about 30 more. He said this can’t happen without volunteers. He also wanted to remind everyone about the Winter Parking Ban that is in effect starting December 1^st.

20. Executive Session to Discuss Real Estate:

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter Executive Session at 8:45 p.m. to discuss Real Estate. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

Chris Leach made the motion to exit Executive Session at 9:30 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

21. Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:31 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 9:31 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                            Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date