Village Board — Minutes

Village of Benton August 17, 2022 Board Meeting Minutes Members present: Gary McCrea, Chuck Wartner, John Perkins, Scott Cruse, Kenneth Farrey, Jill Knight, Absent members: Cal Robbins Village employees present: Sonya Silvers, Jim Goffinet, Brian Hammill Others Present: Shawn Roelli, Michelle Savatski, David Ralph The regular board meeting of the Benton Village Board was called to order by Village President, Gary McCrea, at 6:30 p.m. in the conference room of the Benton Business Incubator Building at 244 Ridge Avenue on Wednesday, August 17, 2022. 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. Motion (Knight, Cruse) to approve the minutes from the regular village board meeting held on July 20, 2022. Voice-all ayes. Carried Michelle Savatski presented a brochure with information, and gave a brief update on the Community Center/Library building. The pre application for the USDA loan is in the final stage and will be submitted by Abby Haas soon. The Campaign Committee has been busy fundraising the past 2 months with a goal set at 1.5 million to be raised through fundraising efforts. There have been many generous donors that have stepped forward to support the Community Center/Library. 100 Extraordinary Women is another fundraising effort having great success. The initial goal was to get 100 Women to sign up and it had already reached 118 before going public. To date $891,000 has been raised between fundraising, donors, and grants. Shawn Roelli from Johnson Block presented the 2021 Audit Report Summary to the board. The general fund reported an increase in overall fund balance of $16,905. The electric, water, & sewer utility reported a decrease in net position. Officer Hammill presented the monthly police report. There will be extra officers in the Village for the Labor Day parade and street dance. Officer Hammill will attend SWAT training in September. New equipment has been purchased that will be covered by a police safety grant. Jim Goffinet reported that the Water Street water project will start after Labor Day. The mulch at the BCDC Park was installed and the borders were delivered. The current metal locator does not work properly and a new one is needed. Gary will authorize the purchase of a metal locator. The basketball court is almost complete and Schueller’s will be coming to lay the cement. The incubator parking lot is complete and just waiting for Iverson’s or Tri State Paving to blacktop. Sonya reported that there will be a delay in resurfacing N. Van Buren Street this year due to bids not being in and contractors being booked up all season. This will be looked at again for next spring. The grant for the project is valid for the next few years. A letter will be sent to the residents to inform them of the delay. Seal coating will be done starting the week of August 29th on Temple, Cross, and Arbor Streets. Ryan Carver got two of the manholes built up to ground level. He plans to do one more when construction in that area is completed. The purchase agreement with Lafayette County Housing was signed and the earnest money was received. Sonya will start the work to rezone the parcel. Village of Benton August 17, 2022 Board Meeting Minutes Committee Reports:  Chuck and Scott presented a tracking spreadsheet and explained the new procedures the Public Nuisance Committee will follow to address public nuisance issues. Updates will be shared on a monthly basis at the board meetings.  Scott mentioned that a museum committee has been established and they have been working on moving, boxing, and cataloging items. A place is still needed to store items until the new Community Center is built. The committee is working on procedures for preserving artifacts. A historian from Platteville has been a valuable resource in the process. The proposed timeline for the 2023 budget was presented. Motion (Farrey, Perkins) to approve the proposed timeline for the 2023 budget as presented. Roll-all ayes. Carried Sonya presented the 1st reading of Ordinance 2022-001 to amend chapter 320, Section 12 relating to Parking restrictions during temporary snow removal or street maintenance. Discussion was held. The 2nd reading and possible approval will be held at the September board meeting. Discussion regarding the adoption of the procurement policy and code of ethics ordinance required by the Treasury for the ARPA funds that were received. Sonya spoke to attorney Eileen Brownlee and the current Code of Ethic Ordinance the Village has will cover the Code of ethics requirement. This may need to be readdressed at a later time if the Treasury decides to mandate the stricter federal regulations with the ordinance. The procurement Policy will need to be adopted by the Village. Motion (Knight, Cruse) to approve the procurement policy as required by the Treasury for ARPA Funds as presented. Roll-all ayes. Carried The claims against the Village were presented for payment. Motion (Knight, Wartner) to pay the claims against the Village. Roll-all ayes. Carried Meeting adjourned at 8:23 p.m. Motion (Perkins, Wartner) to adjourn. Voice-all ayes. Carried