The Fulton City Council advanced the reading for an ordinance which will help fund a new warehouse facility at its regular meeting Thursday.
The regular meeting would have been Tuesday, but it was postponed because of the Kingdom of Callaway Supper.
Bill number 1421 authorized a $4 million lease-purchase agreement between the city and three area banks: Callaway Bank, Central Bank and Bank Star One. The loan will be paid back monthly at a principle amount of $33,333 and some change, according to Chief Financial Officer Kathy Holschlag. She reported to the council that while the principle amount will stay the same, the interest rate will decrease each month. This is an "advantageous" route, Holschlag added.
The city will pay off the loan for a period of roughly 10 years, afterward the building ownership will revert back to the city, said Mayor LeRoy Benton.
"It was a timing issue," Benton said as to why the ordinance was advanced to the third and final reading Thursday night. "It (the loan) is scheduled for closing next week and so we are just trying to meet that schedule ... This is a repeat of how we financed the city hall 15 years ago. It seems to be a good way to keep the finances local with our local banks."
The council was also given an update on the construction of the City of Fulton Animal Shelter by Greg Hayes, city engineer. The construction for the shelter began more than a year ago, Hayes said. The shelter's heated floors are complete and there is still need for some concrete to be poured, such as on the ADA accessible parking lot, Hayes said during the update.
Benton added that more than 90 percent of the inside of the shelter is complete and that the majority of the work left to be done is on the outside of the building. Hayes estimated that the open house event to celebrate the completion of the shelter will either be in late April or early May.
Earlier in the meeting the council approved two events for Relay for Life of Callaway County. Linda Boshers with the local Relay for Life spoke to the council about the county-wide event, Paint the Town Purple, which will start before the relay.
The Relay will be held at the Callaway Electric Cooperative on June 7. "Paint the Town Purple," is a contest designed to raise awareness about the relay by asking local homes and businesses to decorate their windows with purple and display Relay for Life signs in lawns across the city.
The council also approved Boshers' request to have a vendor event in Memorial Park on May 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event has at least 32 vendors signed up to sell everything from designer dog food to kettle corn and Tupperware. The limit of vendors is 35, so there is still space left, she said.
The event will help fund the Relay by taking $25 from the vendors, who will get to keep their profits. Vendors also will donate door prizes which will be given away periodically during the event.
The council also approved a block party on McNeal Lane and Downing Court, as well as the "Out of the Darkness Walk." The walk is organized to advocate for programs for suicide prevention, said Melody Seiger, chair for the Greater Mid-Missouri Chapter for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The 3.4 mile walk is scheduled for Oct. 17. The registration at the event starts at 11 a.m. and the walk begins at 1 p.m. There will be more than 300 walkers, some of which either have lost a friend or loved one to suicide, or lived through suicidal experience themselves, Seiger said.
At the end of the meeting, Fulton Police Chief Steve Myers advised residents to use the police department as a meeting place for Craigslist dealings. He noted that there have been problems with Craigslist arranged meetings all around the country and that arranging any meetings to take place at the police department would allow an officer to monitor, and only monitor, the situation to keep a safe environment.
"We are offering this as a service to our citizens," he said. "And nine out of 10 times if they don't want to meet you at the police station it is not a legitimate deal."