Village Board Meeting — Minutes

Village of Benton July 16, 2025 Board Meeting Minutes Members present: Ken Farrey, John Perkins, Jill Knight, Chuck Wartner, Joe Slater, Cal Robbins, Scott Cruse Absent members: Village employees present: Sonya Silvers, Brian Hammill, Jim Goffinet Others Present: Michelle Savatski 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, July 16, 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 (Cruse, Knight) to approve the minutes from the regular village board meeting held on June 18, 2025, as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried Michelle Savatski stated a $50,000 grant for the community center from T-Mobile was submitted. There is another grant being applied for from Theisen’s in Dubuque, IA, for laptops and mobile carts. There will be a progress meeting with FEH on July 30th at the fire department. There was a delay with the construction due to waiting on a rebar submittal from the architect; however, construction should begin next week. A street committee meeting will need to be scheduled for the final plan with seal coating and sidewalk repair. The turnaround on White Street was completed. Easy Street will need an engineer to stake it. Brian Hammill has been enforcing speed on County J this month. The speed sign on County J is also not working. Sonya Silvers announced that after this year Myrna Sysko will not be taking care of the island. Committee Reports:  The Nuisance Committee met with Beginning Point Church, and a solution for the parking lot weed nuisance was presented. The front portion of the parking lot will be removed, and grass seed will be planted.  The Finance Committee met to look at the audit. Cal Robins asked if the monitoring well at the gas station has been abandoned properly. The board would need to look into the state’s rules of abandonment and follow up with the owner. Members of the board met with The Lafayette County Housing Authority to discuss an extension on the purchase agreement from November of 2022. This would be a 3-year extension. The village would like to purchase a small portion of the property back to allow for a street to be placed in the future that would connect to the Jamieson property. The cost would be $1.00. This will go to the housing board, and they will talk to their engineer and try to build a street into the housing plans. Motion (Knight, Robbins) to approve the purchase of a small piece of land at 150 Whaley Court from Lafayette County Housing Authority and extend the purchase agreement another 3 years to November 2028. Village of Benton July 16, 2025 Board Meeting Minutes Voice-all ayes. Carried. Brian Hammill will work with Scott Cruse to develop a simple traffic plan for when work is being done on HWY 11. The 2024 audit summary was presented to the board. Money was put back into the general fund, the electric and water fund had a positive, and the sewer fund showed a decrease. The days of cash on hand for the utilities increased, and all utilities had a positive cash flow when you take out depreciation. There has been continued improvement in the past three years. Motion (Knight, Cruse) to approve the 2024 audit summary report as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Resolution 2023-03 authorizing the village of Benton to direct charge for public fire protection and place 100% of the direct charge on utility bills for all users. Motion (Wartner, Robbins) to approve resolution 2023-03 to authorize the Village of Benton to direct charge public fire protection and place 100% of the direct charge on utility bills for all users. Voice- all ayes. Carried. Be Rooted Chiropractic would like to request the closing of Catherine Street on July 24th from 7 am to 11am to host a mini market with an ice cream and coffee truck. Motion (Perkins, Knight) to approve the request to close Catherine Street on July 24th from 7 am to 11 am to host a mini market. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Jill Knight announced the recommendation from the library board to appoint Dave Hillary to the library board to fill a vacancy. Motion (Knight, Slater) to approve the appointment of Dave Hillary to the library board. Voice-all ayes. Carried. Pay the claims against the village. Motion (Cruse, Wartner) to pay the claims against the village. Voice-all ayes. Carried The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m. Motion (Robbins, Slater) to adjourn. Voice-all ayes.