North Egypt News

City of Benton City Council met Oct. 23.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

Minutes Of The Regularly Scheduled Benton City Council Meeting Held Monday October 23, 2023 At 5 P.M. In The Benton Municipal Building Located At 1403 South Main Street Benton, Illinois.

Mayor Messersmith Called The Meeting To Order. Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Kays¸ Commissioner Storey, And Commissioner Cockrum, And Mayor Messersmith Were Present For Roll Call.

Commissioner Kays Made A Motion To Approve The Minutes Of The Regularly Scheduled Council Meeting Held On Monday October 9, 2023, Held At 5 P.M. Seconded By Commissioner Cockrum. Vote Was Taken. Yeas: 5. Commissioner Kays, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Cockrum, And Mayor Messersmith. Nays: 0.

Commissioner Kays Made A Motion To Approve The Minutes Of The Continued City Council Meeting Minutes Of Monday October 16, 2023, Held At 8:30 A.M. Second By Commissioner Garavalia. Vote Was Taken. Yeas: 3. Commissioner Kays, Commissioner Garavalia, And Commissioner Cockrum. Commissioner Storey And Mayor Messersmith Abstained. Nays: 0.

Commissioner Storey Stated That He Had Business For This Meeting.

Commissioner Cockrum Stated That He Had No Purchase Orders, Pool Adjustments, Or Lake Lot Lease Transfers For Approval At This Meeting.

Commissioner Cockrum Made A Motion To Approve Partial Pay Estimate #2 To Wiggs Excavating, Inc. For The Duquoin Street Force Main In The Amount Of $69,242.40. Second By Commissioner Kays. Vote Was Taken. Yeas: 5. Commissioner Kays, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Cockrum, And Mayor Messersmith. Nays: 0.

Commissioner Cockrum Made A Motion To Approve The Final Pay Estimate To Midwest Excavating For Pump House Renovations In The Amount Of $306,860.16. Second By Commissioner Storey. Vote Was Taken. Yeas: 5. Commissioner Kays, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Cockrum, And Mayor Messersmith. Nays: 0. Commissioner Cockrum Stated That The Renovations Are State Of The Art And Will Allow Public Works Director Craig Miles To Be Able To Run It From An Application On His Telephone.

Commissioner Cockrum Stated That The Whisper Way Milling And Overlay Project Is Set To Begin In The First Or Second Weeks Of November. Commissioner Cockrum Also Stated That The Wastena Street Project Is On Track.

Commissioner Garavalia Made A Motion To Approve Purchase Order #00117 To Thin Line Public Safety For 1 Custom Signals Raptor Rp-1 Police Radar In The Amount Of $3,555.38. Second By Commissioner Storey. Vote Was Taken. Yeas: 5. Commissioner Kays, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Cockrum, And Mayor Messersmith. Nays: 0.

Commissioner Garavalia Presented A Department Report For The Police Department For The Dates Of 09/01/2023 To 09/30/2023. During This Time There Were 538 Total Dispatched Calls Which Included 21 Alarm Calls, 3 Ambulance Calls, 1 Assault And Battery Call, 28 Disorderly Conduct Calls, 16 Domestic Dispute Calls, 3 Fights In Progress, 11 Juvenile Problem Calls, 1 Missing Juvenile, 1 Prowler Call, 17 Suspicious Person Calls, 18 Theft Calls, 14 Welfare Checks, And 414 Other Calls. The Report Also Stated That There Were 13 Traffic Accident Reports Completed, 32 Traffic Stops, And 7 Traffic Citations Issues. There Were Also 38 Criminal Arrests.

Commissioner Garavalia Presented A Department Report For The Fire Department For The Dates Of 09/01/2023 To 09/30/2023. The Report Indicated That There Were 60 Total Calls. These Calls Included 18 Fires, 33 Rescue And Emergency Medical Service Calls, 6 Hazardous Conditions, 3 Service Calls, 6 Good Intent Calls, And 3 False Alarm And Fall Calls.

Commissioner Kays Made A Motion To Approve Payroll Dated 10/13/2023 For General Fund In The Amount Of $72,895.47 And Water And Sewer In The Amount Of $27,576.10 For A Total Of $100,471.57. Second By Commissioner Storey. Vote Was Taken. Yeas: 5. Commissioner Kays, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Cockrum, And Mayor Messersmith. Nays: 0.

Commissioner Kays Stated That He Had No Purchase Orders For Approval At This Meeting.

Commissioner Kays Stated That He Would Like To Do Some Research Into The Amount Per Month Using Positive Pay Services For Accounts Payable Would Be And Then Return To The Council For A Vote On Using This Service. He Stated This Is An Extra Layer Of Protection If The City’s Checking Accounts Were To Be Hacked Into. Commissioner Kays Stated That This Will Probably Be Somewhere Between $80.00 And $120.00 A Month.

No Updates From Attorney Malkovich For This Meeting.

Mayor Messersmith Stated That The Event On The Square, Fall-O-Ween, Went Very Well. He Stated That This Was A True Community Event. He Stated That Participation From The Police And Fire Departments Was Phenomenal And He Believes This Helped The Event To Succeed.

Mayor Messersmith Asked Brian Calcaterra To Present Items (C) And (D).

Item (C): Zoning Administrator Brian Calcaterra Stated That In The Past Several Years Chris Scroggins Has Completed The City’s Annual Comptroller’s Tif Reports, But This Year Did Not Feel Like He Was Able To Do Some Due To Some New Federal Regulations. Mr. Calcaterra Stated That In The Past Mr. Scroggins Has Charged The City $600.00 To File These Reports. Mr. Calcaterra Stated That He Would Like To Hire Moran Economic Development To Complete The 2022-2023 Fy Annual Comptroller’s Tif Reports. Mr. Calcaterra Stated That Moran Economic Development Stated That They Think The Cost For Preparing These Reports Will Be $1,500.00. Commissioner Storey Made A Motion To Approve Hiring Moran Economic Development To Complete The Annual Comptroller’s Tif Reports For Fy 2022-2023. Second By Commissioner Garavalia. Vote Was Taken. Yeas: 5. Commissioner Kays, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Cockrum, And Mayor Messersmith. Nays: 0.

Item (D): Zoning Administrator Brian Calcaterra Stated That He Would Like To Begin The Process Of Creating An Ordinance Regulating Billboards Within The Corporate Boundary. Commissioner Garavalia Made This Motion. Second By Commissioner Cockrum. Vote Was Taken. Yeas: 5. Commissioner Kays, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Cockrum, And Mayor Messersmith. Nays: 0.

Mayor Messersmith Stated That He Would Like To Talk About The City Council Appointments/Duties. Mayor Messersmith Stated That We Are A Few Months In To This Current Administration And He Feels That There Needs To Be A Shift At This Time. Mayor Messersmith Stated That He Would Like The Commissioners Over Public Properties And Public Safety To Switch Departments. Commissioner Cockrum Made This Motion And Commissioner Storey Seconded This Motion. Commissioner Kays Stated That He Felt Like Commissioner Garavalia And Commissioner Storey Should Abstain From This Motion As It Is Over Their Departments. Attorney Malkovich Stated That It Was Not Necessary. Vote Was Taken. Yeas: 3. Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Cockrum, And Mayor Messersmith. Commissioner Garavalia Abstained. Nays: 1. Commissioner Kays.

There Was No Miscellaneous Business.

In Old Business, Commissioner Kays Stated That He Would Like To Know Why There Was A Sudden Change In Administration Duties. He Stated That Again, Nothing Had Been Done Illegal, But That He Would Like To Ask The Council To Keep Their Hands On The Table. Commissioner Kays Stated That Maybe We Should Switch Each Commissioner To A New Department Every 6 Months. Commissioner Kays Stated That Tonight’s Move Made The Council Look Inept And That Tonight Is The First Time He Has Felt Kind Of Embarrassed Of The City Council Since Becoming A Member.

No New Business.

In Matters Of From The Public Audience, Tom Carter Stated That He Would Like To Know If The Policy For Keeping Employment Applications Is The Same As When He Worked Here. At That Time, Mr. Carter Stated, Applications Were Kept For 6 Months. Mr. Carter Also Stated That He Thinks Benton Residents Should Always Get The First Shot At Job Openings. Commissioner Kays Stated That Because Of Union Residency Requirements, That Isn’t The Case. Mr. Carter Thanked City Clerk Brook Craig For Looking Up The “Opt Out” Policy For Residential Trash. Mr. Carter Asked If The Council Was Planning On Making The Size Of Billboards Different In The New Ordinance Or Eliminating Billboards Completely.

Commissioner Storey Made A Motion To Adjourn The Meeting. Seconded By Commissioner Cockrum. Vote Was Taken. Yeas: 5. Commissioner Kays, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Cockrum, And Mayor Messersmith. Nays: 0.

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