BENTON – The Benton City Council voted unanimously at its meeting Monday night to make City Hall on South Main surplus property.
City government moved out of City Hall last August due to mold and relocated to the Campbell Building on the Benton Square.
Mayor Lee Messersmith says the city finally arrived at the point to where it can’t find anyone to give the city any numbers or bids to fix water and mold growth, so the next step will be to liquidate the property.
Commissioner Christopher Kays says the council that bought that building without any kind of inspection several yeas ago from Benton Grade School District 47 should be “ashamed of themselves.”
Commissioner Don Storey says he told the city council when the building was bought that it should never have been bought in the first place.
Kays brought up the motion to make City Hall surplus property. Storey seconded the motion. Again, it passed unanimously.
As for the building’s future, Messersmith says Zoning Administrator Brian Calcaterra will look at the property to see what makes the most sense. He says the city has some ideas and different approaches it can take regarding the property before moving forward.
