Village Board Meeting — Minutes

Village of Benton October 15, 2025 Board Meeting Minutes Members present: Ken Farrey, John Perkins, Jill Knight, Chuck Wartner, Joe Slater, Cal Robbins Absent members: Scott Cruse Village employees present: Sonya Silvers, Jared Roling Others Present: Michelle Savatski, 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, October 15, 2025. 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 previous village board meeting were presented. Motion (Robbins, Slater) to approve the minutes from the regular village board meeting held on September 17, 2025, as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried Ken Farrey called for a motion to alternate the order of the agenda. Motion (Slater, Robbins) to alternate the order of the agenda. Voice-all ayes. Carried Greg Lee from Vierbircher presented an agreement for engineering consulting services for $26,500. The DOT (Department of Transportation) are 60% through with plans for the Hwy 11 project and starting the environmental studies. A set of preliminary plans will need to be sent to the DOT. Vierbircher will start with a survey and move onto a preliminary set of plans. The estimated cost is around two million dollars for the project. John Perkins asked if we can separate laterals and see the difference in the cost of replacing hydrants rather than new hydrants. Motion (Perkins, Wartner) to approve the agreement for engineering consulting services for $26,500 from Vierbircher to proceed with surveys and plans for the Hwy 11 water main project. Voice-all ayes. Carried Michelle Savatski reported that at the last progress meeting there were some adjustments from the contingency fund due to plumbing, electrical, and excavation changes. The next step will be the pouring the floor. There is a non-state grant that is being applied for in the amount of $800,000 with the hope to eliminate the need for the USDA loan. Jared Roling is getting the prints ready to submit to the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) for the interceptor project. Before submitting the prints the decision for the waste water treatment plant (WWTP) facilities plan needs to be decided. The plans for the WWTP facilities plan will be put on hold at this time. The interceptor will be funded by the village and not included in the plan with the WWTP. Jared has several mechanical issues at the WWTP that need to be addressed. A water/sewer committee will meet and go over the priority list of repairs, replacements, and estimated cost. Sonya Silvers mentioned that the village office phone lines are not working due to being hit with lightning and waiting on Brightspeed to fix the issue. Committee Reports:  The Street Committee will patch sidewalk in a few spots this year that are in dire need. Village of Benton October 15, 2025 Board Meeting Minutes Furniture and fixtures for the community building were not included with the construction bids but are now ready to go out for bid. The estimated cost is $147,240 which falls within the budgeted amount. Sonya will send the board the information and timeline of the bid process. Sonya mentioned that the cooling system at the community center will not run on a single phase transformer unless it is sent to a third party company to get retro fitted with an estimated cost of $80,000. Another option is to run a 3 phase transformer to the building. The estimated cost would be $25,000 with the purchase of the transformer, wires, and boring. The engineers are aware of the issue and the issue will be discussed at the next progress meeting. Cal and Linda Robbins will not merge parcels at this time. A Certified Survey Map (CSM) was presented for Jim Goffinet to merge to separate parcels. A Certified Survey Map (CSM) was presented for Joe Slater to merge to separate parcels. Motion (Knight, Perkins) to approve the Certified Survey Map (CSM) to merge parcel #107.0159.1100 and #107.0159.1300 for Jim Goffinet at 414 E. Main Street. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Motion (Knight, Wartner) to approve the Certified Survey Map (CSM) to merge parcel #107.0336.0000 and #107.0336.2010 for Joe Slater at 521 W. Main Street. Voice-all ayes. Carried. 1st reading of Ordinance No: 2025-001 to add Chapter 197, Section 1.1-1.19 Recycling Ordinance for the Village of Benton. Motion (Wartner, Slater) to approve the 1st reading of Ordinance No: 2025-001 to add Chapter 197, Section 1.1-1.19 Recycling Ordinance for the Village of Benton. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Request to waive and adopt the 2nd reading of Ordinance No: 2025-001 to add Chapter 197, Section 1.1- 1.19 Recycling Ordinance for the Village of Benton. Motion (Perkins, Robbins) to approve the request to waive the 2nd reading of Ordinance No: 2025-001 to add Chapter 197, Section 1.1-1.19 Recycling Ordinance for the Village of Benton and adopt the ordinance. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Pursuant with Chapter 19.85 Sub (1) par (c) of WIS. STATS, Motion (Wartner, Slater) at 7:30 to adjourn to closed session to discuss employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. Motion (Wartner, Perkins) to reconvene to open session at 7:50p.m. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Motion (Knight, Slater) to table approval of a part-time clerical police assistant for additional data. Roll-all ayes. Carried. Motion (Robbins, Perkins) to approve the 2026 employee wage increase of 2.92% rounded to the nearest tenth cent. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Pay the claims against the village. Motion (Wartner, Slater) to pay the claims against the village. Voice-all ayes. Carried The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Motion (Perkins, Slater) to adjourn. Voice-all ayes.