Colony creates local historical society, expands access to accounts for roads

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The Colony Town Council is seen Tuesday night, Sept. 8, 2020. (W.C. Mann for The Cullman Tribune)

COLONY, Ala. – The Colony Town Council on Tuesday evening voted to extend to the Finance Committee chairman (currently Councilman Melvin Hammond, retiring, and incoming successor Eric Carwell) and Roads and Utilities Committee Chairwoman Ethel Alexander the authority to write checks from and make deposits to the Town’s three bank accounts, including an account required by law to be limited to funds and expenditures for roads. Councilman and Mayor-Elect Curtis Johnson objected, saying that the matter should wait until after the new council is seated in November. His was the only vote against the motion.

The council then approved the creation of the Colony Historical Society to be headed up by Alexander, who said the group will seek to preserve community, school and cemetery history, along with African-American family histories and stories from the Colony area, as well as around Cullman, Walker and Blount counties. Additionally, the group will seek to restore Colony’s Mason Hall, the oldest standing structure in the community, and will use a designated space at the Educational Complex as a repository for genealogical records and a small community museum. Alexander said that the group will seek status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The motion passed with Johnson again as the only “no” vote.

The council’s last official act of the evening was to pass a unanimous motion to repair potholes and other damage on Wooley Road.

During the work session and during his meeting remarks, Mayor Donnis Leeth congratulated Johnson on his victory in last month’s Municipal Election, and said that he looks forward to traveling more and spending more time with his family once he leaves office in November. He added that he will remain a member of the state Black Mayors’ Association and serve as its vice president in the coming year, and that he has been asked to serve on a yet unnamed Cullman-area board.

Leeth said, “I’m going to miss doing this job, but God’s got something else for me to do.”

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Margaret Dimbo and Gwendolyn Purifoy, election officers who engaged in a heated exchange with Leeth at the last council meeting before the election, returned and thanked the outgoing mayor for his four years of service to the town. Leeth thanked them, but added, “You don’t mean it.”

Advised by Hammond and Councilman Samuel Ashford that “This is not the time,” Leeth adjourned the meeting.

From the work session

Council discussion during the work session included:

  • Alexander said the town still needs to add more families to its census report, and said she would be glad to help.
  • Alexander and Leeth both praised COVID training held in the town earlier Tuesday, with Leeth advising that it is better to get information on COVID-19 from experts than from the media.
  • Leeth thanked volunteers from Desperation Church and around the Colony community who came out last Saturday to help with continuing repairs and improvements at the town gym, and noted that another work day will take place the first Saturday in October.
  • Town Clerk Patricia Ponder told the council all windows at the Educational Complex have been caulked, and three outside walls have been pressure washed; the front wall is to be done Wednesday.
  • Ponder also gave an update on the storm shelter, saying that the facility has been pressure washed inside and out, spiders have been removed and a new contract with Cook’s Pest Control should help keep spiders from returning. The shelter’s generator is now working, but plumbing problems continue and the dehumidifier is not draining properly.
  • The town hall air conditioning is not functioning properly, and Ponder is working with Bama Air to resolve the problem.
  • Alexander, as she did at the last meeting before the election, asked the incoming mayor and council members for a statement on plans for the next four years. Johnson gave the only response, declining to answer but saying, “When the time comes, I’ll put it out there.” Alexander told the council and audience that her goals include seeing community members work closer together and the creation of special programs to help community children and seniors. After she spoke, Johnson stated that things that appeared in a paid ad shortly before the election were meant “from the bottom of my heart,” though he did not list what those were. He added that he would not promise the town a particular business (as Leeth had done), but that he will look at any business opportunity that comes along.

 

The Colony Town Council meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, with a work session at 5 p.m. and regular meeting at 6 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

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W.C. Mann

craig@cullmantribune.com