Special Meeting — Minutes

Village of Benton June 1, 2023 Special Board Meeting Minutes Members present: Scott Cruse, John Perkins, Jill Knight, Kenneth Farrey, Chuck Wartner, Joe Slater Absent members: Cal Robins Village employees present: Sonya Silvers Others Present: The Special board meeting of the Benton Village Board was called to order by Village President Scott Cruse at 8:00 a.m. in the conference room of the Benton Business Incubator Building at 244 Ridge Avenue on Thursday, June 1, 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. Jared Roling presented the board with estimates of $13,000 - $16,000 to replace the chopper pump at the May board meeting. An estimate of up to $20,000 was also received to move the ground work. Jared will continue to look for estimates on the ground work and present his findings at the regular June board meeting. The new chopper pump will be ordered now. Motion (Wartner, Slater) to approve ordering of the new sewer chopper pump with an estimated cost of $13,000-$16,000. Roll-all ayes. Carried In the process of selling land, Steve Malone learned there was not an official easement to access his property. He has requested an access easement from the Village on parcel # 107.0335.2200. Sonya noticed that according to the Lafayette County GIS site it appeared that the State of Wisconsin owns parcel #107.0335.2200 and not the Village of Benton. Sonya called the Lafayette County Register of Deeds and the Lafayette County title company to get this sorted out. Lafayette County Register of Deeds emailed and said it does appear to be Village property and we can proceed with the easement. Eric Mowry, John Perkins, and Scott Cruse looked at the parcel and did not see any foreseen issues with granting the access easement request. Motion (Knight, Slater) to approve the access easement on parcel #107.0335.2200 requested by Steve Malone. Roll-all ayes. Carried Scott updated the board on the deputy clerk/treasurer position. This position has been partnered with Southwestern Wisconsin Reginal Planning Commission (SWWRPC) for the past four years. Benton then contracts the employee from SWWRPC. This allowed the employee to receive full time benefits. Executive director Troy Maggied at SWWRPC has decided to take his position full time, thus leaving Benton with a part-time, 3 days a week position. The only benefits offered for a part-time position are WI retirement. Since there will not be an expense of health insurance, Scott recommended that the starting wage be between $18- $20. Motion (Perkins, Wartner) to approve the hiring the deputy clerk position at a starting rate of $18 - $20 per hour with WI retirement benefits. Roll-all ayes. Carried Meeting adjourned at 8:18 a.m. Motion (Perkins, Wartner) to adjourn. Voice-all ayes. Carried