SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
120 FIRST STREET
SWANTON, VT 05488
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REGULAR MEETING
Monday, November 10, 2014
7 PM
MINUTES NOT YET APPROVED BY
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Reg Beliveau, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; and Ch. 16.
Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.
Neal Speer, Village President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
1. Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, October 27, 2014 Meeting:
Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, October 27, 2014 as presented. Chris Leach seconded. Discussion: Adam Paxman asked about the IMS vendor being questioned at their last meeting. Reg Beliveau stated they did the curbing on Academy Street. Village Clerk Dianne Day clarified for Al Mosher that the Prime Electric vendor for $24,470 was to repair a leaking transformer at the Highgate Substation and not to repair a breaker at the Hydro Plant as previously stated by Lynn Paradis at the October 14, 2014 meeting. Chris Leach asked about the basketball hoop again, Reg stated the Village would look at it in the Spring. Motion carried.
2. Approve and Accept Village Warrants through Friday, November 7, 2014:
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants #110-115 through Friday, November 7, 2014 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: Eugene LaBombard asked about GMWEA on Warrant #110 for $550; Lynn Paradis stated that was for water licenses; he asked about Ironbrook for $20,004; Reg Beliveau stated that was for UV lights at the Waste Water Plant and Lynn Paradis stated that was one third of the cost. Chris Leach asked about the $628,197.45 payment to US Bank Operations; Lynn stated that was a combination of bond payments. Eugene LaBombard stated he see the taxes were paid to the Town of Highgate. Motion carried.
3. Water Loan Repayment Schedule Change Notification:
Reg Beliveau notified the Board that the start date for the Water Transmission Line job has changed from December 2014 to August 2015 because the construction is not complete. Adam Paxman made the motion to authorize Village Clerk Dianne Day and Village President Neal Speer to sign the Swanton Village Repayment Schedule Amendment #2 for $4,010,560.48. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
4. Electric Cost of Service Update:
Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, advised the Board that she filed the Class Cost of Service on November 4, 2014 with the Public Service Board. She stated Swanton Village adjusted some of their rate classifications which consisted of getting rid of the NIPA block, and adjusted the demand tariff for residential customers which will result in removing approximately 140 customers from demand metering. Chris Leach stated he was happy to see that adjusted and said it will be easier for customers to come off demand metering if they go over 1800 kwh’s. Lynn stated she believed these changes would be implemented by January 1, 2015. Village Clerk Dianne Day informed the Board that Swanton Village did a rate comparison of a couple of farm accounts which was requested at the last meeting. Compared to Green Mountain Power (GMP) a farm account using approximately 2100 kwh’s per month their bill would be 4 cents less per month on GMP; using approximately 6000 kwh’s per month a customer would pay approximately $223.00 more per month on GMP and using approximately 10,000 kwh’s per month a customer would pay approximately $398 more per month on GMP rates. Chris Leach thanked her for getting that information.
5. Preliminary 2015 Budget Discussions:
Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, provided the following information to the Board of Trustees regarding the 2015 Budgets.
General Fund -- Lynn stated this fund was over budget due to ice damaging the Complex building. She also said maintenance to parks was down for the year.
Fire Department -- Lynn discussed the Radio grant the Fire Department received and said this department’s budget was increasing due to a salary increase and also for personal protective equipment.
Police Department -- Lynn stated they were over budget in this department due to salaries. She said she needed to talk to the Chief regarding this to make sure it was correct. She said they are having trouble covering shifts so that will cause some of the increase. She also said they had an officer at the Police Academy and they had to cover his shift.
Highway Fund -- Lynn stated this department was looking good even though the cost of salt has risen drastically, she said it’s up $20 per ton. She said they have decreased the paving budget but increased winter streets due to this. Chris Leach asked about liquid brine. Reg Beliveau stated Mike Menard has looked into this but he’s not convinced to use it as of yet. Lynn also stated that they have aging equipment in this department such as the Kabota lawn tractor and the sidewalk plow. She said Mike was getting prices on both pieces of equipment and said the sidewalk plow alone cost $120,000 with all the attachments. She stated she can’t depreciate highway funds so Swanton Village would have to take out debt for these items.
Electric Department -- Lynn stated Swanton Village was already over budget in this department due to hydro plant maintenance and salaries. She stated they had a lot of issues with Unit #2 and the Penstock and it felt like they couldn’t get ahead. She said the last major overhaul there was 20 years ago. Lynn said the purchase power budget was up over a ½ million dollars already this year. She said there is approximately $10 million dollars outstanding on the plant at this time. Chris Leach stated it’s time to think about how the plant can be configured to maximize generation. Lynn said the FERC license is coming up for renewal and that is also very expensive. Reg Beliveau stated that transmission cost is also projected to increase by about 50% over the next five years. Eugene LaBombard stated there are huge lines going through New Hampshire now. Reg stated there is a grassroots movement going on in Montpelier due to high electric rates in Vermont and New England overall compared to elsewhere. Lynn said she is going to run the numbers again but feels another rate increase will be necessary in February 2015, unless the load changes dramatically.
Water Department -- Lynn stated she feels it’s necessary to bump the water rates up again to get the depreciation in there fully. She said the bond payment being delayed will help and she doesn’t anticipate anything out of the ordinary in this department.
Sewer Department -- Lynn stated they needed to deal with the Ultra Violet (UV) system this year and adjust the rates a little but not much. She said this department is not as bad off as the electric and water funds. Chris Leach asked how the aerators worked out. Reg Beliveau stated the vendor sent an engineer up with a new design and they’ve been running flawlessly ever since. Lynn stated they were over budget because the aerators were down and they had to use the old ones for a while.
Lynn stated the big things overall include needing to upgrade the accounting system at the Village Office and that consultant alone cost $18,000 to come here and do the upgrade. She said the Electric Department is putting together their new bucket truck and that will take about 200 days to build. She said health insurance premiums are going up and they will need to discuss that again. She asked the Board to look over these budgets, see where they want things cut and get back to her. She said she wasn’t happy about the Fire Department budget going up. Eugene LaBombard asked if they could wait on purchasing some of their equipment. Chris Leach asked if the department heads prioritized their purchases and Lynn said yes they already do that. The Board also asked about the Police Department salaries being over budget. They feel if they are over this far on salaries they should have been informed. Lynn stated Mike Menard cut his paving budget because the State plans on repaving First Street in 2016. Reg stated that school taxes are broken and affect everyone but said the Village and Town taxes are not that bad.
6. Swanton Village Cash Flow Discussion:
Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager, informed the Board that the Village was in a cash crunch right now due to the Hydro Plant putting them over budget. She said the Village has a line of credit payment due and they don’t have the money for it with all the repairs going on. She stated the Village needs about $500,000 to pay this line of credit. Lynn said she looked at the Village’s Return of Contingency funds and there is approximately $600,000 available to use. She said she asked the Village’s lawyer if she could draw that out and take another line of credit out and pay it back in 2015. He advised that she could. Eugene LaBombard asked what the Contingency Funds were paying for interest rates and Lynn advised about $30 per month. Lynn also said being over budget three years in a row on purchase power hasn’t helped either. The Board agreed with her using the Contingency Funds.
Chris Leach made the motion to authorize Assistant Village Manager Lynn Paradis to use Swanton Village’s Contingency Funds in the amount of $500,000, to be paid back with a Line of Credit in 2015. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried. Lynn advised she would keep the Board updated on this matter.
Reg Beliveau advised the Board he would need an Executive Session to discuss personnel.
7. Any Other Necessary Business:
Reg Beliveau advised the Board that David Fosgate was requesting a water allocation for 28 Lake Street (Brown Foundry building). Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into a Water Commissioner’s meeting at 8:30 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
Reg advised he was requesting a water allocation of 340 gallons per day and a sewer allocation of 300 gallons per day. Eugene LaBombard made the motion to authorize David Fosgate’s request for a water allocation of 340 GPD and a sewer allocation of 300 GPD, as requested for 28 Lake Street. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.
Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Water Commissioner’s meeting at 8:37 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.
8. Executive Session (If Necessary):
Eugene LaBombard made the motion to enter into Executive Session to Discuss Personnel at 8:38 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
Adam Paxman made the motion to exit Executive Session at 9:22 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. Motion carried.
ACTION TAKEN: None.
ADJOURN: Adam Paxman made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting at 9:22 p.m. Chris Leach seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 9:22 p.m. Motion carried.
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Neal Speer, Village President Date
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Dianne Day, Village Clerk Date