The Fulton City Council unanimously voiced support for Gov. Jay Nixon's proposal to appropriate funding in the 2015 budget for the Fulton State Hospital Tuesday.
At it's meeting, the council adopted a resolution that "hereby urges the state of Missouri's 97th General Assembly to appropriate funding for a strategic bond issuance to construct a new maximum and intermediate security psychiatric facility at Fulton State Hospital."
On Dec. 10, Nixon held a press conference at Fulton State Hospital stating he was releasing withheld funding to go forward with the planning and development on a new high- and medium-security facility within the hospital, and planned to recommend appropriating bonds to complete the project in his 2015 budget. The announcement drew bipartisan support from several state legislatures, including State Rep. Jeanie Riddle (R-Mokane).
Fulton's resolution sites the deteriorating facilities at the hospital, the improved care for patients and safety for employees a renovation would provide, the state's Triple-A credit rating and the boost to local economy as major factors in its decision to support the initiative.
Councilman Lowe Cannell noted that it was still up to a vote from the state's General Assembly to actually appropriate the bonds to construct the facility.