Trustees Meeting 8/11/25

Web version

SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING

Monday, August 11, 2025

6:00 PM

PRESENT: David Winchester, Village President; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Suzie Kelleher, Trustee; William “Bill” Sheets, Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; 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 no longer needed an executive session because all their information wasn’t ready.

4. Public Comment:

Damon Broderick said the Northwest Regional Planning Commission has a draft that is available for review by the Trustees pertaining to their goals for housing, etc. He asked the Board to go to their website and review and if they have any questions or concerns to reach out to them. He said NWRP will present their final draft to the State of Vermont in September and this will be their plan for 2026 through 2034.

5. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, July 28, 2025 as presented:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the minutes from Monday, July 28, 2025, as presented. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

6. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Thursday, August 7, 2025:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve Village Warrants through Thursday, August 7, 2025 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

7. Review and Approve the Wastewater Project Line of Credit:

Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve the renewal of the Village of Swanton’s $5 million dollar line of credit at Union Bank for the Wastewater Plant Upgrade at 5.9% interest for one year and to also allow Village Manager William Sheets to sign all necessary digital documents pertaining to this line of credit. Adam Paxman seconded the motion. Motion carried.

8. Review and Approve the AMI Line of Credit Loan:

Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, said the estimated cost for the AMI project is approximately $1.7 million dollars, with an estimated reimbursement of $800,000. She said they could have gone through VPPSA for their financing but was able to secure a rate of 2.25% interest from Peoples Trust Company. She said once the project is complete, she will do a long-term loan with them for the same rate if approved. Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the AMI $1.7 million dollar line of credit with a 2.25% interest rate at Peoples Trust Company. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Motion carried.

9. Review and Approve the Hydro Bladder Repair Line of Credit:

Lynn Paradis said they have an estimated $1 million dollar project at the Hydro Plant for the bladder repair job. She said she is requesting a line of credit for this and once completed she would do a term loan on it. She said she checked with Union Bank and Peoples Trust and was quoted 2.25% with Peoples Trust for that line of credit also. Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve a $1 million dollar line of credit with a 2.25% interest rate with Peoples Trust Company for the bladder repair job at the Hydro Plant. Adam Paxman seconded the motion. Motion carried.

10. Review and Approve VT Transco Equity Call:

Lynn Paradis explained this equity call and said Swanton Village’s share would be $12,690. She said they have the option to run this through VPPSA or purchase on their own. She said she recommends paying cash for this and they will get over 11% for the rate of return. Adam Paxman made the motion to approve the VT Transco Equity call for $12,690 to be paid for with cash. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Motion carried.

11. Review and Approve Adding a Command Vehicle for the Swanton Fire Department:

Troy Campbell, Assistant Chief, said he would like to make a proposal to add a mobile Command / Traffic car to the Fleet here at Swanton Fire Department. He said he believes this addition would help the department in ways they’ve never seen before. He said the way this would work moving forward is Swanton Fire, through donations and other non-taxpayer funds, would buy a used cruiser from the police department as they are going to replace this vehicle. He said Swanton fire understands this is an “as is” sale with police department.

This Cruiser would be of huge benefit to the Fire Department for the following reasons:

1. Perform Traffic control responsibly freeing up the need for P.D. to close streets and roads. Guarantee traffic control if P.D. is on another call and unavailable.
2. Able to deploy traffic control signs and crews instead of delaying an engine for the same task. This shortens the set-up time and provides a safer working scene for fire crews.
3. Operate as a command car for larger scale or large duration emergencies.
4. Able to deploy marine 2 “smaller rescue boat” in almost every boat launch for the lake and rivers in our response areas and surrounding areas.
5. Transport crews to and from incidents when larger trucks are not needed or are already committed and stationary.
6. Transport Fire members to and from Firefighter 1 & 2 Certification courses that exist outside of Swanton.
7. Transport Fire members to and from Fire schools that exist outside of Swanton cutting the need to use personally owned vehicles.
8. First response to all medical assist calls where a larger truck is not needed.
9. Officers’ car to take to illegal burns and taxpayer complaints where a larger truck isn’t needed and cutting the need to use personally owned vehicles.

Troy said these are just a few of the ways this vehicle will help the Fire Department in the coming future. This Command car will NOT be stationed at the Fire station. The fleet is still on track to go down to five pieces of Apparatus and a gear room; this will remain with a rotating list of officers on a weekly basis. All officers have voted YES to ask for this vehicle as we see the need and the benefit to the Fire Department.

This is not a new idea, other departments are also developing these kinds of assets and using them in their communities. In the middle of Vermont these are quite common, and it seems to be working its way up the state. Bakersfield Fire and Hinesburg Fire are running these vehicles with immense success. St Albans Town has a similar vehicle, but this is a pick-up truck, something I don’t feel we should try and pursue. He showed an example of the Hinesburg Command car and Bakersfield Fire as well.

Troy said Swanton Fire has everything it needs to outfit this Command / Traffic car and at no time will there be a need to use taxpayer funds to get this outfitted. The only thing the village will be asked to take care of for the near future are insurance, registration, and fuel to run this vehicle. All the stickering/decals will be completed and paid for by other means than using taxpayer funds. He thanked the board for taking the time to consider this and he hopes this is something they can make happen for the betterment of the fire department and the community of Swanton. Adam said the good news for him is that no taxpayer funds are being used. Suzie said the only thing that will be paid for by the Village in the future would be insurance, registration and vehicle maintenance. Troy said they are working on getting the funds to purchase this and said they wanted board approval to move forward. Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve Swanton Fire Department to continue this process and purchase said vehicle when they have the funding sources available. Adam Paxman seconded the motion. Motion carried.

12. Review and Approve Real Estate Option for 6 South River Street:

Bill Sheets said he is looking for a motion to authorize him to enter into a real estate option agreement between the Village of Swanton and Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity for the option to purchase 6 South River Street. He said this is an 18-month option stating the Village would be responsible for all mitigation with brownfields which they are in the process of doing. He said there is other certain criteria stating they would have to place 6 units of housing or more on the site. Bill said the actual option amount should be protected at this time. Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize the Village of Swanton to enter into a real estate option agreement with Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity for the option to purchase 6 South River Street. Suzie Kelleher seconded the motion. Motion carried.

13. Swanton VFW Coin Drop Request for October 4, 2025:

Adam Paxman asked if the VFW had already had a coin drop this year. Dianne Day checked the coin drop schedule and advised they hadn’t. Suzie Kelleher made the motion to approve the Swanton VFW Post #778 coin drop to be held on Saturday, October 4, 2025 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon with a rain date of Saturday, October 11, 2025. Adam Paxman seconded the motion. Motion carried.

14. Village Manager Update:

Electric: The State of Vermont Department of Public Service has recommended that the Public Utility Commission approve the 3 percent rate increase, effective September 1, 2025.

AMI: Advanced Metering Infrastructure for both Electric and water meters.

A. Cooper Mechanical continues to make progress with the installation of the new water meters. They have installed approximately 500 meters to date.

We have begun the installation of our new Electric meters, and we have installed approximately 1,000 to date. These go much more quickly than the water meters and our team in installing these as time allows between other projects. We continue to have software configuration issues.

Public Works: Paving on Lake Street and Linda Avenue have been completed. Due to a schedule change, traffic control was unavailable, so Dean’s team provided traffic control for three days.

Vermont League of Cities and Towns have received our updated safety program following our requested safety inspection. We are 100 percent complete for all inspections conducted this year, which include the water plant, the reservoir, and Public Works. We hope to complete Hydro next.

VHB Tour: On July 31^st we held a public meeting to cover the first two of three downtown Village projects. Those included the proposed work on the traffic corridor through the Village, the front of Merchant’s Row and the work on Church Street. The meeting was covered by the St. Albans Messenger and highlighted by ABC 22 / Fox 44.

River Overlook Proposal results: Public Works has removed the old overlook, cleaned the area, and have posted no trespassing signs.

Hydro: We have filed our plan, based upon the advice and expertise of engineers, to FERC for permission to repair the rubber dam. We have a conference call at 1000 tomorrow to determine next steps. If all goes well, we will be preparing for work to begin on site around the end of August.

This week we are taking advantage of the drought-like conditions to drain the penstock and doing routine maintenance. Unit 4 is back online and ready to go after removing a large stick stuck in the wicket gates. Unit 2 still needs to be examined when time, conditions and the availability of experts align as a vibration still exists about 50 percent.

Wastewater: The project continues and is on pace to be completed at the end of this year, or in the first couple of weeks in January. We have had some complicated factors that we are working through the Engineer and Contractor.

15. Any Other Necessary Business:

Adam Paxman said he wanted to give a shout out to the Police Department on their National Night Out event. He said they had a very good turnout and wanted to thank everyone involved.

Any Other Business: Suzie Kelleher stated she would like to consider making an ordinance that dealt with furniture being placed on lawns for more than one week.

16. Proposed Executive Session to Discuss Legal: Discuss the Highgate Water/Wastewater Extension Memorandum of Understanding (MOU):

Tabled – Information Not Ready.

17. Adjournment:

Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:36 p.m. Suzie Kelleher seconded. There being no further business at hand, David Winchester, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 6:36 p.m. Motion carried.

_____________________________________             _______________________________________

David Winchester, Village President                  Date

_________________________________           ____________________________________

Dianne Day, Village Clerk                                Date