{"id":6625,"date":"2026-03-10T21:04:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/?p=6625"},"modified":"2026-03-23T21:05:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T21:05:29","slug":"continued-city-council-meeting-minutes-february-11-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/?p=6625","title":{"rendered":"Continued City Council Meeting Minutes – February 11, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

CONTINUED MINUTES<\/strong><\/p>\n

BENTON CITY COUNCIL<\/strong><\/p>\n

FEBRUARY 11, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Benton City Council convened in continued session on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. in the Benton City Council Chambers, 901 Public Square, Benton, Illinois.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

RETURN TO REGULAR SESSION<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commissioner Storey made a motion to return to regular session. Second by Commissioner Kays.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vote was taken:<\/p>\n

Yeas: 5 \u2014 Commissioner Cockrum, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Kays, and Mayor Messersmith.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Motion carried.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

PAYROLL APPROVAL<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commissioner Kays reported that there is one (1) payroll for February 13, 2026, totaling $132,330.72, with the following breakdown:<\/p>\n

General Fund:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $87,607.85<\/p>\n

Revenue Fund:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $44,722.87<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commissioner Kays made a motion to approve the payroll as presented. Second by Commissioner Cockrum.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vote was taken:<\/p>\n

Yeas: 5 \u2014 Commissioner Cockrum, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Kays, and Mayor Messersmith.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Motion carried.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BILLS APPROVAL<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commissioner Kays presented the bills for approval with the following breakdown:<\/p>\n

Accounts Payable (AP):\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $522,812.42<\/p>\n

Revenue Fund:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $152,476.28<\/p>\n

Motor Fuel Tax (MFT):\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $2,400.00<\/p>\n

TIF No. 2:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $5,573.33<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commissioner Kays made a motion to approve payment of bills as presented. Second by Commissioner Storey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vote was taken:<\/p>\n

Yeas: 5 \u2014 Commissioner Cockrum, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Kays, and Mayor Messersmith.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Motion carried.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ADJOURNMENT<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Motion to adjourn made by Commissioner Storey. Second by Commissioner Kays.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vote was taken:<\/p>\n

Yeas: 5 \u2014 Commissioner Cockrum, Commissioner Storey, Commissioner Garavalia, Commissioner Kays, and Mayor Messersmith.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 a.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CONTINUED MINUTES BENTON CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 11, 2026   The Benton City Council convened in continued session on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. in the Benton City Council Chambers, 901 Public Square, Benton, Illinois.   RETURN TO REGULAR … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]"},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6625"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6625"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6626,"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6625\/revisions\/6626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}