§ 1. Comprehensive revision Under the authority granted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, the voters of the Village of Swanton adopt this unified charter as a comprehensive revision and consolidation of No. 252 of the Acts of 1888, and all subsequent acts and amendments.
§ 10. Other Village officers (a) Except as provided in this chapter, the Village of Swanton shall have other officers as provided in the general law. (b) All elections shall be conducted in accordance with the general laws of the State, except where a different procedure is established by this chapter.
§ 11. Incompatible offices In addition to incompatible offices designated by statute, no member of the Board of Trustees shall serve as Police Chief or Fire Chief.
§ 12. Water Department authorization The Village is authorized to own, operate, control, and manage a public water supply system within and without its corporate limits, and shall exercise all powers, prerogatives, and authority conferred generally upon municipalities with respect to waterworks.
§ 13. Sewer Department authorization The Village is authorized to own, operate, control, and manage a public sewage system within and without its corporate limits and shall exercise all powers, prerogatives, and authority conferred generally upon municipalities with respect to sewage systems.
§ 14. Electric Department authorization (a) The Village is authorized to acquire, purchase, own, construct, maintain, and operate a municipal electric plant, a communications plant, an energy supply system, generation, transmission, and distribution facilities, or any or all similar things, within and without its corporate limits, and shall exercise all powers, prerogatives, and authority conferred […]
§ 15. Fire Department authorization The Village is authorized to own, operate, control, and manage a Fire and Emergency Services Response Department and to appropriate and expend funds for the Department, and to contract for the receipt or delivery of fire and emergency services with one or more municipalities or volunteer or municipal fire departments.
§ 16. Police Department authorization The Village is authorized to own, operate, control, and manage a Police Department under the direction of a Chief of Police appointed by the Board of Trustees. The Chief of Police and all police officers shall have those powers and authority that are conferred generally by the general law.
§ 17. Rules of construction (a) Where the general law and this law conflict, this chapter shall apply. (b) Any statutory reference in this chapter shall include all amendments, supplements, and replacements to this chapter.
§ 18. Severability If any provisions of this chapter shall for any reason be held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect the remaining provisions which can be given effect without the invalid provision. To this end, the provisions of this chapter are severable.
§ 19. Fiscal year The fiscal year of the Village shall be from January 1 through the following December 31.
§ 2. Applicability of the general law (a) All provisions of the Constitution and the general laws of the State of Vermont relating to villages and their officers shall apply to the Village of Swanton except as modified in this chapter. (b) The Village of Swanton and its officers shall have the powers and authority […]
§ 20. Property By action of the Board of Trustees, the Village may acquire property within or without its corporate limits for any Village purpose, in fee simple or any lesser interest or estate, by purchase, gift, condemnation, devise, or lease. The Village may sell, lease, mortgage, hold, manage, and control property as its interest […]
§ 21. Ordinances (a) All rules, ordinances, regulations, and bylaws of the Village of Swanton in effect on the day before this chapter becomes effective shall become rules, ordinances, regulations, and bylaws of the Village of Swanton until lawfully amended or repealed. (b) Village ordinances shall be adopted, amended, and repealed in the manner provided […]
§ 22. Officers and employees of the Village All elected and appointed officers of the Village on the effective date of this chapter shall continue in office until their terms of office shall end in accordance with law and until their successors are duly elected or appointed and qualified. Likewise, members of the Board of […]
§ 3. Annual meeting The annual meeting of the Village shall occur on the first Tuesday of March in each year.
§ 5. Village Moderator The Village President shall be the Moderator of all meetings of the Village unless changed in the manner provided by law.
§ 6. Village Clerk The Village Clerk shall be a Village resident or nonresident elected for a one year term at the annual meeting of the Village. The Village Clerk shall have all the authority, duties, and responsibilities that are conferred upon the office of the Village Clerk by the general laws of the State […]
§ 7. Village Treasurer (a) The Village Treasurer shall be a Village resident or nonresident appointed by the Board of Trustees at the first meeting of the Board of Trustees following each annual meeting of the Village. These appointments shall be recorded in the office of the Village Clerk. After appointment, the Village Treasurer shall […]
§ 8. Village audit The Village shall engage a qualified auditor or firm of auditors to perform the annual audit of the Village. The audit report, or a summary of the report, shall be printed in the annual Village report, or otherwise distributed or made available to the residents and taxpayers of the Village.
