Village Board — Minutes

Village of Benton January 15, 2025 Board Meeting Minutes Members present: Scott Cruse, John Perkins, Jill Knight, Joe Slater, Kenneth Farrey, Chuck Wartner Absent members: Cal Robbins Village employees present: Sonya Silvers, Jim Goffinet, Brian Hammill Others Present: Michelle Savatski, Kim Bellman, Todd Bastian, Steffanie Nemitz-Kohn The regular board meeting of the Benton Village Board was called to order by village president Scott Cruse at 6:30 p.m. in the conference room of the Benton Business Incubator Building at 244 Ridge Avenue on Wednesday, January 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 (Farrey, Knight) to approve the minutes from the regular village board meeting held on December 4, 2024, with noted correction. Voice-all ayes. Carried The minutes from the special village board meeting were presented. Motion (Perkins, Wartner) to approve the minutes from the special village board meeting held on December 30, 2024, as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried Steffanie Nemitz-Kohn, Benton business owner of Be Rooted Chiropractic, along with Todd Bastian, Benton resident and Benton School District Superintendent, were present to show support for the community center, library, and museum project. The project will help move the community forward and have a positive impact on the community. It will help support business owners and the school district by offering many different benefits. Michelle Savatski introduced Kim Bellman from FEH Design. Kim presented the design documents for the Community Center project, which included the interior and exterior layouts with specifications. The building will have a small meeting room that will hold 4-6 people, and the large meeting room will hold up to 80; both will be equipped with accessible technology for the community. The community center is designed to be expanded to the west and have solar in the future. The USDA will also need to approve the designs. The approval will take 4-6 weeks. After the designs are approved by the village board and the USDA, the project will go out to bid to local contractors. Motion (Knight, Farrey) to approve the FEH Design construction documents to include the drawings, specifications, and the form of contract (AIA A101). Roll-all ayes. Jim Goffinet stated Well #2 was reinstalled on Tuesday, and it then locked up. The pump was taken out and will be taken in to be repaired. Fiber construction continues when weather permits. Scott Cruse requested Brian Hammill show more presence on Alma Street during busy school times. Committee Reports:  No committee meetings to report. Scott Cruse met with Scott Freiburger from Benton State Bank to discuss leasing 48 W Main Street from Benton State Bank once the library has moved to the community center. The bank’s proposal is that the current library 5-year lease will remain unchanged. The bank, beginning in 2025, will increase its donation by the annual amount of the lease rent each year for 5 years. The bank will make this donation to the Village of Benton. The village office and police department will move to the old library space. Motion (Slater, Perkins) to approve the 5-year proposal from Benton State Bank for the Village of Benton to lease 48 W Main Street and move the Village office and Police Department into the space. Roll-all ayes. Carried Village of Benton January 15, 2025 Board Meeting Minutes Pay the claims against the village. Motion (Knight, Wartner) to pay the claims against the village. Roll-all ayes. Carried The meeting was adjourned at 7:17 p.m. Motion (Perkins, Slater) to adjourn. Voice-all ayes.