Trustees Meeting 3/23/26

Web version

 SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, March 23, 2026

6:00 PM

PRESENT: David Winchester, Village President; Neal Speer, Trustee; Suzie Kelleher, Trustee; Damon Broderick, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; and Ch. 16. Via Teams:

To watch this meeting in its entirety, go to Northwest Access TV on YouTube. The video will also be posted on the Village’s website once available. Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried, unanimously.

1. Call to Order:

David Winchester, Village President, called the Village Board of Trustees meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

Everyone in attendance stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

3. Agenda Review:

Bill Sheets, Village Manager, stated Aldrich & Elliott will reschedule to our April 27 meeting due to sickness tonight.

4. Public Comment:

None.

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, March 9, 2026 as presented:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve the minutes from Monday, March 9, 2026 as presented. Neal Speer seconded the motion. Motion carried.

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, March 19, 2026:

Damon Broderick made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Thursday, March 19, 2026 as presented. Neal Speer seconded the motion. Motion carried.

7. Aldrich & Elliott Update on Village Hydraulic Analysis and Preliminary Engineering Report on Village Water Line Assessment:

Tabled until April 27, 2026.

8. Swanton Village Police Department Update with Chief Matthew Sullivan:

Sgt. Tyler Badeau informed the Trustees that the Swanton Village Police Department responded to 138 incidents during the month of January 2026. He said the top ten calls for service were 33 traffic stop, 13 suspicious person/circumstance, 9 welfare/suicide check, 6 VIN number inspection, 6 family fight/disturbance, 6 threatening, 4 information report, 4 agency assistance, 4 motor vehicle complaint, and 4 restraining order. He said there were 32 traffic stops resulting in 13 tickets and 34 warnings. He said there were 10 arrests with 9 individuals and 15 charges.

Tyler said the Police Department responded to 152 incidents in the Town of Swanton during the month of January 2026. The top ten calls for service were 61 traffic stop, 46 directed patrol, 7 property watch, 5 suspicious person/circumstance, 4 driving license suspended, 4 motor vehicle complaint, 3 crash, property damage, 2 citizen assist, 2 motorist assistance, and 2 theft. He said there were 62 traffic stops resulting in 15 tickets and 70 warnings. He also said there were 9 arrests with 8 individuals and 13 charges. Tyler said they worked an additional 47.5 service hours for the Town.

Tyler went on to show the Trustees that the police department responded to 127 incidents during the month of February 2026. He said the top ten calls for service were 30 traffic stop, 10 suspicious person/circumstance, 8 family fight/domestic, 7 citizen assist, 6 welfare/suicide check, 6 threatening, 5 citizen dispute, 5 alarm, 4 directed patrol, and 4 community outreach. He said the 30 traffic stops resulted in 8 tickets and 34 warnings. Tyler said there were 6 arrests with 6 individuals and 7 charges.

Tyler then showed the Town incidents for the month of February 2026 and said the top ten calls for service were 82 traffic stop, 34 directed patrol, 11 property watch, 5 suspicious person/circumstance, 3 crash, property damage, 3 motorist assist, 3 family fight, 2 agency assistance, and 2 citizen assist. He said there were 82 traffic stops resulting in 33 tickets and 74 warnings. He also said there were 3 arrests with 3 individuals and 14 charges. Tyler said the department worked an additional 46.75 service hours for the Town during February.

Tyler also showed the Board a press release stating that Dominique Troupe, 39, of Colchester, who was involved in the murder at 45 First Street, Swanton, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison as well as 4 years of supervised released following his sentence. Tyler said he wouldn’t be a danger to the Swanton community for a very long time.

9. Appoint Frank Shumway Village Tree Warden for 2026:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to appoint Frank Shumway Village Tree Warden from March 2026 through March 2027. Damon Broderick seconded the motion. Motion carried.

10. Appoint Village Representatives to Northwest Regional Planning Commission for March 2026 through March 2027:

William Sheets, Village Manager, stated the current Village Representative is Heidi Britch-Valenta and because of her position here with the Village she works closely with Northwest Regional Planning. Suzie Kelleher made the motion to appoint Heidi Britch-Valenta as Village Representative to Northwest Regional Planning Commission for March 2026 through March 2027 with Damon Broderick as alternate. Neal Speer seconded the motion. Motion carried.

11. Appoint Village Representative and Alternate to the Northwest Regional Planning Commission Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) for March 2025 through March 2026:

Neal Speer made the motion to appoint Heidi Britch-Valenta Village Representative to the Northwest Regional Planning Commission Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) and appoint William Sheets as the alternate representative for March 2026 through March 2027. Suzie Kelleher seconded. Motion carried.

12. Discuss and Approve Swanton Village Water and Sewer Rates:

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, showed the board the current water and sewer rates and her proposed rates. Lynn said if approved customers would be billed in June for May’s usage. She said at this point she can’t pay the bills. Lynn explained that the fixed rate, which is the customer charge, has all expenses that really don’t change month to month, and the variable rate is the usage part of the bill. Suzie Kelleher asked if there was any way the customer charge could be reduced some. She said she’s not comfortable with it going from $23.16 to $31.77 for Village customers and $46.31 to $63.55 for Town customers. Lynn said the numbers she presented is what she needs to cover the expenses. Lynn said most of this increase comes from the Missisquoi Water Line job and the upgrade to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Lynn said the Village received some grant funds for the treatment plant upgrade but said it was an $8 million dollar project. Suzie also asked about the water and sewer connection fees and asked if those should be increased. She was told there is only one or two per year based on new construction. It was decided to not change those amounts. Neal Speer made the motion to approve a 37% water rate increase and a 20% sewer rate increase as presented. Damon Broderick seconded the motion. Motion carried.

13. Discuss and Approve Abenaki Heritage Fest Camping and Ceremonial Fire for May 2026:

Suzie Kelleher stated the Abenaki Heritage Fest Pow Wow will be held May 22, 23 and 24, 2026 at the Swanton Recreation Field. She said they are requesting permission to allow vendors to camp onsite and to have their ceremonial fire burning for the event. Suzie said they will have a fire keeper on site as well. Damon Broderick made the motion to approve the Abenaki Heritage Fest Camping onsite for vendors and to allow their Ceremonial Fire for their Annual Pow Wow to be held May 22, 23 and 24, 2026. Neal Speer seconded the motion. Motion carried.

14. Coin Drop Requests: Missisquoi Valley FFA Students for May 2026, Abenaki Food Pantry for June 2026, Swanton Fire Department for August 2026 and Swanton Fire Ladies Auxiliary for September 2026:

Dianne Day, Village Clerk, said she received the following requests for coin drops for 2026: Missisquoi Valley FFA Students for May 2, 2026 with a rain date of May 9, 2026; Maquam Bay Abenaki Food Pantry for June 13, 2026 with a rain date of June 20, 2026; the Swanton Fire Department for August 22, 2026 with a rain date of August 29, 2026 and the Ladies Auxiliary for September 12 2026 with a rain date of September 26, 2026. Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve the above-named requests as presented for coin drops to be held in front of the Village Complex from 9 a.m. to 12 noon for each event. Damon Broderick seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

15. Review and Acknowledge VHCB Grant Agreement Easement for the Renovation of the Abenaki Headquarters and Food Pantry:

Suzie Kelleher stated the Trustees have reviewed and acknowledge the VHCB Grant Agreement Easement for the renovation of Abenaki Headquarters and Food Pantry.

16. Discuss and Approve New Website Design on Ecopixel:

Suzie Kelleher explained to the Board that they have made changes to the existing website that the Town and Village share and that the funding comes from the Promote Swanton committee. She said there will be new pages, seasonal pictures, and buttons added to pages. Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve the new website design on Ecopixel, funded through the Promote Swanton committee. Damon Broderick seconded the motion. Discussion: Neal Speer asked if this is what Earl Fournier has been working on also. Suzie said yes that Earl and Nicole worked with her on this project. Motion carried.

17. Orman E. Croft Hydroelectric Generating Facility Dam Repair Update:

Bill Sheets, Village Manager, stated they have activated our Emergency Action Plan (EAP) from 1630 hours on March 9^th through 1700 hours on March 11^th. The Request for Qualification (RFQ) for the alternatives analysis assessment was issued on January 9th. We selected the top three firms and are requesting that they submit additional proposal documentation beyond concept and include approximate costs. Those concepts and cost estimates will be part of a package to present to the Trustees for consideration. On April 13^th, our owner Representative, Celeste Fay from Velergy, will be here to present to the Trustees.

HYDRO Operations: We are dealing with several concurrent issues. We currently have units 1, 3 and 5 running and are continuously producing approximately 3 MW around the clock. Expedited work continues on Unit 4 to get that running but we would still be hampered with a high tailrace combined with intake geometry/penstock water issues.

Unit 1 remains a workhorse and is operating to standard.

Unit 2 is down due to a vibration at about the 60 percent mark. The Unit 2 exciter is inoperable.

Unit 3 was fully back online and is performing to standard.

Unit 4: We continue to trouble shoot and eliminate issues as our contractors continue to attempt to identify the root cause. The electrical contractor was onsite on Sunday and replaced aging components. The mechanical contractor is onsite today to get this unit running.

Unit 5 is back online and fully operational.

18. Village Manager Update:

PUC Filing Electric Rates: We will be posting the proposed Electric rate impact on our social media tomorrow morning, prior to notification to all customers as bill inserts.

ACRE Program: We will also be posting information on the ACRE program we previously discussed. Applications open April 7^th, it is free to apply, and eligible participants can save $29.55 monthly on their electric bill.

Electric: We sent three members to assist GMP through Mutual Aid on March 17^th. Two of our members (Paul and Nate) were at NEPPA for training as part of year four training program.

We had a power outage last Thursday when a voltage transformer in our Elm Street sub failed. The team continues to work on pole upgrades, with Brosseau Road now complete.

Tree Maintenance RFP: Our internal committee met again to review all bids to ensure they met the scope and requirements. As a reminder this is a Department of Energy grant, managed through the Vermont Department of Public Service. The award is for $146k, with a $71k match where we are using our existing tree maintenance budget as match. The bottom line is that we will be receiving $146k from the federal government is more rapidly advance our tree trimming.

Grant Follow-up/Old Business: The Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) have prepared the grant agreement for the Abenaki Tribal Council Building construction project. The Village is the sponsoring agency for this grant but is not contributing any funding for the project.

Originally approved by the Trustees in June 2024 and an additional request for $120,000 more was approved in October of 2025. Suzie Kelleher made a motion stating the Swanton Village Trustees approve a resolution accepting the responsibility of the terms and conditions of the grant agreement and designates the Village Manager, William Sheets, the authority to execute all appropriate documents. Damon Broderick seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Stormwater RFP: We have issued Request for Proposals related to stormwater projects on Greenwich and Grand Avenue. These are two projects that will improve stormwater management that are grant funded.

SAP Run: The Sap run this year is on Sunday April 26^th so you will see portable toilets at the back of the park for this event.

Public Works: They continue to work on meter pits as time allows. They were out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday dealing with snow and ice. They have used the root cutter that attaches to the Vactor on several sewer clean out projects and that has paid for itself many times over. The camera attachment has been a positive addition as well, allowing us to see exactly what the problem is.

Water: The Water team continues to work on problems with communication with chemical pumps. We have made considerable progress as we have not had an alarm-based call out for a few months. The new SCADA system will be installed tomorrow; this system remains offline (closed)and not connected to the internet. There has been a renewed cyber threat, specifically from Iran, targeting US water supply systems. The UV lights are up and running as a secondary source of disinfection, with chlorine remaining the primary.

Congrats to Avery Mitchinson on passing his grade 5 wastewater exam, which is the highest level in the State of Vermont. Avery joins Jason Starr and Dillon Dupont as having the highest certifications in Vermont for both water and wastewater.

Wastewater: The project is in the final stages and there is a big push for the remaining work, primarily in the filter building, to be completed. It has been a busy site as all the contractors are working together to include the Blue Pro filter folks who are in the process of pre-commissioning.

Trustee Training Requirement: Just a reminder to complete both open meeting law and ethics training and send me an email when complete.

19. Any Other Necessary Business:

None.

20. Proposed Executive Session if Necessary:

None

21. Adjournment:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees at 7:30 p.m. Neal Speer seconded. There being no further business at hand, David Winchester, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m. Motion carried.

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David Winchester, Village President                  Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date