Village Board — Minutes

Village of Benton April 17, 2024 Board Meeting Minutes Members present: Scott Cruse, John Perkins, Jill Knight, Kenneth Farrey, Joe Slater, Cal Robbins Absent members: Chuck Wartner Village employees present: Sonya Silvers, Jared Roling, Brian Hammill, Eric Mowry Others Present: Sandra Scanlan, Dave Halloran, Ryan Kern 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, April 17th, 2024. 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 March 13th, 2024. Voice-all ayes. Carried Dave Halloran is having issues with garbage and/or recycling not being picked up on Arbor Street on at least six separate occasions. Scott advised him to call the village office when trash or recycling is missed, so that the village is aware there is a problem and can start tracking it. Scott will write a letter and reach out to Matt at Republic Services. Sandra Scanlan would like to see Benton get cleaned up. A list of homes in Benton that need to be cleaned up was presented to the board. Scott mentioned that there is a Public Nuisance Committee meeting on April 25th, and the concern will be addressed then. However, the village is limited in what can be done in some of the housing situations. Eric Mowry has been trimming trees at the parks. There has been a good response to the tree letters that were sent out, and three trees from Main Street were removed. The bucket truck was taken in for repairs. Jim Goffinet called in a Diggers Hotline ticket for the removal of the sign at 590 E. Main Street. There was some seeding that was done around the village. Carl Langkamp will be painting the Swift Park bathroom doors, and when the weather permits, they will be installed. The motor was replaced on the bathroom fan at Swift Park. Sonya Silvers and Michelle Savatski have all of the documents for the USDA loan application and will be submitting it this week. Brian Hammill reported that there have been three traffic accidents in the village with one resulting in damage to a village fire hydrant. The village workers were on scene to assist with the fire hydrant and a replacement was ordered. Committee Reports:  The Public Nuisance Committee will have a meeting on April 25th.  The Finance Committee will have a meeting on April 29th.  The Police Committee will have a meeting on April 29th. Jared Roling is working on getting both RAS pumps running to the way they were designed to work. L.W. Allen provided a quote of $10,000 for VFD installation, RAS #2 rebuilding of the motor, and a Cornell pump. Motion (Robbins, Farrey) to approve L.W. Allen to replace the VFD pumps and rebuilding of the motor for the RAS #2. Roll-all ayes. Village of Benton April 17, 2024 Board Meeting Minutes Jared intends to televise sewer lines this summer. He received a quote of $.65 a foot from Kleiber. This will be added to next month’s agenda for approval. A fire hydrant on Galena Street has a busted pin and shaft with a valve that will not shut off. That will need to be dug up and replaced. Well #2 needs a valve because there is no way to waste water without disturbing the distribution system. Roger Kern is having trouble with rusty water. Jared flushes the system every three months, but he will do it more frequently to see if that will help. The new Main Street water main will also help with that issue. There are 54 water valve boxes that need attention that Jared will be working on. The fluoride grant was approved, and Sonya is working with Wisconsin Department of Health Services to get the accounts set up. Jared will start purchasing items that are covered by the grant, such as scales, containment, tables, spetodometer pumps, tubes, and injections. Kern Plumbing and Heating is currently working on 225 Railroad Avenue. There are roots in the sewer lines they are having trouble reaching and have started to dig up the street. The way the ordinance 263.97(D) Reads, the expense is on the homeowner anytime there is a clog or roots. There are questions about who should be liable due to the way things have been done in the past, where anything after the property line is taken care of by the village. Jill Knight is going to do some research on other municipalities’ ordinances. A sewer line at the sewer plant needs to be repaired. Jared has met with Greg Droessler and come up with a 3-phase plan that would include digging up problem areas and repairing, manholes, and relining the sewer lines. The town garage will be paving their lot and starting June 1st they will no longer allow semi parking. A resident stopped in the village office and asked if the village could provide a new spot to park semis. The area next to the salt shed was looked at as a possible location. It will require some breaker rock and gravel to be placed and a few trees trimmed. It is estimated this will not cost more than $1000.00 and provide three semi parking spots. Scott presented a semi parking permit with an annual fee of $100. Motion (Perkins, Slater) to approve permitted semi parking on the side of the salt shed for an annual fee of $100. Roll-all ayes. Carried Scott and Sonya would like to increase the wage for returning summer help to $12 per hour and the mowing position to $14 per hour. New summer help, or fill in help will continue to receive $10 per hour. Scott approved the increases. Jim received estimates to fix the concrete under the park pavilion at Village Park. The cement is cracking. Ryan Carver had tried to repair and paint the concrete in the past, but it did not hold up. A quote from TSR Concrete Coatings was $11,000, and a quote from TLC Concrete Coatings was $8,500. The quotes are informational for future consideration. A new estimate for the Main Street water main project from Keith Dalsing was presented. This estimate also includes the curb and gutter cost. An update of the funding scenarios from Vierbircher was also presented to represent the new project cost. The Congressional Directed Spending Grant was submitted. It will be August before we hear anything back. Village of Benton April 17, 2024 Board Meeting Minutes Brian has been working with Jason Walter on the cameras that were purchased for the park and they will be installed soon. He also asked that the ATV route be placed on next month’s meeting agenda. Pay the claims against the village. Motion (Knight, Slater) to pay the claims against the village. Roll-all ayes. Carried Meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Motion (Slater, Perkins) to adjourn. Voice-all ayes.