Trustees Meeting 6/22/26

Web version

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, June 22, 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; Matthew Sullivan, Chief of Police; Dean Ryan, Public Works Foreman; Marc Bechard II; Peter Mazurak, Eileen & Tim Skiff, Alvin & Janice Ploof, Kathleen Schotto, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and Ch. 16. Via Teams: Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Michael Miller, Justin Billado, and John.

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 it is 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, said he would need executive sessions for two legal matters and one contract matter.

4. Public Comment:

None.

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, June 8, 2026, as presented:

Neal Speer made the motion to approve the Minutes from Monday, June 8, 2026 as presented. Damon Broderick seconded the motion. Motion carried.

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, June 18, 2026:

Damon Broderick made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Thursday, June 18, 2026, as presented. Neal Speer seconded the motion. Discussion: None.  Motion carried.

7. Marc Bechard to Discuss New Proposed Development behind Hannafords:

Marc Bechard II and his engineer Peter Mazurk were present for this discussion. Marc presented the board with a map showing a 50 unit housing project to be located behind Hannaford’s in Swanton on 10 acres or less. He said he plans on subdividing a large lot for 32 units with triplexes and duplexes. Damon Broderick asked Marc if there were any other investors going in on this with him, Marc said no there wasn’t. He said he is hoping to take advantage of the CHIP program through the State of Vermont. He said this program will help pay for the electric, water and sewer infrastructure. Suzie Kelleher stated her only concern was the length of the road and whether or not the highway department would be able to take on the additional work. It was discussed and agreed upon that the project would remain private and their sidewalks would be taken care of by the HOA. The Village would only need to plow Missisquoi Street. It was also discussed that this property would need to be annexed to the Village and Bill briefly explained that process. Neal Speer stated he is in favor of the project and feels any issues they may have can be worked out. Peter explained the project and also said there is a small section of it located in the Town of Highgate. They discussed the possibility of that being annexed to the Village as well. Neal Speer made the motion to authorize Village Manager Bill Sheets to collaborate with Town Administrator Brian Savage on annexing this property to the Village. Damon Broderick seconded the motion. Discussion: Dean Ryan, Public Works Foreman, stated his only concern is that the storm water is going to be an issue there. He said there’s already issues on Wheeler Round and he doesn’t want this to make anything over there worse. Peter and Marc agreed and said the storm water issue would be worked on. They said they still need to go before the Development Review Board. Motion carried.

8. Rev. Kathleen Schotto, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, to Discuss Sidewalk Concerns on Grand Avenue:

Rev. Kathleen Schotto, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, was present for this discussion. She informed the Board of how many programs and events are held at the Church and said they have become very busy with lots of people and organizations using the Church. She said she is afraid someone is going to get hurt given the condition of the sidewalk in front of the church. It was discussed and noted that a large section of the sidewalk was damaged during the renovation project years ago. Bill Sheets, Village Manager, stated that the Village has received grant money for sidewalk projects but said that section of Grand Avenue isn’t included in that grant project. He did say though, that the Village has a small amount of money available to repair that section as well as a bad section on First Street and one on York Street. Dean Ryan agreed and said he would be able to schedule those repairs for this summer. Rev. Schotto thanked the board for their time and for being able to fix that section of sidewalk.

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

Matt Sullivan, Swanton Village Chief of Police, was present for this update and said the Village Police responded to 179 incidents for the month of May 2026. He said the top ten calls for service were 34 traffic stop, 19 suspicious person/circumstance, 13 directed patrol, 9 family fight/domestic, 8 motor vehicle complaint, 8 welfare/suicide check, 7 citizen dispute, 6 noise disturbance, 6 agency assistance, and 6 community outreach. He said out of the 34 traffic stops 17 tickets were issued and 37 warnings. He said there were 16 arrests, 26 charges with 15 individuals.

Matt said the police department responded to 174 incidents in the Town of Swanton during the month of May 2026 and said the top ten calls for service were: 101 traffic stop, 25 directed patrol, 6 suspicious person/circumstance, 5 agency assistance, 5 motor vehicle complaint, 3 citizen assist, 2 DUI alcohol, 2 noise disturbance and 2 citizen dispute. He said there were 101 traffic stops which resulted in 24 tickets and 91 warnings. He said there were 5 arrests, 7 charges with 5 individuals. Matt said they worked an additional 27 service hours. He told the board that some of his officers are working traffic details for the governor highway safety program on their days off and that is why there are so many more traffic stops. He said so far this year they have stopped 854 vehicles and in 2025 they stopped 467 for the entire year. He said so far this year they have made 25 DUI arrests and only 8 in 2025. Matt also said that they’ve made 112 criminal charges so far this year and 190 charges in 2025. He said his officers are doing great work and are taking advantage of the grant programs as well. Matt also said the individuals arrested during the recent drug bust by VSP were some of the same individuals that were operating in Swanton. The Board thanked Matt for his update.

10. Village Manager Update:

NBRC Grant: On 06/12/26 we were awarded $1,638,329 for the Village Transportation Transformation Project, with much of this grant funding being utilized to maximize the parking lot at 74 Merchants Row.

VLCT Grant: Heidi Britch Valenta was able to secure a $2,500 scholarship for Forklift training from the Vermont League of Cities and Towns for 16 of our employees. This includes classroom and practical training for full certification.

Hydro Update: The interim solution has been submitted to FERC, and we are still awaiting a response. Dan and the team continue to work on the 401-licensing response. We have set up a meeting with State officials to discuss 401 licensing next steps.

HYDRO Operations: The most recent rain event, we are temporarily back at 6 megawatts consistently.

Fire Department: The FD has had several calls recently to include the Dartmouth Life Flight assist last week.

Electric: H. Bros. Tree Service will begin the tree trimming grant on July 6^th. The team continues to do pole upgrades and working on service upgrades as they come in. We have approximately 50 AMI meters to install. They are installing the tribute banners as time allows. We are also working on the installation of the EV chargers both here at the complex and at 74 Merchants Row.

Building Update: The building remains on schedule with electrical and mechanical, plumbing work being completed before they can pour the slab. The FRAC tank was removed, and all phases continue to move forward.

Public Works: The team is finishing water meters with only a couple left to install. We have a small number of potholes left to pave. We have a 12-inch insertion valve to install at the intersection near Swanton Lumber. We have hired a new member, Brian Bouchard, who will start with us on June 29^th.

Water: We continue to work on the chemical pump communication issue, which remains a mystery. Filter #2 is back up and running well after its five-year maintenance. The inspections by the diver have been postponed to a later date.

AMI: We have less than a handful of water meters left to install. The board will need to revisit opt-out fees based on actual costs as soon as we have installed the final water meters. Should we put this on our next agenda? We have approximately 50 Electric meters remaining to install.

Wastewater: We are making progress there daily with the siding and some piping being the major portions of the project left to complete. The final siding order has a lead time of 8 to 12 weeks for delivery so that looks like the final piece for this project.

11. Any Other Necessary Business:

None.

12. Proposed Executive Session if Necessary:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion, seconded by Neal Speer, to go into Executive Session at 7:18 p.m. to discuss confidential legal matters and a contractual matter, where premature general public knowledge of the subject matter would place the Village or person involved at a substantial disadvantage. Dean Ryan can be included in this session. Motion carried.

Dean Ryan left executive session at 7:37 p.m.

Neal Speer made the motion to exit Executive Session at 7:43 p.m. Damon Broderick seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

13. Adjournment:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board of the Trustees at 7:44 p.m. Neal Speer seconded. There being no further business at hand, David Winchester, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 7:44 p.m. Motion carried.

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David Winchester, Village President                              Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                             Date