City Council - Regular Meeting

and any and all

portion of our meeting please come to the podium state your name and address for the clerk and you will be limited to three minutes mr. Barnes deputy mayor members of the council I bring to you no complaints tonight Oh Rob Barnes 5128 County Road 105

will not take but just a minute of your time. I know you've got a full agenda tonight and it's an amazing opportunity to see the group behind me in attendance. My recollection, don't often remember seeing the council chambers as full as they are. So that's wonderful. I merely come tonight in the way of providing an introduction. I recognize that most of the folks that sit up here I do know. Some I've had the opportunity to work with. For the benefit of the group, I wanted to again introduce myself as a candidate for presiding commissioner in Callaway County. And to assure this group, if the citizens of the county do allow me to serve in that role, that I very much look forward to working with the city of Fulton and the other municipalities in our county. I think collaboration is very important. It certainly is to me. I find that that works well, getting together, having conversation, and getting to know each other, working on issues as one unit. We won't always probably end up with the same outcome sometimes, but we'll be working for the greater good of the community. And with that, I'll let you return to your business at hand. Thank you.

One else that would like to speak to the council. Hearing none. We have special recognitions and presentations. First is recognition of 2026 Legends Wall of Fame honorees. Charlene. Park board.

Charlene McArter, Parks and Rec Superintendent. The park board has been busy and we have a wall of legends at Legends Rec Plex. What the Wall of Legends is, is to highlight community members and recognize the impact that they've made in this community. How we are doing that is dedicating a plaque that will be on display at Legends RecPlex at 808 State Street. This year, there were two nominations that the Park Board has approved to And tonight I wanted to present that plaque that we will be putting in legends on the wall of fame. And I wanted to also ask the two individuals that nominated these people to come up. The first I would like is Rose Galbraith to come up. She's nominated Bake McBride to be recognized on the wall of fame. On this plaque, we do have a picture, and it is recognized with his name and a little synopsis of him. So this will hang up at Legends RecPlex, and then we also want to present her with a plaque recognizing and appreciating you for making the nomination very much. Anybody that would like to, in the family, that would like to come up and take a picture, Our park board assistant here, Larry, is going to present you with the plaques, and then we can get pictures.

All right. Well, I just want to say thank you very much.

That's the one we'll hang up. We'll hang up.

We'll hang this one up in the deck?

Yeah.

Thank you very much. It's an honor. It's a great honor. Just so you know.

Do you guys want to get a picture with the plaques? If you guys want to hold it up. the next individual that i would like to call up is denzel weaver um this individual nominated carl lee to be recognized on the wall of legends and this is the plaque that we will recognize carl with it has a picture of him as well as his name in a synopsis so and then this is the plaque that will hang out And that's everything I had. Thank you guys very much.

Thank you. And thanks to the park board and those true legendary Fultonians. I remember when Mr. McBride played for the Cardinals. So anyway, I recognize the name. I believe the ballpark in town is named after him as well. Could be wrong. Also, we have a presentation of the 2026 Jane Beerman Fight Humanitarian Award by the Human Rights Commission. I believe Mr. Clapp, yeah.

I'm Tom Clapp. I'm the president of the City of Fulton's Human Rights Commission. A number of years ago, we established the Jane Biederman Fike Humanitarian Award. Quickly, Jane Biederman Fike was a lady whose head and shoulders a humanitarian when she saw someone in need she did something about it she was a wonderful advocate for people with mental health problems she worked actively with William Woods to establish a social services program for educating if there was a need in the community Jane was willing to fill a sandbag and try to fix the problem And in that nature, we have decided, in a rather sexist way, you don't know the politics of this yet, to honor a woman who has been a great humanitarian for the community. I can't list the things that Jan Finke has done. I should have brought my list, but I think she's going to mention a few things. But I will add, in all that she's done, she's done it in partnership with a wonderful husband, Alan. And so you get a little credit for this too, even though it's Jan's name on this fine plaque. And so, Jan, come take your plaque, get a picture, and say a few things to it. Get a picture real quick.

Thank you.

Are you trying?

Oh, yeah.

One last one. One more.

One more.

One more.

well first of all i would just like to thank the selection committee for choosing me as a recipient of the jane freeman pike award i really didn't know anything about this award He just told it all like then. So I feel very, very honored that I would be a selected recipient. I also want to thank my family, friends, community groups, and organizations for their encouragement, support, and friendship through the years. Because of Heather, my daughter, that is what brought us to Fulton. In 1979, Alan, my husband, and I moved to Fulton with our two-year-old daughter, Heather, so that she could attend the Missouri School for the Deaf. At that time, I only knew one person. Many of you may know her, Mary Lynn Harrison-Battles. I taught with her my first year of teaching at Sturgeon. She was the only person I knew when we moved to Fulton. From the very beginning, we were welcomed with open arms. Missouri School for the Deaf embraced us as we became involved in the school activities and events. The public schools of North Callaway and Fulton Public Schools became my employers and work family from 1980 to 2008. Court Street United Methodist became our church family and important to our lives. Over the years, this community has always made us feel at home. My family and I have been blessed to become involved in many community organizations as members and as volunteers. Since retiring, I have enjoyed devoting my time to volunteering and staying active in the community that has given so much to us. Presently, my focus has been to keep four sisters from Afghan involvement in the Rising Sun 4-H Club. They are presenting demonstrations, have had projects selected at the Missouri State Fair, and participating in club events. It has been a privilege to build our lives here and has been a pleasure to call Colton our home. I am deeply honored to accept this award. Thank you again for this recognition and for allowing me to be part of this caring and supportive community.

Well, I will say quite a celebrity here in the city of Fulton for sure. In fact, the number of people that stopped me today and said, I'll be at the council meeting tonight because there's something big happening. There's a lot of big things happening tonight, but I know they were here for you as well. And Tom, always a flair for an interesting angle. We never know where we're going to go with that. But thank you all. Deputy Mayor, there's one other special person I'd like to recognize tonight. All right. I have been made aware that tonight is Emily O'Leary's final council meeting with us this evening. And Emily is the editor over at the Fulton Sun. I just want to give you your flowers for a moment and say you've been really wonderful to work with throughout your time here with us. I have always appreciated that you're very factual in your reporting. You always get to the bottom of what's going on. And I think that the people of Fulton and Callaway County have benefited from the way that you reported the news. So for me personally, from the city of Fulton, thank you for the service that you provided, and we will certainly miss you.

Thank you for that. Sorry. Are you? We'll find out more later.

I don't know if you're moving out or what.

But one of the things I know the thinkies used to do was make kettle corn, which is very good. I know. Yeah, there was a lot of hot days you were out there doing that too. So over that hot kettle. So thank you. And that went to a lot of charitable organizations. So thank you all for that. And Emily, we're gonna miss you. all right we'll move on we have a public hearing tonight this could be interesting okay to consider the request to establish an initial zoning classification of m1 industrial for attractive land located at 4930 state route state road hh fulton missouri considering it of consisting of approximately 16.53 acres annexed in the city of fulton by ordinance number 1720-26. So we'll have three calls in favor of this zoning and three calls in opposition to this zoning. Oh, sure. How do I do that? Okay, the public hearing is open. Do I need to repeat all that? Okay, so thank you for that. So I would ask for any in favor to come to the mic and tell us your name and address for the clerks and tell us why you're in favor.

Yes, sir. And thank you to the council this evening. Janae Danuser with Danuser Machine Company, 500 East 3rd Street in Fulton. And on behalf of everyone at Danuser Machine Company, we voice our support for this. Thank you.

Second call for those wishing to speak in favor of this zoning. This is an initial zoning, by the way, because we just annexed the property in the town. And third call for anyone wishing to speak in favor of this initial zoning. Hearing no further, I'll call for the first call for anyone who wishes to speak in opposition to this zoning. Seeing none, I'll call for a second call for anyone wishing to speak in opposition to this zoning. And third and final call for anyone who wishes to speak in opposition to this zoning. Seeing none, I now declare this public hearing closed. Right. We have a consent agenda. So that consists of City Council meeting minutes from June 23, 2026 and July 14, 2026. I move that we approve the agenda. I have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Hearing none, the consent agenda is approved. We had no consent agenda item for discussion. We have presentation acceptance of this June Director of Administration Report.

It's a lot of words. Yeah, a lot of words. It's okay. All right. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. You guys have all had an opportunity to take a look at the report, and staff is here and available to answer any questions you might have. As per usual, it's been a busy month. Lots of projects going on, quite a few public works projects, and some utility things as well. So with that, if you have any questions, we'll be happy to answer those for you.

I do have one I want to, I noticed in finance department on page four of the utility building, we have 34 energy assistance pledges. Is that people that pledge to support others? Is that what that is?

CMCA and different places around that pledge to, and they pay some of their utility bills.

Do we still have the program where citizens can pay a dollar more and that kind of thing?

We've been, I think, tossing that around. I think that's something. We don't have that right now.

Okay, we had it for a while. I didn't know what the current status was. So I just wanted to point it out because I wanted to encourage people to take advantage of that to help others.

Let me look into that. Okay, thank you.

All right, thank you. Anyone else? All right, I'll entertain that motion.

I move to approve the DOA report.

Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Say aye. Aye. All those opposed, same sign. All right. June DOA report is approved. Now we have presentation and acceptance of the June financial statement. Getting your steps in tonight.

Candy Johnson, CFO. City of Fulton recorded five months of sales tax in 2026. Collections are up 2.9% from fiscal year 2025. Use tax is down 5.5% from fiscal year 2025. June had two payroll cycles. In the month of June, the warehouse loan and the MUELP loan were paid off in full. and overall year-to-date financial performance remains consistent with budget expectations does anybody have any questions you did say the warehouse is paid for yes sir praise god yeah okay the motion i move that we approve the financial statement second in discussion of that motion

Hearing none, all those in favor, please say yes. Yes. All those opposed, please say no. Yes is heard. All righty, we have no unfinished business or no new business. Bring us to Council Concerns. This is where council members may discuss matters of concern not on the agenda. Council liaisons to city boards and commissions may also provide a brief review of the most recent meeting. So I'll skip over the ones that are absent tonight. Start with Councilman Washington.

There's none at this time.

No items? All right. Anything from the Park Board?

Oh, yes. Thank you. I do want to update the council. It's been brought to our attention that the parks and rec, the golf course and those type of things where there's no debt in that situation that we're operating. There's some pluses in the operation of that. And also it's been brought to the park board about what we're gonna be discussing tonight about the renaming the basketball court. Some of those things are gonna be discussed tonight. So, and Charlene, is there anything that Do you think it needed to be highlighted to be brought to the council that I might have missed?

Charlie McArter, Parks and Rec Superintendent. We had our last park board meeting yesterday evening at 530. We rescheduled it. I don't believe that there's anything of significance. I think the main thing is on the agenda for tonight. That's right. And I'm happy to talk about that when it comes up next. That would be good. Thank you.

Other than that, that's it.

Great, thank you. I know the Parks Department and Park Board have been very active, so great. Thank you. I'll skip myself for now. Councilman Combs.

Yes, Deputy Mayor. The Planning and Zoning Commission did meet tonight to discuss the initial zoning of the 4930 State Road HH, and they did make the recommendation that we do go ahead and initially zone it, the M1 as requested. Nobody in opposition of that, and the overall consensus was positive that's going to be good for the city to go ahead and do that. But outside of that, no concerns this time.

Thank you. Councilman Hinchey.

Yes, Mr. Mayor. I have no concerns. And we have not had any meetings of the safety committee lately. And I would like to put a plug in for our little furry friends that are in the animal shelter. There's quite a few in there. And there might be something that somebody might want to take home. Just go on in. You can come in during operating hours and meet these little animals, and maybe you might fall in love with them and bring them home. And that's all I have.

Councilman Coward, my apologies. I skipped right. Not a problem. I checked it all.

Apologize. The utility committee met yesterday. did not have a forum, so we didn't have any action. Just a general overall satisfaction with all the weather we've had lately around that our utilities are working well. And Daryl and his staff, some kudos for that. And just as another sidelight, I'd like to recognize Shannon and Ellen Finke again. Their daughter, Heather Dunn, is the regional teacher of the year candidate for the state of Missouri. You might have seen that in the paper. That's quite an accomplishment. I think the initial screening from this area was about 30 people. And so there's probably about another 40 people in that whole statewide pool. I don't remember those numbers exactly, but we wish her well.

32.

No, not her, I was at the Missouri school for that. We've been connected about that many years.

Understood, small town. All right, and anything else? Councilman Coward, anything else? All right, great, thank you. And the Human Rights Commission has not met since our last meeting. You saw the fruits of that tonight presentation of the Jane Bierman Pike Award. And I think those that attended, the nominated people and those that came for the presentation, and I have no items to bring up as well. So brings us to resolutions. Our first resolution is Resolution 3614 to be presented by Councilman Washington.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Resolution 3614, Carver School Basketball Court Naming, a resolution recognizing the contribution of Tony Galbraith Sr. by naming the basketball court at Carver Park in his honor. I make a motion that we pass 3614 at tonight's meeting.

Second. All righty.

Just a minute, we'll have some word from him.

Sure. I have a motion and a second to pass Resolution 3614 at tonight's meeting. Is there any discussion on this motion? Sounds like Ms. McArthur has something to say.

Charlene McArthur, Parks and Rec Superintendent. At our last park board meeting, I brought a proposal to the board from um Alan Lawson requesting that we honor Tony Galbraith by naming the basketball courts at Carver Park after him the park board approved and supported that so I wanted to bring that next to the council to get their approval on

any discussion from the council thank you with permission mr brant did you have anything that you wanted to add to that discussion i know you made a special trip here tonight come on up sure sure thank you

He and I went to school together, played a little football together, and I highly recommend you guys to, if you could, David's going to put a sign, but I said, I suggested, why don't we put on the court his name, Tony Galvin. I think he deserves something like that. We're all getting up in age and stuff, and so, you know, I'm sure he would appreciate you guys. All right. Tony.

And then I just want to clarify on that request. I believe there are plans at the upcoming peace festival this weekend to honor him. Um, so that event is on Saturday and I'm not going to speak out of turn and say what time Kathy might have more information on that than I do. 5 o'clock. Okay. So I know that there are some goals to have a celebration and honor Mr. Galbraith, yes, with that designation. Again, as was stated, the Park Board recommended this wholeheartedly. We will continue to discuss the painting on the court. I do think a sign, if the City Council approves this, we can get that done before the event. The painting will be something we would need to bid out, but certainly something we can investigate and look further into.

So you said you're going to bring the sign first, you say?

Yes. So we would be able to produce the sign first for the event. And then kind of like we talked about at the park board meeting, we'll have to go out to bid and do some other things before we could paint on the court. We want to make sure that it lasts.

We will do that.

I will tell you, we're going to take a look at that. I understand how important that is. And I totally think the park board thinks that's important. I know as staff, we think that's important too. We just have to go through that formal process.

Appreciate it.

God bless you. Have a good evening. Thank you. I thought he played football, so thank you for that clarification. All right. Any further discussion from the council? I don't even want to go there. Okay. Okay. Hearing none, all those in favor, say yes. Yes. All those opposed, no. All right. Resolution 3614 is declared passed. I now have Resolution 3615, which is Jefferson City Coca-Cola Beverage Agreement. Ms. Railton is not here tonight, so I've asked Councilman Combs to read this resolution.

Yes, Deputy Mayor. Resolution 3615, Jefferson City Coca-Cola Beverage Agreement, a resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the City of Fulton, Missouri, to sign all necessary documents in relation to an exclusive beverage agreement with Jefferson City Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Jefferson City, Missouri, for certain parks and recreation facilities. I make a motion to pass Resolution 3615 at this meeting. Second.

All right. I have a motion and a second to pass resolution number 3615 at tonight's meeting. Is there any discussion on this motion? Hearing none, all those in favor say yes. Yes. All those opposed, no. Resolution number 3615 has passed. Huh. of Resolution 3616, Missouri Blue Shield Grant Program. I've asked Councilman Cowler to read this in Mrs. LeClew's absence.

Yes, sir. Resolution 3616, Missouri Blue Shield Grant Program, a resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the city of Fulton, Missouri, to execute all documents necessary to apply for and if awarded, accept funding through the Missouri Blue Shield Grant Program for law enforcement equipment and establishing an effective day. I make a motion to pass this resolution number 3616 at this council meeting.

Second. I have a motion and a second to pass resolution 3616 at tonight's meeting. Is there any discussion on this motion? Does the chief have any remarks to make on this?

The Blue Shield program, the program that Governor Kehoe started, in order to get this grant, we have to apply to become a Blue Shield city. In order to do that, we have to meet certain criteria. And once you become a Blue Shield city, then you can apply for a grant. And we've done that two years in a row now, qualified and applied. uh we have not been awarded the second yet but we did apply for three new mobile radios which are going on patrol cars uh that are about almost six thousand dollars a piece for those for our motion the statewide radio system that we use and then also two uh panasonic toughbook computers and two docking stations that can pass through antennas to go on top of the pro cars So that's what we've applied for. Myself, people at our command staff sat down, tried to figure out what we need, and what would help the city the best, and that's what we've been in for.

All right, great. Thank you. Any questions? All righty. There ain't no further discussion. All those in favor, please say yes. Yes. Those opposed, no. All right. Resolution number 3616 has passed. Thank you, Deputy Chief. All right. Brings us to ordinances. The first ordinance is for first reading Councilman Combs of Bill number 1791, initial zoning of 4930 State Road HH.

Yes, Deputy Mayor. Bill number 1791, initial zoning for 4930 State Road HH, an ordinance establishing the initial zoning of a tract of land located at 4930 State Road HH in Fulton, Missouri, as M1 Industrial under the zoning code of the City of Fulton and establishing an effective date. I make a motion to pass. Move bill number 1791 to second reading at the next regularly scheduled meeting.

I have a motion and a second to place bill number 1791 for second reading at the next regularly scheduled council meeting. Is there any discussion on this motion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say yes. Yes. Those opposed, say no. Bill number 1791 will move to second reading at the next meeting. Okay, I now have first reading for bill number 1792 by Councilman Cowler for vacating public utility easements.

1792 vacating public utility easement an ordinance authorizing the mayor on behalf of the city of fulton to execute all necessary documents to vacate the city's right title and interest in the public utility easement located within the Prater Legacy Ventures LLC development on the east side of County Meadows Lane, City of Fulton, Missouri, in favor of the Prater Legacy Ventures LLC and establishing an effective date. I make a motion to place Bill 1792 for second reading at the next regular council meeting. Second.

Okay, I have a motion and a second to place bill number 1792 for second reading at the next regularly scheduled meeting. Is there any discussion on this motion? Any updates from staff on this? Okay. Hearing none, all those in favor, please say yes. Yes. All those opposed, please say no. I believe the yeses have it, so bill number 1792 will move to second reading at the next regularly scheduled council meeting. right we now have for second reading councilman henshaw to read bill number 1790 the 2026-2027 school resource officer agreement mr henshaw yes deputy mayor

Bill number 1790, 2026 to 2027, school resource officer agreement. An ordinance authorizing the mayor on behalf of the city of Fulton, Missouri, to enter into an agreement between Fulton Public School District 58 and the city for the purpose of establishing a cooperative relationship to provide one school resource officer on school campuses during 2026 to 2027 school year and establishing effective date. I make a motion to place bill number 1790 for third reading at this council meeting.

Second. I have a motion and a second to place bill number 1790 for third reading at tonight's council meeting. Is there any discussion on this motion? Hearing none, all those in favor please say yes. Yes. All those opposed, no. I mean, yes, I could come to that one. Okay. Okay, we now, the third reading, bill number 1790. Yes, Deputy Mayor. Wait a minute. Sorry. Bill number 1790 will move to third reading at this meeting.

Now, Mr. Henschen. Yes, Deputy Mayor. Bill number 1790, 26 to 27 School Resource Officer Agreement. An ordinance authorizing the mayor on behalf of the City of Fulton, Missouri, to enter an agreement between Fulton Public Schools, District number 58, and the City of Fulton for the purpose of establishing a cooperative relationship between to provide one school resource officer on the school campuses during 2026 to 2027 school year and establishing effective date. I make a motion to place bill number 1790 for the final passages at this council meeting.

Second. I have a motion to place bill number 1790 for final passage at tonight's meeting. Is there any discussion on this motion?

Yes, Deputy Mayor. Chief Ladwick, last year we had a resource officer. Is it gonna be the same one this year or it's gonna be a different one? Or do they rotate or I'm not sure how that works.

So this year, we put Jonathan Morris into that position. He's a Fulton High School graduate here at Fulton, and he's gonna be the SRO. The last SRO we had on the Kinsman Chisholm, she's actually gonna be leading us and going back home to Illinois to help with the family. John Morgan is going to be a new SRO. He just completed advanced SRO school last week. So it takes quite a bit of training to be able to get into those schools and do what he does. And he really does enjoy doing that. He cares about our schools. This is home for him.

The reason why I was asking, a lot of times when you have resource officer from one year and you change it up again, so the kid's gotta know the kids, know their officer again, but if you got the same one, then everybody knows the one that you, so it's good to know.

Thank you. So when McKenzie was, dealing with some family issues and stuff. Jonathan was the one that was filling in for her. So he was there for a big portion of the last year.

Excellent. Thank you.

Thank you. Could you explain why this is so important, why this is such a valuable thing to our school? Because they don't just sit around and walk around. They have a lot on their plate.

between all the schools they do they've got six campuses that they take care of they're basically available by phone to any of the schools there they're not just a police officer on campus they build relationships they help teach the kids in some ways and basically build relationships where The kids are not afraid of police officers because they go through school, grow up, become adults, and build a trust with people in Utah.

I would think they would serve as a role model for the students as well. Great. Thank you. Anyone else? Thank you. Any other discussion of this motion? All righty. I have a motion to place bill number 1790 for final passage at tonight's meeting. No discussion, hearing none. All those in favor, please say yes. Yes. All those opposed, no. Motion carries. You have heard bill number 1790 presented three times. Now is the time for final consideration. Please answer yes or no as a clerk reads the roll call.

Mr. Cowherd?

Yes.

Ms. Hanson? Mr. Hinchey? Yes. Ms. Railton? Ms. McClure? Mr. Washington? Yes. Mr. West? Yes. Mr. Collins? Yes. Five council members affirmative.

Bill number 1790 has passed. Thank you. No other ordinances. We'll move to announcements. The next city council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 11, 2026 at 6.30 p.m.

I do have 1 other item deputy mayor. I failed to mention 1 other very important person whose last meeting is tonight and I'm not going to go into it because we're going to do that at the next meeting. But this is chief final meeting with us this evening. He will be coming back at our next meeting on the 11th to be honored for his time with the city of Fulton. But I think he is very deserving of a round of applause for his many years of service. He's going to be very upset with me that I did that, and I didn't tell him we were going to do that tonight. So that being said, again, thank you very much to Chief Ladwig, and we appreciate your service. The other thing I wanted to point out is escaping me at this moment. I shouldn't have started talking before I had that in my brain, but we do have a need for an executive session tonight to discuss legal.

I would like to say I appreciate Chief Ladwig's service to the community for many years. And I know his next career is going to be great, being a disc jockey. Or not a disc jockey, doing wedding reception, that sort of thing. So it sounds like fun. Disc jockey, that would be bad. Anyway, I'm dating myself. So we have a need for an executive session. Can I get that motion, please?

I move that we move to executive session.

discuss legal and who second okay Alan okay all righty I have a motion a second to move into executive session any discussion of that item all those in favor please say yes yes opposed no all righty the ayes have it and madam will call the roll

Ms. Hanson, Mr. Hinchy, Ms. Railton, Mr. Clue, Mr. Washington, Mr. West, Mr. Combs, Mr. Cowherd, and Ms. Hanson. All in favor? Thank you.

All right. Thank you. We will now move into executive session.