Village Board — Minutes

Village of Benton October 18, 2023 Board Meeting Minutes Members present: John Perkins, Jill Knight, Kenneth Farrey, Joe Slater, Cal Robbins Absent members: Scott Cruse, Chuck Wartner Village employees present: Sonya Silvers, Eric Mowry, Brian Hammill Others Present: Jacob Soppe, Jennifer Soppe The regular board meeting of the Benton Village Board was called to order by Village Trustee Jill Knight at 6:30 p.m. in the conference room of the Benton Business Incubator Building at 244 Ridge Avenue on Wednesday, October 18th, 2023. 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, Robbins) to approve the minutes from the regular Village Board meeting held on September 20th, 2023 as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried The minutes from a Special Village Board meeting were presented. Motion (Perkins, Slater) to approve the minutes from the Special meeting held September 29th, 2023 as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried The minutes from a Special Village Board meeting were presented. Motion (Robbins, Perkins) to approve the minutes from the Special meeting held October 04th, 2023 as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried Jacob Soppe addressed the board with concerns regarding the storm drain that was extended between his and Dan Aurit’s property. Eric explained that because of electrical wires under the tube he could not place the drain any deeper and it caused a hump in the yard. Jacob would like to see how it settles and possibly add more dirt in the spring and fan it out to make it easier for mowing. The Village workers will look at it in the spring and will add more dirt if necessary. Jacob also requested to be notified of any work being done in the future. Brian Hammill has had several complaints about speeding on Main Street and he has been patrolling the area often. Brian called the Wisconsin DOT to check into adjusting or adding speed limit signs on the east end of town. Jill Knight mentioned that stray cats are an issue. Brian will look into the ordinances for penalties on feeding stray cats and have conversations with residents that regularly feed them. Brian would like the price of the parking tickets to get increased from ten dollars to twenty dollars. This would require and ordinance change. Eric Mowry has spoken to Cory Ritterbusch and the tree plan for Village Park is in the final stages. Cory sent an email with highlights from the plan. It was suggested to plant two honey locust trees in the park. Eric will reach out to Felderman’s to see if he has honey locust trees. There is one remaining ash tree next to the school house that should come down or be injected to protect the tree. The injection is estimated at $500.00 and uncertain how well it works. The tree plan will be looked over at the next park meeting. The storm drain at Dan Aurit’s is complete. Eric purchased a sewer jetter from the Wisconsin surplus auction. Scott had approved this purchase up to $5,000.00. Sonya mentioned that two phone calls were placed to Zephyr Homes regarding lot 10 at 442 White Street and a letter sent. She has not heard back from anyone. Covenants state the home is to be started within a year and completed within 18 months. Since no construction has begun the Village would like to be updated on the plan for construction on the home. Village of Benton October 18, 2023 Board Meeting Minutes The 2024 budget timeline was presented. Motion (Perkins, Robbins) to approve the 2024 budget timeline as presented. Voice-all ayes. Carried The recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission to approve a variance for a zoning amendment from highway business district to single-family residential low density was presented. Kenny Smith will turn his current business into a single family home. Motion (Farrey, Slater) to approve the recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission and approve the variance request from Kenny Smith for a zoning amendment from highway business district to single-family residential low density. Roll-all ayes. Carried. Pay the claims against the Village. Motion (Robbins, Perkins) to pay the claims against the Village. Voice-all ayes. Carried Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Motion (Slater, Farrey) to adjourn. Voice-all ayes. Carried