The first meeting of 2023 for the Benton City Council had a lengthy agenda, and new faces on the bench. Councilman Guy Henton and Councilwoman Laura Craynon were sworn in at the end of the December 2022 meeting.
The council heard the annual audit review from CPA Kim Ham. “The city had a good audit again,” said Hamm, pointing out a few items that have changed with reporting. She issued an unmodified opinion, with nothing raising concern.
At the recommendation of Mayor Rita Dotson, and following tradition, Councilwoman Ann Riley was nominated and approved to serve as mayor pro-ten after receiving the highest number of votes in the November election.
The council held a discussion on the current garbage service contract with GFL. Dotson cited communication between the company and the city was becoming a problem, especially during days when trucks were not running their routes. She said sometimes the drivers will even skip entire streets, but the city is not informed. Previously trash service was provided by Republic Services, with whom the city had a positive relationship with. It was agreed the city will go out for bids for a new garbage provider.
A discussion was held once again about parking issues with larger vehicles on the court square. Currently there are signs posted not allowing vehicles over 19 feet to be parked in certain areas because it decreases the widths of the traffic lanes causing vehicles traveling along Main and Poplar to not have enough room to pass.
The affected area is on Main and Poplar between 10th and 12th streets, and along 11th and 12th streets on each side of the courthouse. It was decided the signs would be removed on the latter two streets and parking for larger vehicles such as extended bed trucks and duallies would be encouraged on those streets.
The council approved membership dues with Kentucky Lake Economic Development for a total of $5000 per year, for two years. This will give the city a vote on the board for KLED and KLED will work to further economic development within the city limits. Dotson said previously KLED was primarily supposed to focus on development on the Southwest One Industrial Park.
• Approved a rental agreement with the American Red Cross.
• Reappointed April Murphy and Keith Travis to the Code Enforcement Board.
• Discussed ordinance modifications regarding livestock and poultry in the city limits and junk cars. City Attorney Rob Mattingly will work on ordinance amendments to bring before the council.
• Held a firs reading on a cable tv franchise agreement.
• Held a second reading on an ordinance rezoning Gallery Square, where the former New to You building was located, from C2 to R3.
• Held a second reading on an ordinance rezoning land next to the Marshall County Extension Office on Mayfield Highway from R1 to C2.
• Approved a resolution for a road easement to begin work on the Symsonia Highway Waterline Project.
• And heard the police report for December from Captain Caleb Curtner. During the month of December, the Benton Police Department responded to 796 calls for service, issued 69 citations, opened 13 cases and worked 15 collisions. For the year 2022, the department responded to a total of 10,502 calls for service, the most in history for the Benton Police Department.
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