Pioneer Village Council votes to approve amendments to Bentine's contract

“Mr. Bentine has been working on the same project for the village,” Village Solicitor Tom Thompson said. “However, the time commitment that has been required to meet it has been exceeded and that is why he is asking for the extension.

“The original agreement with Mr. Bentine was (about a year ago),” Thompson added. “Of course, at that time the belief was that the process would be a little smoother than what it has been. Because of the multiple issues that have arisen due to the work involved and working with the county’s attorneys and other things has been significantly greater than what we have anticipated.”

Councilman Bill Turner was opposed to the proposed amendments and was unhappy with the information that was provided to the council members in regards to a document titled ‘AquaBounty – Village of Pioneer Public Utility Agreement Term Sheet’ that “sets forth certain terms and conditions concerning public utility matters that will be incorporated in a more comprehensive Public Utility Construction, Donation and Operation Agreement to be executed by the Village and AQB.”

In Bentine’s letter to council he writes, “Please note, paragraph 16 of the Village AQB Term Sheet provides that AQB shall reimburse the Village for its expenses in these matters for the Village Attorney, John Bentine and John Courtney for $90,000, with expenses over the $90,000 to also be reimbursed with AQB’s approval, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld.” Thompson said the new amendments to Bentine’s contract will not push it past the $90,000 threshold.

Turner questioned why the term sheet council was given ended prior to paragraph 16 that Bentine referenced in his letter.

“In this document, it says per paragraph 16 of the AquaBounty term sheet, AquaBounty will reimburse the village for its expenses in the matter,” Turner said during Monday’s meeting. “But the term sheet that we got only had 14 paragraphs on it, it doesn’t have 16.”

“That is correct,” Thompson responded. “What was submitted to the council was the term sheets that has to do with the qualification as a public utility. There will eventually be a term sheet that has either all of the terms in it or the agreement itself which will be substantially longer.”

“A lot of stuff going on that we don’t know about,” Turner said. “I don’t think that is right.”

The contract amendments passed with three yeas from council members Randy Cochran, Will Cable and Ben Fiser. Turner and Trever West voted nay. Traci Filson was absent.

Pioneer Village Council will meet in special session Wednesday at 8 p.m. to hold an executive session to discuss pending litigation and an open session for discussion, motions and roll call votes regarding Ordinance 6-2023 authorizing the establishment of a Village Water Transmission Utility. The meeting will be at the Pioneer Community Center.