Trustees Meeting 9/22/25

Web version

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, September 22, 2025

6:00 PM

PRESENT: David Winchester, Village President; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Suzie Kelleher, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Matthew Sullivan, Chief of Police; Dan Chevalier, Fire Chief; Troy Campbell, Assistant Fire Chief; Damon Broderick and Ch. 16. Via Teams: Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager.

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 Meeting to Order at 6 p.m.:

David Winchester, Village President, called the Regular 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 they do not need an executive session for the Highgate Water/Wastewater Extension MOU because that is going to be discussed in open session but said he still needed one for a legal issue. Bill also said he needs to add an action item to #18 regarding a state revolving loan fund. Suzie Kelleher stated she would like to table item #8 because Neal isn’t present and she feels that Adam Paxman should recuse himself from voting on this topic.

4. Public Comment:

None.

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, September 8, 2025 as presented:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the minutes from Monday, September 8, 2025, as presented. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, September 4, 2025:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Thursday, September 18, 2025 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

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

Chief Matthew Sullivan was present for this update. He said during the month of August 2025 the Village Police Department responded to 151 incidents. He said the top ten calls for service were 13 traffic stop, 8 agency assistance, 8 theft, 8 VIN number inspection, 8 citizen assist, 8 alarm, 7 directed patrol, 7 motor vehicle complaint, 6 welfare/suicide check, and 19 suspicious person/circumstance. Matt said there were 13 traffic stops resulting in 11 tickets and 9 warnings, 16 of 20 warnings and tickets were associated with traffic. He said there were 13 arrests associated with traffic, 13 individuals and 15 charges.

Matt informed the Trustees about the drug busts they recently did and said he had 8 officers working that case and that wasn’t enough to handle a case this size. He said the latest he heard was that all of the individuals involved are no longer incarcerated. Matt also said they had placed the speed trailer on the Bushey Road from August 29^th through September 8^th. He said the posted speed limit is 40 mph and the average speed recorded was 41 mph and the highest speed recorded was 106 mph. He said that must have been a motorcycle to go that fast. He gave the rest of the stats to the Board.

Matt said the police department responded to 83 incidents in the Town of Swanton during the month of August 2025 and the top ten calls for service were 20 traffic stop, 19 directed patrol, 8 suspicious person/circumstance, 5 agency assistance, 5 motor vehicle complaint, 4 alarm, 3 family fight/domestic, 3 VIN number inspection, 2 theft and 2 trespassing. Matt said there were 20 traffic stops resulting in 13 tickets and 15 warnings and all but 1 ticket were associated with traffic. All warnings were associated with traffic and there were 3 arrests with 3 individuals and 4 charges associated with traffic. Matt said they worked an additional 17 hours for the Town on some very complex cases. He said they’ve had a very busy summer. Adam Paxman stated he commends the Chief and his department. Matt said it takes team work and manpower, especially on the drug cases. Bill Sheets, Village Manager, stated he watched the Town’s selectboard meeting and heard they are considering hiring the Sheriff’s Department for more traffic coverage, especially in the Bushey Road area. They all agreed that was a good idea.

8. Discussion on the Removal of the Island at Jones Court:

Item Tabled until the October 14^th meeting.

9. Review and Discuss Swanton Village Free Pile Ordinance:

Suzie Kelleher stated she is considering asking her fellow Trustees to adopt a “free pile” ordinance that would regulate the placement of free piles within the Village in order to protect public health and safety, prevent the creation of nuisances and blight, maintain the appearance of Village streets and ensure proper disposal of waste materials. She asked that this ordinance go on our website for people to review and place it on our next agenda to be adopted.

10. Review and Discuss Swanton Village Animal Ordinance:

Suzie Kelleher stated she is considering asking her fellow Trustees to adopt an “Animal Ordinance” that would regulate the keeping and care of animals within the Village in order to protect public health and safety, safeguard the welfare of animals, prevent nuisances, noise, odor, and unsanitary conditions, and ensure compatibility with the primarily residential character of the Village. She asked that this ordinance go on our website for people to review and place it on our next agenda to be adopted.

11. Review Swanton Fire Department Request to solicit sealed bids to purchase a Mini-Pumper:

Fire Chief Dan Chevalier explained to the Board that they have created a truck committee to look at and decide if a mini pumper truck will work well for Swanton. He said they’ve determined this would be a good fit for the community for the next 20 years and said 100% of the funds would come out of their equipment replacement fund, so no tax increase would be needed. He said they would sell Engine 1 and they are looking for permission to go out to bid for a mini pumper fire truck. Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the Village Manager to oversee the Fire Department solicitation of sealed bids to purchase a mini pumper. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Motion carried. Dan thanked the board and said he is hoping to get bids back by mid-October and said it takes two years to build this mini pumper. Adam asked about the current burn ban in place. Dan said at this time there is an active burn ban in place and no one is allowed to have a fire of any kind, including fire pits.

12. Review two Level 2 EV Chargers for 120 First Street:

Bill Sheets, Village Manager, said he would like to take advantage of a partial grant that is available to purchase two level two EV car chargers for 120 First Street, for $15,214. He said there is a Swanton Village match of $7000 and this would provide the Village to have chargers here again. Discussion took place regarding where the funds would come from and Bill said there is approximately $10,000 left in ARPA funds that could be used. Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve two level two chargers (four charging ports) to be purchased and installed at the Park and Ride located at 120 First Street, requiring a match of $7,000 from the Village. Adam Paxman seconded the motion. Motion carried.

13. Discussion on Installing Clothing Bin on Village Property:

Dianne Day, Village Clerk, stated she spoke with Garrett Halvorson again regarding placing a bin or shed on Village property to collect used clothing. Bill Sheets, Village Manager, stated it could go on the property near the Boy Scouts bottle bin and that they have some marble slabs they could use to put underneath the shed. The board asked how often they would come and empty the shed. Dianne said that was going to be set as “as needed” for now until they get a better understanding of how often it will need to be emptied. Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve placing a clothing shed for unwanted clothing on Village property located at 120 First Street. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

14. Review Highgate’s Water and Wastewater Extension MOU:

Bill Sheets, Village Manager, said this Memorandum of Understanding MOU will have a limited impact on the Village at this point, with only six current water customers and even fewer wastewater customers at the airport. This MOU will be in effect until we enter a final bill of sale to take over one year after the completion of the project, provided that the transfer is debt free. Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the Village Manager signing the MOU for the Operation and Transfer of the Highgate Airport Water and Wastewater Project. Suzie Kelleher seconded. Motion carried.

15. AMI Project Update:

Bill Sheets, Village Manager, said at this point there are over 2000 electric meters installed and over 700 water meters installed. He said they are making good progress and are heading in the right direction.

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

PC Construction completed work on site on Thursday September 18^th, removing the rubber bladder from the dam. If anyone wants free rubber sections, there are still sections available.

Next Steps: We have a call with FERC and ANR requesting guidance on Thursday of this week.

FERC license renewal: Likely to request an abeyance of the relicensing process, which would allow us to continue to operate while recognizing the alternatives analysis that we need to complete.

Our annual plant shutdown began today, September 22^nd, and it is expected to last two weeks. This is the time when we complete a significant amount of maintenance work while we are dewatered. These items include having several outside experts work on annual inspection and certification of areas to include:

-Sigma C: They are in year 3 of a 5-year contract for tiebreaker and relay maintenance for all five units.

-Knowles Engineering: Will be on site to complete crack detection and sealing within the scroll cages of units 1 and 2.

-Norcan: Will be on site to examine the vibration issues within unit 2 turbine.

-H.L. Turner: This is our engineer of record, and they will be on site, representing our interest and ensuring that all work is being completed by contract specifications and industry.

-Penstock inspection and maintenance will include:

-Visual inspection of Unit 1 through 4, to include all components. They will also be cleaning and inspecting the surge tank.

Upon inspection they found the surge tank to have a large amount of sediment in the tank and eight years ago Drummac cleaned it out. Bill said Dean Ryan, Public Works foreman, sent the vactor there today and saved the Village lots of money by using the vactor to clean the sediment out.

We have advertised our search through an RFP to identify a consultant to assist us with our Capital Assessment/Capital Planning of the Hydroelectric Facility. We have a $60,000 grant for this purpose as we want outside expertise to help us prioritize our requisite upgrades.

17. Village Manager Update:

Grants: We received notice today that we were awarded another $75,000 sidewalk grant, with in-kind match. This will be the second year in a row where we will be able to fully fund and complete sidewalks with Public Works, 100 percent grant funded with no local tax impact.

Electric: Our AMI work continues with approximately seven hundred water meters and over two thousand electric meters installed. We have seen some progress, at least in terms of responsiveness from the various vendors involved in this project.

This is Duane Couture’s last week on the job. We want to thank him again for his leadership, expertise, and 28 years of dedicated service.

Public Works: They continue to work on the Grand Avenue sidewalk, with another 120-foot pour last Friday. They have one more pour to connect in front of St. Maries store, plus some curbing to form up and pour.

Our summer part-time employees end their work near the end of this month. We are doing hydrant flushing this Thursday night.             

We continue to utilize the street sweeper to great success. Once we figured out the operation of the unit and fixed the wiring issue it worked exceptionally well.

We recently held interviews, and we had several qualified candidates apply for this opening. Wendell Godin was selected for this position, and he will start on October 6^th.

Water: Heidi is seeking funding between $20,000-$30,000 to hire a consultant to update the following plans at the water plant:

• Source Protection Plan
• Asset Management Plan
• Risk and Resiliency Plan
• Emergency Response Plan

Operators continue to battle minor complexities within the plant. We do seem to have limited impact due to the drought and are able to maintain production and water quality standards.

Wastewater: This project is starting to see some significant movement as we enter the final few months of this project. The steel for the filter building is up and the work on clarifier number 1 is nearly complete. They will be working at a quick pace to get things complete by the end of this year, or in the first couple of weeks of January.

October 21, 2025: The Swanton Village Board of Trustees will be holding a joint meeting with the Town of Swanton Selectboard on October 21, 2025, at 6 PM at the Swanton Town Office. The board will be discussing the Local Option Tax.

18. Any Other Necessary Business:

Bill Sheets, Village Manager, said he is seeking permission to apply for grant funds for the water system.  Bill said this is an application only and match requirements have not yet been determined. Suzie Kelleher made the motion to authorize the Village Manager to sign and apply to the State Revolving Loan Program to conduct a study of our water system to better define improvements needed. Adam Paxman seconded the motion. Motion carried.

19. Proposed Executive Session to Discuss Legal:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion, seconded by Adam Paxman, to go into Executive Session at 7:03 p.m. to discuss legal matter issues where premature general public knowledge of the subject matter would place the Village or person involved at a substantial disadvantage. Motion carried.

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to exit Executive Session at 7:23 pm. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

20. Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the regular board of trustees meeting at 7:24 p.m. Suzie Kelleher seconded. There being no further business at hand, David Winchester, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 7:24 p.m. Motion carried.

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David Winchester, Village President                  Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date