Trustees Meeting 4/13/26

Web version

 SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, APRIL 13, 2026

6:00 PM

PRESENT: David Winchester, Village President; Neal Speer, Trustee; Suzie Kelleher, Trustee; Damon Broderick, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Heidi Britch-Valenta, Grant Specialist; Dan Chevalier, Hydro Plant Supervisor; Celeste Fay, Velergy; Adam Paxman, Shelby Michel, Cathy Bissonnette, and Ch. 16. Via Teams: Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Michael, Denise.

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 that Paul Nolan couldn’t attend tonight’s meeting and that he would like to move Item #10 to executive session to be discussed then possibly come back into open session with a motion.

4. Public Comment:

Adam Paxman said he wanted to remind everyone that the Memorial Day Parade will be held on Monday, May 25^th at 2 p.m. He said if anyone is interested in participating, reach out to him or Joel Clark by May 8^th. Suzie Kelleher asked Adam if he’s heard back from Mr. Bouchard about being the grand marshall? Adam said not yet but he will check on that.

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, March 23, 2026 as presented:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve the minutes from Monday, March 23, 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. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Motion carried.

7. Review and Approve Northern Borders Regional Commission (NBRC) Resolution Authorization:

Heidi Britch-Valenta explained that Swanton Village is in the process of applying for additional funds for the transportation projects in the Village core, through the Northern Borders Regional Commission. She said looking at them as one big project will allow them to use other grants and matches and then they can develop a budget. She said when all is said and done this should be a wash. Heidi said this will allow them to get more for using what they’ve already committed to for no additional cost. She said she has submitted the preapplication and hopes to cross the finish line. Bill said this will be the only way the Village will be able to afford the parking lot at 74 Merchants Row. Neal Speer made the motion to authorize Village Manager William Sheets, on behalf of Swanton Village, to apply for, accept and expend grant funds from the Northern Borders Regional Commission (NBRC) and to sign all NBRC investment documents that bind the applicant. Damon Broderick seconded the motion. Motion carried.

8. Swanton Village Grant Specialist Update with Heidi Britch-Valenta:

Heidi Britch-Valenta, Grant Specialist, informed the board that a great deal of her time over the last few months has been focusing on energy projects. She provided the board with a grid that details the energy projects they’ve been working on. She said the alternatives analysis grant is to replace the crest gate at the dam site and they have narrowed this down to three companies and will be making a decision soon. Heidi said the Village signed a contract with Velergy in January to help with that project. She said Celeste Fay is the owner representative selected to help with the project design and to carry through with the project. Heidi said the main reason Celeste is here tonight is to give them an update on the Community Development Block Grant that they secured. She said this is based around capital investment needs and Celeste will present that to the board. Heidi said the Regional Planning Commission reached out to her and said a large non-profit from the mid-west has offered helped for energy producers to manage grants, tax credits and offer technical support. She said they gifted some time to NRPC and asked them to reach out to local communities and fortunately they called Swanton Village. Heidi said this is perfect timing and said NRPC has been quite a boon to her with scanning documents, coordinated and digitized them and also helped to identify potential grants and participated in the alternative analysis site visits. She said those hours have been expended but she was able to use some funds from MERC that the Village had so NRPC is still able to help her. Heidi mentioned the two other grants which are for the EV car chargers. Two will be located here in this parking lot which are slower day chargers and the other two will be located at the 74 Merchants Row parking lot. The board thanked Heidi for her update.

9. Hydro Plant Planning Assessment Update with Celeste Fay of Velergy and Paul Nolan, Village Attorney:

Celeste Fay introduced herself to the board and talked about her asset management experience. She said she likes to think of herself as an extension to the staff here and bring value to wherever they’re having issues. She said the hydro plant is a very nice asset and the vintage equipment is of high value. She said this is a nice project and needs to be invested in from time to time to keep running. Celeste said the Village is at that point and on the dam front it’s a pretty challenging situation. She said Dan and his team are doing a very good job managing the intake situation and said there’s a lot of hydraulic differences going on. She said this can be very challenging, but they are making 6 megawatts pretty steadily which is pretty good considering they are down 15 feet. Celeste said the elevation is gone at the intake and they are working on it. She said the big thing on that front is getting an engineer that will help them do the dam safety design that is needed there. She said the goal is to get some elevation back as soon as possible. Celeste said overall there is a 100 ft. of elevation difference. She said there is a lot of debris coming into the intake and they are having a hard time getting water through that screening system. She said one thing identified is with a little bit of elevation they can get improved submersion at the trash rack. She said the very first thing that should be done at the interim is to get an engineer to design something to get at least 5 more feet of elevation back. She said flows will come back late summer, early fall depending on the weather. Suzie said they were hoping to do something more permanent other than flash boards. Celeste said approximately 2’ of water would push the flash boards over and the crew would have to retrieve them. Bill Sheets, Village Manager, said there are very brief moments where they produce 100% of their load. He said this fix will buy them time to come up with a long-term fix and to make sure it’s adequate. He said hopefully they can identify grant money to help with that. Celeste said Heidi got the planning grant to see what needs to be done at the plant and give a ten-year capital plan. She said it’s a good tool to plan what’s needed. This is something called a working plan and they are working on getting everything into the que. She is also working on tax credits and a comprehensive plan so that the Village can plan better. She said in May or June they will do a dewatering inspection and that’s in progress. More discussion took place on generation being made and equipment and Celeste said communities that have these projects tend to pay lower electricity rates and taxes. She said the Village is very lucky to have this structure and the community should really understand how important it is. Dan said the current river elevations are wreaking havoc on his generators. He said they are finding ways around those issues for now but said it’s been challenging. Celeste informed the board on the upcoming schedule of things they are working on and also mentioned tax credits. She explained that the Village could potentially receive funds for these tax credits and explained how the process works. The board thanked Celeste for her update. Adam Paxman asked if the Village would consider selling the hydro plant, they said no they wouldn’t go that route.

10. Review and Approve Flatland Solar Agreement:

Moved to Executive Session.

11. Village Manager Update:

Hydro Update: We have an open position for a Hydro operator if anyone knows of anyone with interest.

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. All three firms did submit proposals by the deadline on April 7^th. We met earlier today for a preliminary discussion.

Franklin County Trades and Apprenticeship Fair: Members from our Police and Electric Departments will attend this event at MVU this Wednesday the 15^th. This is our second year at this event that will host hundreds of students from several Franklin County schools who might be interested in a career in these trades.

Lower Swanton Dam: In the area where the overlook had been located, we needed to create a more permanent solution indicating that this area is closed. This solution should be something that protects that area and us from liability, while not creating an eyesore. We added larger concrete blocks/barricades signaling that the area is closed and we need to add signage that says “Area closed” or something similar, just looking for feedback from the Trustees. We want to thank the Town of Swanton for the use of their excavator to clean up that immediate area.

Other Signage: We will be ordering a variety of signs for clarification and uniformity to ensure that they match ordinance times for park usage, we also need some additional signage related to no overnight camping in certain areas.

Electric: We should be breaking ground within the next few weeks next door on our new Electric Department facility. The team has just finished working with VELCO, who are upgrading Transmission lines in the area, and they had to perform some switching to accommodate that work.

The team is completing pole upgrades and will be working on Canada Street this week. You might have noticed the one in front of the Village Green has been upgraded.

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.

On Friday April 10^th the Committee selected H. Bros Tree Service to perform the work. They have a great reputation and long work history working with other Municipal Electric Departments. Work will begin when funds are received and approved for disbursement.

Details of bid: H. Bros Tree Service had a submitted bid of $150,597.

Public Works: The entire Public Works team, assisted by Dan Chevalier, Josh Packard and Dillon Dupont, spent the overnight hours on March 31^st dealing with a significant water main leak on our 12-inch main line on Route 78 around Gallup Court. A massive thank you to St. Albans City Public Works as they provided a two-person team and their Vactor to assist. We enjoy a long history of collaboration with the City of St. Albans, and this is yet another example of that teamwork.

Public Works have completed work and delineated the wetlands area at the brush pile and are awaiting inspection from the state of Vermont. Based upon concerns in this area the brush pile will be permanently closed to the public. We also want to caution the inappropriate use of the area where the public is allowed to dump leaves on Lafar Street. We are beginning to see some abuses in this area with carpets and other materials and will be placing cameras in this area.  The Street Sweeper work is in full swing, and our team will be out repairing lawns damaged during winter maintenance. We will be fixing potholes once the hot mix plant opens.

Water: The team continues to battle with the final few chemical pumps that do not seem to be communicating with the rest of the system. The engineers for all companies involved have been engaged and are working to resolve the issue. It is that time of year where we will be dealing with turbidity issues due to high water and high winds.

Wastewater: The project is in the final stages with substantial completion anticipated to be at the end of May or early June. The final process is the commissioning process for the filtration system. I would like to schedule a Special Trustees Meeting with the only thing on the agenda, which is a tour of the completed project, on site at the Wastewater plant. We could schedule it for 5 PM or later at the end of June or early July.

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

12. Discussion on Hometown Hero Banners:

Suzie Kelleher asked Village Manager Bill Sheets to read the following update on the Hometown Hero Banners because she was too upset to read it herself. Bill read the following update for Suzie:

On September 22, 2025, Swanton Village Inc. contracted with Material Promotions of Waterbury, Connecticut for the purchase of 63 veteran banners to be displayed throughout the Village and Town. This is the same company that produced the first iteration of banners. A check was issued in the amount of $7,814.00 on September 25th and was cashed by the vendor on September 30th.

A link to upload banner copy had not been received by October 21st, at which point the Village sent an email requesting a refund. The Village was assured that the vendor had the capacity to complete the order, and a copy upload link was provided on October 23rd. On October 27th the banner count was adjusted to 62. The vendor and the Village worked through four iterations of proof changes, with proofs finalized on November 24th.

It was after this point that a litany of excuses began. The vendor cited a "business disruption" but assured the Village banners would arrive by February, then a "Winter Shutdown" with a revised delivery of mid-March. All emails sent throughout March went unanswered.

On April 1st, the Village sent both a demand email and a certified letter with return receipt requested, demanding a full refund of $7,814.00 by April 22nd. On April 7th, the vendor replied claiming he had filed for bankruptcy and that neither the banners nor a refund would be forthcoming.

The Village turned the matter over to the Swanton Village Police Department. On April 8th, Chief Matthew Sullivan sent the vendor an email informing him that he was in violation of 13 VSA § 2002 – False Pretense, and that given the amount, the offense constitutes a felony. Chief Sullivan informed him that restitution must be made by April 22nd or the case would be forwarded to the Franklin County State's Attorney for prosecution.

On April 9th, the Village filed a complaint with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection requesting a full refund.

It has come to the Village's attention that we are not the only entity to have been defrauded by Material Promotions. Victims have been identified in Kentucky and North Carolina.

The Village is currently exploring options to have the banners printed locally; however, the banner fund does not currently cover the full expense without restitution from the vendor.

All documentation is on file at the Village offices and available for review upon request. The Board will continue to be updated as this matter progresses.

Suzie thanked everyone and asked for their patience while they try and figure this out. She said she feels so bad for Mr. Mapes and Mr. Cheney, both of whom recently passed away, and their banners were in this second round. The Board thanked Suzie for all her hard work on this and for her update. Bill asked that we put this on the next agenda as well.

13. Any Other Necessary Business:

Damon Broderick mentioned the Planning Commission’s Land Use and Development Regulations meeting being held at the Town Office on April 21^st at 6 p.m. Damon said there are many important topics to be discussed and changes to be made. He encouraged those interested in this to attend.

Any Other Business: David Winchester said there are some new businesses on Merchants Row and he’s happy about that. Neal Speer said this is the first time that every business there on Merchants Row is female owned and operated.

14. Proposed Executive Session to Discuss Legal Matters and Contracts:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion, seconded by Neal Speer, to go into Executive Session at 7:02 p.m. to discuss a legal and contractual matter where premature general public knowledge of the subject matter would place the Village or person involved at a substantial disadvantage. Suzie also moved to allow Celeste Fay, Heidi Britch-Valenta and Dan Chevalier to be part of this discussion. Motion carried.

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to exit Executive Session and re-enter Open Session at 7:58 p.m. Damon Broderick seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve Swanton Village Manager William Sheets to enter into a contract with the selected vendor of the Hydroelectric Alternatives Analysis Request for Proposal, following legal review. Damon Broderick seconded the motion. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: Neal Speer made the motion to authorize Village Manager William Sheets to enter into a hosting agreement between Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (VPPSA) and Swanton Village related to Flatland Solar’s installation and operation of a 4.999 MW grid-interconnected, ground mounted solar electric system, with VPPSA to purchase 100 percent of solar services. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Motion carried.

15. Adjournment:

Damon Broderick made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees at 8:01 p.m. Neal Speer seconded. There being no further business at hand, David Winchester, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:01 p.m. Motion carried.

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David Winchester, Village President                  Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date