Tuesday night's Fulton City Council meeting, which included discussion of the city's 2012 budget, got off to a later start than usual due to a short celebration (and bonfire) to mark a significant financial milestone.
City leaders past and present gathered to burn copies of the mortgage papers for Fulton City Hall - which was dedicated on Oct. 19, 2002 - after the final payment was made on the building in September.
The new city hall project was approved by then-council-members LeRoy Benton (now the mayor), Wayne Chailland, Dorothy Reifstick, Elmer Sands, Floyd Winingear, James McCall, Steve Moore and Karey Wilkerson under the leadership of former mayor Robert Craghead in September 2001. Planning for the $4.8 million project also was completed under the guidance of Director of Administration Bill Johnson, City Clerk Carolyn Laswell and former city engineer William Ernst with a 10-year lease purchase agreement through The Callaway Bank, Central Bank, Bank Star One, United Security Bank and Union Planters Bank.