Fulton City Council to hear Morels and Microbrews request

Event was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID lockdown

For an enthusiast, spotting a morel is as exciting as spotting a fairy. These tasty but ephemeral mushrooms sprung up in Callaway County in April 2020.
For an enthusiast, spotting a morel is as exciting as spotting a fairy. These tasty but ephemeral mushrooms sprung up in Callaway County in April 2020.

With more people receiving the COVID-19 vaccination and restrictions starting to ease, public events could soon be happening again around Fulton.

The Fulton City Council will hear such a request during its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers on the upper level of Fulton City Hall (18 E. 4th St.).

Meetings are open to the public, but seating is limited due to social distancing requirements. Meetings are also livestreamed at fultonmo.org and on the city's YouTube channel.

Beks owner Garry Vaught - speaking on behalf of the city's Brick District - will be on hand at Tuesday night's meeting to seek the council's permission to schedule the annual Morels and Microbrews event for noon-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 1.

Morels and Microbrews was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

In unfinished business Tuesday night, council members will also receive a Smart Grid update. Fulton city administrators discussed scrapping the system's database and starting over at the council's Feb. 23 meeting.

Aided by a U.S. Department of Energy grant in the early 2010s, Fulton installed smart meters for every residential and commercial electric customer within city limits. The cost to the city for installing the 5,500 or so meters was around $3 million, with the federal government paying for half.

Fulton Utilities Superintendent Darrell Dunlap estimated at the February meeting that since then, the city has spent an extra $1.5 million on the Smart Grid system.

The system, though, has been riddled with issues and crashed in 2019, creating persistent problems with the database.

Dunlap explained to council members he had met with Smart Grid solution company Anixter, which had previously worked with Fulton on a possible correction.

Anixter or city employees could visit and scan each meter, quickly creating an improved, redesigned database.

Dunlap noted to the council that discussions continued between the city and Anixter, but that he did not have a price estimate for the repair.

Also at Tuesday night's meeting, council members will hear a facility update on the Legends Rec-Plex. City Engineer Kyle Bruemmer cautioned the council at its March 9 meeting the target date of April 1 to open the Rec-Plex most likely wouldn't be met.

"At this juncture, I probably don't think that's going to happen," Bruemmer said then. "I'd give pause to that a little bit."

Resolution No. 3396 will also be presented to the council Tuesday night. The resolution would authorize Fulton Mayor Lowe Cannell - on behalf of the city - to execute a contract with the Fulton Housing Authority for the provision of supplemental police services.

Under the consent agenda at Tuesday night's meeting, the council will consider the approval of a request by Sarah Painter on behalf of Fulton Public Schools to have a Fulton High School senior parade on Friday, May 21. The parade would start at 4 p.m. and travel down Court Street.