City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, we have some news. We have some new business today. Um, we have a declaration of vacancy of W 4 and I believe Laura Nelson would like to come up and give a talk. That correct? I would like to give a talk. Um, I would like to read my resignation letter if that's okay with everyone. It is with a heavy heart that I submit my resignation for my position on the city council effective April 9th, 2026. Due to my upcoming move out of my ward, I am no longer able to fulfill the requirements of this role, a responsibility I have cherished deeply. Serving this community over the past 5 years and three terms has been one of the greatest honors of my life. During this time, I have learned, grown, and had the opportunity to contribute to meaningful progress for a city I truly love. This experience has shaped me both personally and professionally in ways I will always cherish and carry forward. I express my sincere gratitude to each and every member of the council. It has been a privilege to serve alongside individuals who care so deeply about this community. I am especially thankful for our director of administration, Courtney, whose leadership I believe in wholeheartedly and whose dedication continues to move this city forward, and I always have. To the city staff, thank you for the tireless work behind the scenes. Your commitment does not go unnoticed. and to our mayor, Steve. Thank you for

your leadership, guidance, and support throughout my time in office. I believe strongly in this community and its future. While this may be a step back for me now, it is certainly not the end of my involvement. You have not seen the last of me, I will continue to support and advocate for this city in any way I can. Thank you again for the opportunity to serve. You will always have my respect and appreciation. It has been an incredible journey and I am grateful for every moment. Signing off for the last time. Councilwoman Forth trying really hard to keep it together. I do appreciate all of you and I looked so forward to every meeting and everything that we accomplished in my time here and like I said, you haven't seen the last of me. Thank you. Thank you, Lauren. Okay, with that we now have to fill the vacancy and have an appointment. Since this is outside of the normal voting, um our charter has allow our our mayor will make the appointment and Steve Meyer, our mayor, has recommended Jack Coward, Dr. Jack Coward to fill that vacancy for one year. If I could entertain a motion to have Dr. Jack Cower fill the appointment, fill the vacancy.

I make a motion that Jack Cower be uh to fill the vacancy forward for city council first. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I.

I. All oppose. Nay. Okay. Jack has been Dr. Jack Howard had been approved for um the remainder of that tenure. Uh please note that Jack Howard will not assume office or exercise any authority until he has been duly sworn in in the following conclusion of the portion of this meeting. Okay, we will now move on to resolutions. Council person Hansen, please read resolution 3605. Yes. Resolution 3605, certification of votes cast. A resolution certifying the votes cast in the municipal election held on April 7th, 2026. Like to make a motion to pass resolution 3605.

Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Okay, all in favor signify by saying I. I.

All oppose? Nay. Okay. Resolution 3605 has been approved. We'll now move on to the ordinances. Councilman West, would you please read bill number 1781? Yes. But title only. Bill number 1781, ordinance number blank, reszoning 208 St. Louis Avenue. An ordinance reclassifying the property commonly known as 208 St. Louisis Avenue in Fulton, Missouri from C1 commercial business district to C2 commercial district under the zoning code of the city of Fton and establishing an effective date. I make a motion to place bill number 1781 for final passage at this council meeting.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Okay, hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. All oppose. Nay. Okay. Bill number 1781 has passed. Madam clerk, would you please uh do a roll call, please? Miss Hansen? Yes. Mr. Hinch? Yes. Mr. Luther? Yes. Mr. Clue? Yes. Mr. Washington? Mr. West? Yes. Mr. Commes. Thank you. Five council members. Affirmative. Okay. Bill 17 81 has been approved.

Councilwoman Mccloo, would you please read bill number 1782? Yes, Mr. Yes. Bill number 1782 reszoning 2016 St. Louis Avenue, an ordinance read reclassifying the property commonly known as 216 St. Louis Avenue in Fulton, Missouri. And more particularly described in exhibit A attached here too shall after the effective date of the or this ordinance re be reclassified from its present zoning designation to C1 commercial business district to C2 commercial district and make a motion that bill number 1782 be considered for final passage at this meeting. I second that motion.

We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. All oppose nay. Okay. Madam clerk, would you please do a roll call on that? Mr. Hingy? Yes. Mr. Luther? Yes. Mr. Reclu? Yes. Mr. Washington. Mr. West. Yes. Mr. Combmes. Miss Hansen. We have five.

Okay. Bill number 1782 has passed. Okay. We will now move on to recess of the sitting council. At this time, the current City Council will step away from the deis to allow the city clerk to prepare for official transfer and administration oath of office for the incoming officials. To Lauren and Brad, thank you for your dedication and service the city of Folton, your commitment to our team and your contribution towards the continued growth, progress, and investment in our community has been s is is sincerely valued. It has been a pleasure to work with you and to witness your growth and learn from your leadership. Best wishes to you to the both of you for your next chapter.

to order. Madam clerk, please do a roll call. Yes, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Combmes. Miss Hansen. Yes. Mr. Hinchy, present.

Mr. Luther. Oh, look at that. I should change that up, didn't I? One second. Miss Railton, Mr. Coward, Mr. Reclu, Mr. Washington, Mr. West, six council members present for Thank you, Madam Clerk. Next, we will have the adoption. Oh, I'm sorry. Next, we will have uh comments from visitors. We'll now take comments from visitors. At this time, the visitors to address the council with any concerns or comments. The council will not interact with you, but will may address you at some time later. If you'd like to address the council, please come forward, give your name, your address, and limit your comments to no more than three minutes. Thank you. Tim Wilkerson, 1700 North School Boulevard, Fulton. Good evening, council members. I'm a former Folton Housing Authority board member who is seeking reappointment to serve our community again. I was renewed after raising valid concerns about potential discrimination and mismanagement. issues I've reported as a whistleblower to protect fair housing for all Fulton residents. Despite two prior denials, my experience strengthens the board. The mayor's recent appointee lacks my 12-year commitment since 2014, where I currently serve as chair and have since 2018.

Reinstating me upholds transparency, ends retaliation, and ensures ethical oversight. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anybody else who'd like to address the council? Good evening. Matt Goen, 1821 Ashley Court. if you don't mind if I could share a hand out with the council. Is that our

I appreciate the opportunity to be able to speak in front of you tonight. Um on occasion I like to try to prepare and and provide uh some constructive feedback and I hope you're accepting of it. Speaking in reference to the reasonzoning that just took place tonight on uh St. Louisis Avenue and the process that this um approval went through. Back in January of this year, I emailed the council, each of the council members at the time, asking for a phone call to discuss my concerns with the proposed location and the uh forthcoming resoning application based on the temporary sign that was put out front uh several months ago. Appreciate everyone. Uh six of the council members called me. I had a nice visit with Courtney Kathy uh the assistant administrator was in a conversation with us planning and zoning. So I appreciate everyone taking the time to listen to feedback uh planning zoning committee on our website on the city of Fulton website lists five members. Unfortunately there is no contact method uh listed no email no phone number. I know most of those people on that committee would have u wanted to reach out to them but had limited opportunity to do so. sure I could take it upon myself. Being as they're ser serving in the public capacity, I was hoping that information would be provided. The public hearing was held on March 24th for planning and zoning committee. I wasn't able to attend that. I understand uh from my conversations with Kathy and other people in attendance, three people spoke in favor of uh the reszoning. the property owner of course the um engineer architect who is designing uh plans for the u business and the realtor all of them have vested money in this resone I understand one letter of opposition was submitted no other claims of support or opposition so take

that for what it's worth the committee recommended the reszone to the city council city council that evening took it up had the public hearing on the same night. Again, I was not in attendance. Two people spoke in favor of it. The realtor engaged in the transaction and the engineer um who was under contract with the buyer passed two readings of the bill that evening. Uh tonight, the third reading and approval with no comments from the visitors visitors prior to the vote, which I found interesting. Typically, the agenda has been call to order, roll call, comments from visitors, um, excuse me, pledge of allegiance, then comments from visitors. The first half of this meeting had no comments from visitors. Did not allow for any public input prior to the approval on that uh, third reading of the bill. The council also passed this bill before the planning and zoning public meeting minutes were available to the public, which is surprising to me. a little bit. Um I don't know exactly what to think about that, but we I had to make a call to find out what happened uh at the meeting and to understand the process that this has gone through. I think this resoning sets precedent on the city. I shared a city zoning, a clip of the city zoning map from the city's website. That's C1 from St. Louis Avenue and Bluff Street pretty much all the way through the Second Street roundabout. Zoning that spot C2 now I believe sets precedent. I'll wrap it up, Kathy. Thank you. We have C2 tracks available in this town largely on the the what is referred to as I refer to as south end development. They need help out there. This would have been an ideal spot to uh counsel the and I use that as counseling a person or or an entity to possibly explore other opportunities. The C2 zoning allows for marijuana businesses, farm implements, feed stores, fertilizer storage, many storage buildings, and I'm

picturing each of those on that zoning on that lot. I appreciate your time. Sorry for going over. I believe the engineer at public hearing took about five minutes,

but I appreciate and I respectfully disagree with your decision on the reszoning of this property. Thank you. Thank you. Any other? Okay, we will now move on to the election of the deputy mayor. Um Oh, go. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. Next, we will move to the adoption of council rules and orders and procedures. These procedures are readopted annually and uh madame clerk has provided an overview of any pertinent modifications.

Could you just briefly go over that so everybody knows the modifications you've made? Thank you. So this year, every year I uh review the summary or the changes or the whole adoption, the whole adopted rules and procedures. And I noticed two things that I wanted to correct. The first one was section 105 for special meetings. It did not mention the sunshine law, um the 24-hour notice that we have to provide. So I added that piece in. And on section 203, the conflict of interest, um, of course, if you have an interest in anything that we're voting on, you need to let us know and and recuse yourself from the vote. Um, it also had a line in there that I thought was an interesting one. It said that a member could still participate if the presiding officer allowed it to eliminate favoritism. It I would move that. And of course it's up to you but that everybody would just step out of the room while we discuss anything instead of leaving someone in the room unless it keeps unless we have to make forum of course then we would need the person to stay but um those are my suggestions for that.

Thank you madam. Okay so now we will go on to election of deputy mayor. Oh I apologize. Okay. Do we have a motion for the uh to pass these changes? Make a motion to adopt those changes. Okay. And we have a second. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? I have one. Okay. I would really like to see us bring the I mean, right now we do a prayer before the meeting is called to order. I'd really like us to consider maybe not tonight, but a year or so to to to bring that prayer back. I'd like to get more details on why we did away with that se two or three years ago. So anyway, I'll be happy to talk with you about that after the meeting. Okay. Thank you. No other concerns. All in favor signify by saying I.

I. All oppose. Nay. It has been approved. Okay. Next, we're going into the election of deputy mayor. Um, and I'm opening the nominations. And now, as a as councilman, I would like to nominate Mike West as mayor. I'll second that.

Just to clarify, we actually don't need a second on those um unless we have multiple nominations. So all the floor is open. We have Mike. Is there any other nomination? Okay. And if not then I will accept your second. Mary, thank you very much. Um just going to call one more time. No other nominations at this time. All right. Well, we will go ahead and take a voice vote. Uh all of those in favor for appointing Mike as deputy mayor, please say I. I. And all opposed, please say name. All right. Congratulations, M.

All right. And uh I did note for the city council members that we will have you assume that responsibility at our next meeting so we can keep things moving consistently here tonight. So Mr. Henchie, we're going to keep you running the meeting this evening. And then Mike, uh assuming the mayor may or may not be here next time, you'll take over at that time. Okay. Okay, we have nothing on the consent agenda, so we'll move on to council concerns. Councilwoman Reclu have any concerns?

Yes. Good evening, everyone. Um, I've been around for quite a while. I'm not originally from uh Bolton, but I love my little town and that's why I'm here because I love my little town. I'll do what I can for everyone. If you have any questions, any problems, I'd like to be contacted. Um, I appreciate, like I said, your attendance again this evening. Congratulations on our new ones. It's going to be fun. And, uh, that's all my concerns tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Hansen.

Yes. Thank you. Um, I too would like to welcome Jack and Marlene. Um, and to say that I have really enjoyed working with Brad and Lauren. Thank you both for for all of your service. Um, I did want to mention that the historical preservation commission has a pride and preservation awards presentation tomorrow. Try to say that five times really fast. Um, it is tomorrow at the First Christian Church. The doors open, I believe, between 5:00 and 5:30. Um, but the presentation um begins at 6 and there have been several awards um for several people who were nominated for those awards. So, I would encourage you if you have a chance to come tomorrow, it's at First Christian Church and the the services begin at 6 and I have no other concerns.

Okay. Thank you, Council Councilwoman Hansen. Councilwoman Railton. Okay. Thank you, Council. Councilman Colmes is not here. Counciloman. Um, Councilman Coward, do you have any concerns? Uh, I just like to thank you for the opportunity to be appointed and looking forward to it. Oh, there it goes. Okay.

Good deal. Just like uh thank you for the opportunity to participate and looking forward to this experience. Thank you, Councilman Ricard. Okay. Um, I'm gonna put Councilman West next. Okay. Uh, first of all, thank you for the vote of confidence. I'll try to do my best as deputy mayor. Um, hopefully our mayor will return soon. Uh, welcome to to Jack and and Marlene. Um you'll I think you'll find it an interesting experience. Um the human rights commission met last night. Um we're in working towards well there's a um actually a committee of the community that are is working on Junth and that was discussed as well as um the fair housing. April is fair housing month and we tried to do a a poster contest and it's not going to work out this year. Um there's some new new things we have to figure out. Uh let's see. I'm trying to think what else. Oh um it's escaped me. Kathy, help me. I left my notes at home.

Yeah. Um, we talked about one other thing that at length I'm trying to remember what it was for the Juneenth celebration. They're having a movie which is a special thing this year,

right? So, they've got some posters out. They're going to start publicizing. It'll be in in late June, I believe. Um there's also going to be a meeting Saturday morning at 10:00 at Guiding Light uh church and it's to discuss uh for lack of a better term truency, you know, getting getting students to uh this came up in the in the candidates forum a couple weeks ago. So um the idea was to get community together to see what brainstorming could be to try to help that with that problem. May the school board candidates mention that the other thing you were thinking about is the Jane Beerman F award.

Yes, thank you. Uh the Jane Beerman Fe award. Thank you very much. I knew there was something very important. So that is open to any resident of the of the city. Um you can go on the city website to um make a nomination. Uh we're looking for somebody that's made a significant contribution to the to the city. Applications are open till June the 1st and it will the plan is to award the present the award at the uh June 23rd city council meeting. Thank you. That was the one I was wanted to most most uh point out. Anyway, and I have no concerns at this time. I appreciate uh being your deputy mayor and welcome to the our new members and our returning members. Thank you. And Mr. Washington's here now. By the way, Mr. Washington, would you like to come up and sit with us and and voice your concerns?

You're over here. Everybody, I don't know if you need to go to the office first. Yeah, I think you should. So, you had to be sworn in first. First of all, I want to apologize for being so late. I was coming back from Kansas and I had to stop off at Kansas City. But anyway, I'm here. I got here safely. So, I thank God for it and thank you. And to our new members, I'm glad that you're here to be with us.

Absolutely. We are excited to have you here with us and I hope you didn't speed on your way because that would be dangerous. But, uh, if you could, Councilman, we're going to have Kathy administer your oath of office so we can make sure you're legal this evening. So, we're going to do that real quick. All right, let's go right down there.

Okay. A resolution 366, a resolution expressing appreciation for the service Brad Luther, outgoing council member of the city of Fulton, Missouri. Whereas Brad Luther has abley and conscientiously served the city of Fulton, Missouri Zura as city councilman since first being elected on April 5th, 2022. And whereas Brad has conduct himself in conducted himself in the office of councilman with great regard to the desires and well-being of his constituents. And whereas Brad's dedication to the city of Fulton and commitment to local government are noteworthy and deserving of recognition. And now therefore be it resolved by the city council of the city of Fulton, Missouri as follows. That the mayor and city council, the mayor and city council of the city of Fton, Missouri on behalf of the citizens of the city deser desire to convey an expression of s sincere gratitude and appreciation for his faithful and valuable services rendered to this community. And I make that uh make a motion to adopt this resolution. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I.

I. I. All oppose? Nay. This revolution has been adopted.

All right. Well, I just want to take this moment to thank you, Brad. You came to the city at a really pivotal time for us. A lot of changes happening and uh throughout all of that, you have been very steadfast and always being very community forward. and um your list of accomplishments. I know you still have some things on your list, so you're going to be back. I have no doubt, but you have a long list of accomplishments and things to be very, very proud of. So, personally, I've really enjoyed working with you. I know Steve was sorry he couldn't be here with you tonight. Um but we just have the utmost gratitude and appreciation to you. I feel like

so thank you. I did write I call it a retirement speech. Um and I'm not looking at my phone because it is one to one with the Cardinals game. But that's that's where my speech is currently stored for my notes. Uh so I want to start off with why, especially for those people that may be watching. Why did I get involved? Right. Um at the time, uh before I got involved, there was some strained relationships with within Fulton and some of the entities surrounding Fton. Uh additionally, there were some decisions being made um whether it's the reclex and other things that were really frustrating not only myself but other citizens. So instead of just complaining about it, I I decided to try to get involved and my wife said, "Why don't you go join the city council?" And I said, "Yeah, right." And next thing, no, I'm on city council. And here we are four years later. Um, why did I decide not to run again? Uh, family. Family is the number one priority. Uh, over the last few years, right? I've uh had some challenges uh that we really had to come together as a family. And I appreciate all the support and blessings along the way for not only the city family but also the community as me and the family did uh go through some of those challenges but also reminds you what's most important in life. Also uh always live try to live by a moto motto that uh you know leave everything better than you found it. Four years ago I believe there was a lot lot of opportunity within the city of Fulton. I believe through the last four years through leadership changes, through hard work with the the city team and the dedication of the council that uh not only are we on the right path forward, that I have belief in in the years to come with the city of Filton. Um, additionally, you can bet that Emily and I will continue to stay involved and focus on the success success of this community. Um, also on the on the thank yous, thank you for teaching me and all the great things along the way. Thank you for all the friendships I've developed through the last four years. Thank you for keeping our community safety and community growth a priority while also keeping the soul of our community intact. Also want to thank you for all the prayers. Thank you for the

helping us through our journey with cancer and the continued love and support of this community. Love. Thank you. I will. Lauren, would you stand? A resolution of apprec appreciation expressing great appreciation for the service of Lauren eh Nelson, outgoing council member of the city of Fulton, Missouri. Whereas Lauren Eh Nelson has aly and conscientiously served the city of Fulton, Missouri as city council woman since first being elected on April 6, 2021. And whereas Lauren has conducted herself in the office of councilwoman with great regard to the desires and well-being of her constituents. And whereas Lauren's dedication to the city of Fulton and commitment to local government are noteworthy and deserving of recognition. And now therefore, be it resolved by the city council of the city of Fulton, Missouri, as follows. Section one, that the mayor and city council of the city of Fulton, Missouri, on behalf of the citizens of the city, desire to convey an expression of sincere gratitude and appreciation for her faithful and valuable service rendered to this community. And I would like to make a motion to adopt this resolution.

We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I. All oppose. Nay. The resolution has been adopted.

Lauren. Lauren. Lauren. Uh, you also came to the city in a really pivotal time and the changes you've made throughout your tenure here are really special to me and to our team, but certainly things that are going to be impactful, as I said, with Brad, long after your time with us is done. So, uh, we owe you a debt of gratitude. I know that you're one of the most caring cheerleaders that we have for this city and I don't anticipate that's going to change. Uh but thank you so much to you and your family for all of the time that you put into making our city a better place. I'm not going to say a lot of other words other than thank you. Um, it's just been great and like I said before, this isn't the last of me and I just appreciate this so much and I have so much respect for all of you guys. Um, continue to do all the hard work. I know you will. And um Bob, we've we've done really good, I think, as we all have. Um we we've really moved the city forward from whenever I started. It is completely different. And I know that with the guidance of Courtney um and Sam and all of the other team members that we have that we're going to do great things. And I can't wait to to see everything that comes. I've already tried to convince Daryl that I need to be on the utility board. I love utilities. Um, so yeah, keep keep your eyes out for me and thank you for all you do.

Thank you, Lauren. Thank you, Lauren. We're going to miss you. Okay, tonight we have no ordinances and so we'll move into announcements. Spring cleanup this week is now taking place this week along regular pickup routes. Contact the solid waste department with questions at 573592 3176. And I I want to also voice what a great job they're doing, too. The next city council meeting will be held Tuesday, April 28th at uh 2026 at 6:30 p.m. And Councilman Hinchi, if I may, we have a couple additional things to point out. I just want to say a big thank you to the parks and wreck team uh and all of the city staff and members of our community that participated in Clean Sweep Saturday this past Saturday. I know we had a great showing uh and that's always a really beneficial again event to our community. Makes a big difference. So, thank you to everyone that had a hand in that. Uh, as you started to say as well, thank you to our city staff, especially our solid waste staff who've been working extra hard, taking on some extra time and and labor to make sure that this spring cleanup week is going smoothly. They always do a really really great job and we're really proud of the work that they put into that each time. Uh, and then as you mentioned again, I want to highlight the Carver Park inclusive playground groundbreaking. That's Friday, April 17th from 1 to 1:30 p.m. That is a groundbreaking that we're doing in conjunction with the Callaway Chamber of Commerce and our partners at Callaway County Special Services. So, we're really proud of this project. I hope we see a lot of community members come out and support it. Um, and again, a special shout out to the parks and recreation team who put a lot of time and effort into that as well.

Thank you, Madam Da. And we have no executive session tonight. And uh I will entertain a motion for adjournment. So moved. We have a second. We have a motion and second. Any discussion? All in favor please say I. All oppose nay. We are adjourned.