Fulcher honored by City, Fire Department for 50 years’ service

Longtime Fulton firefighter Gary Fulcher was honored by Fulton Fire Chief Terry Rudolph and members of the Fulton City Commission Monday night, for his achievement in reaching a pinnacle of service to the department, beginning to officially serve in a volunteer capacity in August of 1970, when then Chief Billy Meacham told him since he turned 21, he could serve.

“To serve for 50 years requires a lot of dedication,” Chief Rudolph said, as he shared an overview of Fulcher’s tenure throughout the five decades of service.

“I have said before, I guess my time’s about up, that maybe I need to step down,” Fulcher said, however he also expressed his appreciation for the recognition and for the opportunity to serve his community.

A certificate of appreciation and a gold watch was presented to Fulcher by Chief Rudolph, to mark the occasion.

Fulcher’s son and daughter-in-law, Chris and Melissa Fulcher, and his two grandchildren were on hand for the presentation, as was South Fulton Fire Chief Dennis Pittman, Code Enforcement Officer Nathan Lamb, City Manager Mike Gunn, Mayor David Prater, City Clerk Helen Lee, Public Works Director John Gallimore, Fulton County Judge/Executive Jim Martin, Commissioners Darcy Linn and Elaine Forrester. Commissioner Jeff Vaughn, Fulton Police Chief Terry Powell, City Attorney Rebecca Biehslich and Fulton-Hickman Counties Economic Development Partnership President Mark Welch were present via Zoom videoconferencing.

Prior to the commencement of the city’s business, Judge/Executive Martin presided over the swearing in of Mayor Prater, Commissioners Forrester, Linn and Vaughn, as they took the oath of office after their successful return to office in the November election.

FHCEDP President Mark Welch updated the officials on the partnership’s activities since beginning his position in February.

“We have underway a branding campaign for Enterprise Park at Fulton,” Welch explained, in reference to the 124 acres adjacent to what had been known as Fulton Industrial Park, and Bluegrass Bioenergy. Another 46 1/2 acres may be optioned soon, from Hancock Farms, totaling 170 acres in all, bordered to the north of Kayser, Canadian National Railroad on the west, Hwy. 307 on the east and then to Hwy. 94.

Welch reported the hiring of an intern from Murray State University to assist with the partnership’s website upgrades, as well as the enhancement of his office conference room. He shared optimism in the completion of I-69, as it relates to the area, and his recent interactions with City Manager Mike Gunn to work toward a remedy to the city’s lack of housing, as well as his leadership role in the Fulton County Workforce Ready endeavor.

In the City Manager’s report, Gunn confirmed the city’s receipt of $47,731 in CARES funding, from Department of Local Government, with a request for the payment to be made soon.

Gunn commended Public Works Director John Gallimore and his crew during the recent AT&T outage, which resulted in the city’s water plant to be down, requiring manual monitoring every two to three hours, for the entire system.

“Things like that, most of the public is not even aware of. These things just get taken care of, behind the scenes,” Gunn said, expressing his gratitude to Gallimore for his department’s efforts.

Gunn told the commission the public should be reminded of the re-instatement of the city charging a penalty for non-payment of utilities by the 10th of each month, as well as penalties to be incurred for non-payment by the 20th and cut-off.

Gunn and Mayor Prater commended Chief Rudolph and his “helpers” for Santa’s rounds throughout the city Christmas Eve on the firetruck.

“We always have a few more costumes to fill, for anyone who wants to jump on,” Rudolph said.

Commissioner Forrester questioned the status of a large “hole” on Highland Drive, with Gallimore explaining the hole was the result of the repair of a water leak, and at the present time, the covering process is waiting on the paving company to be able to supply paving material to coordinate with what is already at the site.

Commissioner Martha Vowell was absent.