Benton officially has a new police chief.
Mike Andrew was awarded a four-year contract to fill the position that became open after Kyle Melvin resigned effective June 25.
Melvin returned to the ranks and now serves as a detective.
Andrew has been serving as the interim chief since that time.
Andrew's contract provides a salary of $70,000 per year with an additional $5,000 per year to serve as the city's forensics officer.
Andrew is considered to be an expert in forensics.
Community relations director Rachael Gartner picked up additional duties. She was appointed as the census point person for the city.
In that position, she will be helping the city to better coordinate and promote the U.S. Census in 2020.
"Municipalities are reliant on accurate census data for funding," said Gartner.
Federal funds, grants and support to states, counties and communities are based on population totals and breakdowns by sex, age, race and other factors. Census data is also utilized by businesses and developers in the decision process for new locations and revitalization projects.
The council also approved the hiring of a new full time employee for the water department.
Benton native Jimmy Wells will serve as a maintenance person in the department.
In other business, the council approved funding to equip the city's two new police cars for official operations, a cost of $20,000 for both cars.
The cars were previously purchased through the state bidding process that Gartner says gets the city the best deal.
The council also approved the purchase of new bunker gear for the fire department. Those funds are already budgeted each year. The new equipment replaces retired gear.
