Benton County officials completed routine business, approving the day's agenda and prior meeting minutes and taking several personnel and administrative actions.

A motion to accept an employee's retirement (announced by staff) was moved and seconded and recorded as approved. Unidentified Speaker 5 announced that Deb will retire Jan. 30 and said a replacement has been advertised; the board moved to accept the retirement during the meeting.

The board discussed payroll timing because the pay date would fall on Jan. 1, a holiday. Unidentified Speaker 1 said the county had already submitted required tax payments and recommended keeping the Jan. 1 pay date. "We're gonna stick if we can stick with the January 1 pay date," Unidentified Speaker 1 said; staff noted that automatic deposits could post on Jan. 2 depending on banks, and the county will notify employees if timing shifts due to the holiday.

The board approved a request to permit an employee, Sarah Wagner, to carry over vacation through June 30; a motion to approve the carryover passed on roll-call.

Officials also approved renewal of flood insurance for the sheriff's office. An unidentified speaker outlined coverage changes and an increased deductible (from $1,000 to $2,500) and the motion to renew the coverage passed by recorded vote.

Other administrative items included a request for Hailey (Haley) to provide a report on the county's workers' compensation top-up payments and a reminder that department-head scheduling and board appointments remain on the calendar for January. No votes were recorded on the EMS funding request; staff will bring that item back to the EMS advisory council in early January.