Village Board Meeting — Minutes

Village of Benton August 19, 2026 Board Meeting Minutes Members present: Ken Farrey, John Perkins, Jill Knight, Bill Mowry, Joseph Slater, Steve Brink, Scott Cruse Absent: Village employees present: Sonya Silvers, Brian Hammill, Jared Roling Others Present: Michelle Savatski, Evan Chambers The regular board meeting of the Benton Village Board was called to order by village president Ken Farrey at 6:30 p.m. in the conference room of the Benton Business Incubator Building at 244 Ridge Avenue on Wednesday, August 19, 2026. In compliance with the open meeting law, proper notice of the meeting had been posted in four public places: the Zephyr Depot, Benton State Bank, Benton Post Office, and the Benton Business Incubator Building. The minutes from the village board meeting on July 15, 2026, were presented. Motion (Cruse, Brink) to approve the minutes from the regular village board meeting held on July 15, 2026, as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried Michelle Savatski gave a brief update on the community center as they prepare for the grand opening and open house. An additional camera has been installed due to a blind spot. The clock is in the manufacturing stage and will be installed in November. The solar installation on the roof went out to bid and was awarded to Eagle Point Solar for $47,760.00. There will be a $10,000 grant from Solar Moonshot, a possible $5,000.00 from the Benton Community Fund, and federal rebates of $15,000.00. The paperwork for the federal rebates will begin after Labor Day. There are a few small punch list items that J Squared is working on finishing up. Many volunteers came together in the past few weeks to move the library and help with museum setup. Michelle remarked that the village staff has gone above and beyond in the past couple weeks to help pull everything together. Bill Mowry asked whether the handicap ramp would be fixed. It is believed to not be ADA compliant and should be 1” per foot. Scott Cruse mentioned talking to an engineer to check into this. Ken Farrey received a letter from the State of Wisconsin that they will be conducting assessments around the village for the overall village-assessed value. Jared Roling informed the board there was PLC failure in the pump room, meaning there was no communication being received by the water tower. The water tower level was at 0 and had to be manually refilled. L.W. Allen was able to fix the issue with used parts they had, but the parts are obsolete, and an upgrade should be done with an estimated cost well over $100,000. Evan Chambers from Town & Country Engineering was present and mentioned the funding could most likely be rolled in with the WWTP project clean water loan due to the communication issues. USG is terminating the well 1 & well 2 contracts in 2027. Jared has been exploring options but believes the village should start putting money away for maintenance. Well 1 will be pulled due to high vibration issues. The well will be inspected to determine the cause of the vibrations. Utility Service Company has reduced the amount of the water tower contract by $54,000. The fluoride grant heaters need to be installed. The interceptor project will be staked on Friday; shortly after that Owen’s will drop the manholes and start construction. Treganza Street and the WWTP plans will be discussed at a meeting on Thursday, August 20. Flushing is going better on Galena Street. Jared will be doing work on the microstrainer. Brian Hammill has had 230 calls for service for the year. Ordinance work with the public nuisance committee has been in full swing with a lot of noticeable improvements. School will be starting, and Brian will be present to help when needed. There are additional cops being brought in to help with Labor Day, and Lafayette County will help with the parade. The tranney in the squad car went out and will be several weeks for repair. Reg Gill has a replacement we can use temporally. Village of Benton August 19, 2026 Board Meeting Minutes Committee Reports:  The Police Committee will meet Thursday, August 27th.  The Finance Committee reviewed the current to budget actual with most areas tracking as expected. Economic development is over budget due to the Treganza Street development; interceptor funding will be decided when the project is completed, and the audit was discussed.  The Park Committee will look at replacing the bandstand in the future. The Building and Use policy for the community center was presented. Motion (Cruse, Slater) to approve the building and use policy for the community center as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried. The State/Municipal Financial Agreement for the State Highway project from the Department of Transportation (DOT) was presented with price estimates. Motion (Knight, Perkins) to approve the State/Municipal Financial Agreement for the State Highway project from the Department of Transportation as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Resolution #2026-02 approving Appointing Authorized Representative to File Applications for Financial Assistance from the State of Wisconsin Environmental Improvement Fund was presented. Motion (Perkins, Knight) to approve Resolution #2026-02 approving Appointing Authorized Representative to File Applications for Financial Assistance from the State of Wisconsin Environmental Improvement Fund as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried Resolution 2026-03 Declaration of Official Intent to Reimburse Expenditures for Clean Water Fund Program (CWFP) Project was presented. Motion (Slater, Cruse) to approve Resolution 2026-03 Declaration of Official Intent to Reimburse Expenditures for Clean Water Fund Program (CWFP) Project as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried Jared presented a list of items he needs to replace with a total estimated cost of $27,000 from Sabel Construction. Replacements of two hydrants - County J and Main Street. Valve Replacement Splitter Box at WWTP. Air Conditioner/Condensation control Well #2 Heat and Air Conditioner WWTP Lab Motion (Cruse, Brink) to approve the replacement of the two hydrants, valve splitter box at WWTP, air conditioner/condensation control for Well#2, heat/air conditioner at WWTP lab. Voice-all ayes. Carried. The 2027 budget timeline was presented. The audit summary was presented. Jill Knight noted a net positive for the general fund. Motion (Knight, Scott) to approve the audit summary as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried Payment of Bills Motion (Knight, Scott) to pay the bills. Voice-all ayes. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 P.M. Motion (Perkins, Slater) to adjourn. Voice-all ayes. Carried.