Mayor Michaels Provides Codes Update at Common Council Meeting

FULTON – All resolutions passed at the City of Fulton’s Common Council Meeting on Tuesday, October 17, while Mayor Deana Michaels provided an update during the public comment period to previous concerns regarding code violations and enforcement.

After investigating, Michaels shared that Fulton worked with the City of Oswego early in 2020 to see how its codes department worked and how it enforced them. Back then, Oswego had a codes team roughly three times as big as Fulton’s, which led to Fulton certifying more codes enforcement officials to ensure that there was enough people that were qualified to write up violations. She also mentioned that Fulton had codes in place but not the ability to necessarily enforce them.

“What we learned from the meeting with Oswego codes is that we already had the codes in place. We just weren’t enforcing them,” Michaels said. “That’s how we started our cleanup fund just like Oswego started up their cleanup fund. We were able to mimic that at some levels.”

In order to better enforce the codes and have a larger staff like Oswego’s, the department needed more revenue to “support their code efforts and pay for itself.” Part of the funds that help pay for the codes department includes fees. Fulton looked into what Oswego’s structure looked like and with this in mind, it raised the fee of rental permits to $150 as of the last common council meeting. With this increase, the city expects to triple revenue from that permit.

During Tuesday’s public comment period, citizens wondered why the Fulton code violations were not explicitly published on its website similar to what Oswego does. While that works for Oswego, the Fulton legal team does not want to take that avenue.

“From our legal team, we could be putting ourselves at risk of a lawsuit,” Michaels said. “If I’m a [domestic violence] case and now you’re putting all my information up on there, I could sue the city. If this is a situation where it is already under a court proceeding of some sort, we could sue you for putting it up there. You aren’t giving me a fair chance in court … We have to mitigate [the risk of a lawsuit.]”

Despite Fulton’s inability to share code violations in the same way Oswego does it, Fulton’s city attorney, Robert McKertich, suggests that concerned citizens use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to request public records regarding these violations.

“Mostly what I see municipalities do, the code department [will] release a monthly report to the councilors identifying what are the complaints that they received, what actions have been taken, what is the status of it and that at a meeting like this, councilors can get the report and take a look at it. That is accessible to the public,” McKertich said. “In my mind, that is the best way to do it. The combination of accessing information through [FOIA,] and the code department issuing monthly or quarterly reports that are available to the councilors and the public.”

Beyond the public comment period, Michaels recognized six city employees who have spent “significant” time with Fulton, ranging from 25-35 years. She also shared two proclamations, recognizing October as “Principal Recognition Month” and the week of October 16 as “School Board Recognition Week.”

All 11 resolutions from the meeting passed unanimously including the following:

• Authorize the Mayor to sign a Professional Service Agreement with C&S Companies
• Authorize the Mayor to sign a contract for employment with Chris Waldron, Director of Parks and Recreation
• Authorize the issuance of bonds for renovations at the Police-Fire Station
• Authorize the issuance of bonds for reconstruction of the Wastewater Treatment Plant
• Authorize the issuance of bonds for the Pathfinder Canal Towpath Trail & Green Infrastructure Project
• Approve the Financial Parity Proposal Memorandum for the Fulton Police Benevolent Association

All Fulton Common Council meetings are held the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 8 due to Election Day. To view the October 17 agenda please click here.

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