Village Board — Minutes

Village of Benton June 15, 2022 Board Meeting Minutes Members present: Gary McCrea, Chuck Wartner, John Perkins, Scott Cruse, Cal Robbins, Jill Knight, Kenneth Farrey Absent members: Village employees present: Sonya Silvers, Eric Mowry Others Present: Dan and Tammy Aurit, James and Dennis Kearns, Jake and Don Langmeier, 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, June 15, 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 (Farrey, Robbins) to approve the minutes from the regular village board meeting held on May 18, 2022. Voice-all ayes. Carried Dan and Tammy Aurit addressed the board regarding concerns with the water drainage from White Street that washes out their back yard and has killed 3 cherry trees. They are seeking a solution to redirect the water. Eric will look at the drain with Dan and determine the best solution to redirect the water. Jake and Don Langmeier requested permission to install a fence on the property at 44 Frontier Street. Sonya presented the ordinance with the height restrictions and Gary mentioned the setbacks of the property lines that would need to be followed. The board has no issue with a fence on the property. Joe Niles sent a Certified Survey Map of 44 Frontier Street and 52 Frontier Street showing the change in property lines. All property owners are in agreement and this is just to make the board aware. James Kearns addressed the board regarding the accusations of trespassing on neighboring properties. Gary instructed James that he will need to talk to Officer Hammill when he returns from vacation. James is also concerned with water that is running on his property in the Benton Township. It is causing a ditch and he would like it to be taken care of. He suggested a culvert. Eric Mowry mentioned that it is a stream that starts on Adele Rowe’s property. There is also water that runs off Water Street onto his property in the Benton Township that he would like fixed. Eric and John Perkins will look at the water issues on the property and determine if this is a Village issue before determining any action on a solution. James would like to purchase the 700’ of North Van Buren Street that the village owns. Gary instructed him to call the Village Clerk and get added to the next Village Board meeting agenda. Eric reported that the school ditch has been seeded. The dirt pile that was on Lot 21 in Roling Oak Height’s has been moved to the Jamison Property. Eric and Jim Goffinet will be working on getting the drinking fountain and the new piece of play equipment installed at the BCDC Park and digging out the Incubator parking lot. Arbor, Temple, and Cross Streets will get seal coating this year. North Van Buren Street will have milling and overlay. John mentioned that the manholes on White Street in the Roling Oak Height’s subdivision need to be raised. They are like potholes and hard to avoid. He has been approached with complaints regarding the manholes. Eric will price the cost to raise the manholes to street level. John also stated that someone has been at the Jamison Property cutting good trees down. Gary gave Don Cruse permission to cut a tree or two down and no other trees should be coming down. Village of Benton June 15, 2022 Board Meeting Minutes Committee Reports:  Chuck announced the Finance committee met to discuss applying for a USDA loan for the new Library/Community Center Building. The committee analyzed the current Village finances and obligations. A USDA loan payment would be feasible for the Village with loan terms being 40 years. The amount of the loan would be determined after the building is built, fundraising money can be taken off the loan amount and the loan can be applied for but does not have to be accepted. The committee would like board approval to apply for the USDA loan to determine if it is possible to proceed with the project. This will be added as an action item to next month’s meeting agenda.  Chuck mentioned that the Public Nuisance Committee is working on more of a formal process for tracking nuisances and the actions taken.  Gary mentioned the LDC will have a meeting Wednesday, June 29 at 6pm, everyone is welcome to attend. Sonya announced that Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission will be hosting a Hazard Mitigation meeting. One Village official must attend to be eligible for disaster funding should it be necessary in the future. Sonya spoke to Kevin Lutes and let him know that the tree on his property would be taken down by the state once a contractor is hired. She will keep him updated. Sonya presented the 2021 Compliance Maintenance Annual Report and Resolution 2022- 01. Motion (Farrey, Wartner) to approve the 2021 Compliance Maintenance Annual Report and Resolution 2022- 01. Roll-all ayes. Carried Gary will be assigning a committee of five members for the museum. The old museum will be getting cleaned out and they would like these members to keep track of items and artifacts until the new museum is built. He will meet with Sherri Timmerman and get a committee assigned. Sonya presented a water and sewer rate comparison showing the rates for the last ten years for the Village. Water and sewer funds continue to carry a loss. Figures were shown on how a rate increase would reduce the loss. The Finance Committee recommended filing the simplified rate case for water with the PSC for a water rate increase of 4.5%. The Village will also increase the sewer base and usage rates at 4.5%. Motion (Knight, Wartner) to approve the filing of the simplified water rate case with the PSC to increase water usage rates and base rates 4.5%. Roll-all ayes. Carried Motion (Knight, Wartner) to approve the increase of the sewer usage rates and base rates 4.5%. Roll-all ayes. Carried Class A and Class B liquor License were presented for approval Motion (Robbins, Perkins) to approve the renewal of Class “A” and “Class A” liquor license for Jeff’s Mart, LLC dba Zephyr Depot. Roll-all ayes. Carried Motion (Cruse, Farrey) to approve the renewal of Class “B” and “Class B” liquor licenses for Lawrence’s Outback, LLC. Roll-all ayes. Carried Motion (Farrey, Wartner) to approve the renewal of Class “B” and “Class B” liquor license for Joseph F. McCrea VFW Post 7896. Roll-all ayes. Carried Village of Benton June 15, 2022 Board Meeting Minutes Motion (Perkins, Robbins) to approve the renewal of Class “B” and “Class B” liquor license for McCarthy’s Tavern, LLC. Roll-all ayes. Carried Motion (Robbins, Cruse) to approve the renewal of Class “B” and “Class B” liquor license for Hoppy’s Bar & Grill, LLC. Roll-all ayes. Carried Operator Licenses were presented for approval Motion (Perkins, Knight) to approve 2022-2023 Operator Licenses for: Shane Lawrence, Rory Lawrence, Brad Lawrence, Eldon Kruser, David Kane, John Scanlan, William Sides, Nicholas Neis, Sarah McCarthy, Aaron DeMuth, Randy Wiegman, Alivia Stodola, Alyssa Stodola, Brenda Richards, Nathan Welborn, and Ali Abu Markheih. Roll-all ayes. Carried Tobacco License were presented for approval Motion (Robbins, Perkins) to approve the renewal of the Tobacco license for 2022-2023 for Jeff’s Mart, LLC dba Zephyr Depot. 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 7:47 p.m. Motion (Cruse, Robbins) to adjourn. Voice-all ayes. Carried