Village Board Meeting — Minutes

Village of Benton March 18, 2026 Board Meeting Minutes Members present: Ken Farrey, John Perkins, Jill Knight, Scott Cruse, Joseph Slater, Chuck Wartner Absent: Cal Robbins Village employees present: Sonya Silvers, Jim Goffinet, Brian Hammill Others Present: Greg Lee 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, March 18, 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 February 18, 2026, were presented. Motion (Knight, Slater) to approve the minutes from the regular village board meeting held on February 18, 2026, as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried The minutes from the special village board meeting on February 18, 2026, were presented. Motion (Cruse, Knight) to approve the minutes from the special village board meeting held on February 18, 2026, as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried Jill Knight updated the board on the progress of the community center project. Most of the duct work has been completed. Plumbing is currently held up but will be finished up to the drop ceiling in the next two weeks. Progress will continue on the front windows. The masonry work will most likely happen before the siding goes on. June is the date for substantial completion and July for the final punch-out. Greg Lee from Vierbircher presented the contract for Treganza Street engineering. Public works will start working on the sewer next week. Motion (Slater, Perkins) to approve the contract for Treganza Street engineering from Vierbircher as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Greg Lee from Vierbicher presented the agreement amendment for the STH 11 (Main Street) water main replacement WisDOT project. The agreement included engineering cost estimates and milestone dates with construction beginning in April of 2028. The village is at 30% design and will need to stay on schedule with DOT. Construction observation is a varying cost depending on what the village wants for observation of the project. The numbers presented for the engineering were built into the original project cost estimates presented by Vierbircher. Motion (Cruse, Slater) to approve the agreement amendment for the STH 11 (Main Street) water main replacement WisDOT project as presented by Vierbicher. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Sonya announced that Hazel Green EMS picked up the new ambulance today and that the village’s portion of $60,000 was paid from the ARPA fund account. This is Chuck Wartner’s last regular board meeting after 16 years. Brian Hammill has had 68 calls for service for the year. He has been working on a varying schedule with nights and weekends. Village of Benton March 18, 2026 Board Meeting Minutes Committee Reports:  The Park Committee- Swift Park will have new countertops installed, and new keys were keyed for the doors. Village Park will need to have the stage maintained; a new expression swing will be installed after placement is determined. Maintenance with weeds and shrubs around the welcome sign will be done. There is an ad out for summer help. The tree in front of the community center was removed by public works.  The Finance Committee- The ambulance was paid for with ARPA funds. There is $3,000 interest money left, and that is recommended to be used in the streets department. Sonya is checking with the auditors on the public fire protection accounts and placement. The construction loan paperwork has started, and the village will be able to start drawing from that for the community center project as needed. Sonya and Jill will submit to receive monies from the WEDC grant. Cost estimates were presented for Treganza Street and it is recommended that the street maintenance budget be used.  There was a water/sewer/streets meeting regarding Treganza Street, and the Be Rooted lot. Greg Lee presented more information to the board regarding this meeting. John Perkins informed the board that after a discussion with Luke Wiederholt he learned that laws have changed and when materials are purchased for a municipal project, no sales tax is charged. Ken Farrey announced that 2 anonymous individuals have offered to gift the property of 39 W. Main Street to the village. Discussion was held, and the board would like to accept the property pending an inspection. Ken will get ahold of Steve Malone regarding the inspection. Motion (Knight, Slater) to accept the proposal of the 39 W. Main Street resolution as written contingent on the outcome of a home inspection report. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Pay the Bills Motion (Wartner, Slater) to pay the bills. Voice-all ayes. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 7:19 P.M. Motion (Perkins, Slater) to adjourn. Voice-all ayes. Carried.