Fulton Common Council Votes On Amendments To Contractual, Construction Fees

FULTON – The city of Fulton Common Council met last night, Tuesday, March 15, when it invited city residents to speak during seven separate public hearings, and then voted on the proposed amendments, including proposed changes to various fees relating to contractual work and construction in the city.

Public hearing #1: To amend Chapter 277-15 “Sanitary Sewer Contractors Annual Fee.” This amendment increases said fee from $25 to $100. The public hearing was left open from the previous March meeting.

Public hearing #2: To amend Chapter 277-5 “General Contractors Annual Fee,” increasing the fee from $25 to $100. This public hearing was left open from the previous March meeting.

Public hearing #3: To amend Chapter 290 and A700 “Dumpsters and Portable Storage Containers,” increasing the free fee to $25. There is no change of the $25 permit extensions up to five extensions. This public hearing was left open from the previous March meeting.

Public hearing #4: Amend Chapter A700-2 “Building Permit Fee Schedule.” These permit fees vary based on the range of cost of construction. The lowest range, $0-$1,000, currently has a fee of $25, and the proposed amendment would increase that fee to $40. The highest range, $50,001-$51,000, currently has a fee of $178.50. The new proposed fee would be $270. Additionally, the cost of extra inspections after the first free one would increase from $25 to $50.

From the time between Common Council meetings, Mayor Deana Michaels said former Mayor Daryl Hayden reached out to most councilors with a comment on the amendments, but did not specify what he had said.

Like he did at the previous March meeting, Frank Castiglia Jr. chose to speak regarding all four public hearings at once. He asked councilors to keep in mind that taxpayers will be impacted by increasing these fees for contractors.

The councilors, excluding Fourth Ward Councilor Ethan Parkhurst as he was absent from last night’s meeting, voted to approve the amendments for “Sanitary Sewer Contractors Annual Fee,” “General Contractors Annual Fee,” and “Dumpsters and Portable Storage Containers.”

First Ward Councilor Dan Farfaglia voted against the amendment for “Dumpsters and Portable Storage Containers,” but the motion passed.

Farfaglia and Fifth Ward Councilor/President Audrey Avery voted against amending “Building Permit Fee Schedule,” and so with Parkhurst’s absence, the motion failed.

Public hearing #5: Relative to the Community Development CDBG Microenterprise grant application submission.

Public hearing #6: Relative to Community Development OCR CARES Act grant application submission.

During the fifth and sixth public hearings, Community Development Agency Director Sarah Farley explained the purpose of applying to these grants.

Farley said the CDBG Microenterprise grant’s purpose is to assist small businesses with five or fewer employees. For the CARES Act grant, it would be used to replace a grant that expired due to the pandemic for housing rehabilitation for six families, as a second round for small local business grants, and for fire and police renovations. This grant is over $1.25 million and the city would have one year to spend it.

Mayor Michaels explained that for grants, it is a back and forth process to find out if the grant is a good fit for the city and its needs. She said when a city is asked to apply for the final application of a grant, it is favorable.

Castiglia asked if there could be a way to use a CDBG grant for sewer work. Michaels replied that there is a pot of various grant money available for different uses. She said with the CARES Act grants, there have not been many applications so the money is just sitting there.

Resident David Fares then expressed that while he is glad to be going after grants, he is worried the city may “bite off more than it can chew,” and asked if it has the capability to manage it all.

“Grants are great, however they need work. Sometimes there’s a cost to them and there’s a time commitment,” Michaels said. “I don’t want to do a lot and come in mediocre. I want to have great impact and transformational impact on a smaller scale.”

She said the city has identified areas where they need to “pump the brakes” so they can focus on the time constraints presented in other areas, such as getting started with the DRI projects and the stairs project behind Veterans Park as that grant will soon expire.

Michaels said just because there is grant money available, that does not mean that the city can afford its time and cost commitment. Also, the option of letting an awarded grant expire because the match cost is too high, does not look good to the funders for any future grant applications.

Castiglia asked about using a portion of a grant for administrative costs. Michaels said there is potential for some of the administration costs to either pay some of the expenses incurred through the current employees or to look at hiring a consultant rather than worrying about sustaining another person on the payroll.

Public hearing #7: Amend Chapter C9 “Eligibility For City Offices.” This amendment would allow the person the city would like to take over as the Chief Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator to work in this position although they do not reside in the city of Fulton.

Castiglia said while he has nothing personal against the employee, he believes taxpayer money should stay in Fulton, meaning if someone works in a city position, they should live in the city.

All councilors in attendance voted in favor of this amendment and the motion passed.

The council then moved on to the remaining agenda items, voting to approve all:

• Approve the meeting minutes for the March 1 meeting.
• Approve the clerk’s report for February in the amount of $4,750.25.
• Approve the seasonal food vendors permit for Dingle’s Lakeside Ice Cream from April 1 to October 31 at Bullhead Point.
• Approve the seasonal food vendors permit for Shannon’s Hot Dogs from April 1 to October 31 at Bullhead Point.

Councilor Comments:

First Ward Councilor Dan Farfaglia and Third Ward Councilor Don Patrick Jr. had nothing to say. Fourth Ward Councilor Ethan Parkhurst was absent from the meeting.

Second Ward Councilor Doug Chapman thanked those in attendance for coming and wished them a Happy St. Patrick’s Day for Thursday.

Fifth Ward Councilor/President Audrey Avery thanked the mayor, council and community for their support this past weekend as her husband had surgery.

Sixth Ward Councilor Larry Macner said as spring is around the corner to keep an eye out for garbage blowing around. He also addressed Castiglia as the county’s 25th district legislator, asking him to look into a tax exemption for all residents 65 and older.

Mayor Deana Michaels thanked Castiglia for bringing a recommendation to their attention during public comment, when he shared that the county legislature will be holding a public hearing regarding a partial tax exemption for qualifying persons with disabilities and will vote on the resolution in April. He suggested the city also look into it.

“We may not always agree on how we do business, but I think we have to be positive and we have to work together and we have to show a unity for the community; that’s why we were elected,” Michaels said. “I extend the olive branch; I extend the opportunity. I want to work with you regardless of politics. We’ve got to put that aside. It doesn’t matter. We have a community to serve.”

Michaels also talked about getting emergency response information more readily available on the city website, a new personnel director, and rating of the city showing improvement.

Print this entry