{"id":6654,"date":"2026-04-14T14:06:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T14:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/?p=6654"},"modified":"2026-05-15T14:07:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:07:06","slug":"special-called-city-council-meeting-minutes-april-6-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/?p=6654","title":{"rendered":"Special Called City Council Meeting Minutes – April 6, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

SPECIAL CALLED MEETING<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

April 6, 2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

CALL TO ORDER<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mayor Messersmith called the Special Called Meeting of the Benton City Council to order on April 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ROLL CALL<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The following members were present:<\/p>\n

Commissioner Cockrum<\/p>\n

Commissioner Storey<\/p>\n

Commissioner Garavalia<\/p>\n

Commissioner Kays<\/p>\n

Mayor Messersmith<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Absent: None<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

AGENDA ITEMS<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

ITEM 1 \u2013 Discussion and Approval of Mowing Bids<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mayor Messersmith introduced Item 1 and turned the floor over to Commissioner Storey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commissioner Storey stated he wished to handle the mowing bids by dividing them between two contractors. He proposed awarding all mowing locations except the airport to Chris Kirkpatrick, who was the low bidder, and awarding the airport mowing to Booker Mowing Service.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Motion 1a \u2013 Mowing Bid for Chris Kirkpatrick<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Commissioner Storey moved to accept the mowing bid of Chris Kirkpatrick for the following locations: Police Department, 1403 South Main, Twin Oaks, Lake Hamilton, and nuisance yards. Motion seconded by Commissioner Cockrum.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vote:<\/p>\n

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

Nays (0): None<\/p>\n

Motion carried 5\u20130.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Motion 1b \u2013 Mowing Bid for Booker Mowing Service<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Commissioner Storey moved to accept the mowing bid of Booker Mowing Service to mow the airport, noting that Booker Mowing Service has done an excellent job at that location. Motion seconded by Commissioner Garavalia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vote:<\/p>\n

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

Nays (0): None<\/p>\n

Motion carried 5\u20130.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ITEM 2 \u2013 Discussion and Approval to Begin Negotiations for an Intergovernmental Agreement<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mayor Messersmith introduced Item 2, which concerned authorization for the Fire Chief, Public Safety Commissioner, and City Attorney to begin negotiations for an intergovernmental agreement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commissioner Garavalia explained that the Village of West City is seeking to fully exit the fire district and has approached the City of Benton regarding a potential intergovernmental agreement. Commissioner Garavalia noted that the City has already been providing fire services to West City due to that village\u2019s struggles with its fire department. Among the potential advantages of the agreement, Commissioner Garavalia noted the City would receive a tender truck capable of holding 3,000 gallons of water. This motion would authorize the appropriate City officials to begin exploring what such an agreement would look like financially.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commissioner Garavalia moved to approve authorization for the Fire Chief, Public Safety Commissioner, and City Attorney to begin negotiations for an intergovernmental agreement with the Village of West City. Motion seconded by Commissioner Storey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vote:<\/p>\n

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

Nays (0): None<\/p>\n

Motion carried 5\u20130.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Commissioner Storey moved to adjourn. Motion seconded by Commissioner Cockrum.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vote:<\/p>\n

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

Nays (0): None<\/p>\n

Motion carried 5\u20130. The meeting was adjourned at 9:36 a.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CITY OF BENTON BENTON CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL CALLED MEETING MINUTES   April 6, 2026   CALL TO ORDER Mayor Messersmith called the Special Called Meeting of the Benton City Council to order on April 6, 2026.   ROLL CALL The … 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\/6654"}],"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=6654"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6655,"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6654\/revisions\/6655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bentonil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}