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April 21, 2009

Colony hires clerk

By Tiffany Green

COLONY — The Colony town council has hired Karen McCombs as the new town clerk.

The Hayden native and will be working part-time in her first position as a town clerk. McCombs has 30 plus years of clerical experience.

Her pay will be $8 per hour. She also works for the Hayden Headstart.

The town also brought attorney Lucien Blankenship from Birmingham to meet with the council.

Currently the town has no attorney, but hopes to find one soon.

“One of the main roles (as a town attorney) is to make sure everything is done in the correct form,” he said. “I will help to make sure whatever steps you take, they will be accurate.”

Blankenship has been practicing law for 15 years and works for Blankenship and Associates. He has worked with many smaller municipalities, in particular the town of Brighton.

Mayor Morris Fitts was impressed with the work Blankenship has done in Brighton and hoped he could help the town of Colony.

“Just because you are a small town doesn’t mean you don’t have opportunities,” Blankenship said. “There are opportunities out there, but it’s not going to happen over night.”

Fitts said he wanted to find someone that will be able to work together with the town and sees that in Blankenship.

Blankenship said as he drove into the town, he envisioned the opportunities of the town by seeing all the land near Interstate 65.

“The only way you will improve the quality of life for citizens is to build and expand the town,” he said. “I saw all that land and just imagined what could happen with this town.”

Blankenship said if the council decides to hire him, his first step is to do an evaluation of the town.

“I would want to evaluate and put a plan together,” he said. “You have to be realistic as to what you can and can’t do.”

Council members shared their concerns for the town and what issues they would like Blankenship’s assistance with.

Council member Edward Webb voiced his concerns of the roads and hopes if Blankenship is hired, he would point the council in the right direction in maintaining and improving the roads.

Another concern is tax revenue and what the town currently received from the Shell gas station. Some members of the council believe the town should be getting more tax revenue from the station. Blankenship said that is something that needs to be looked into soon.

In addition to practicing law, Blankenship also owns a sports management business.

In other business:

‰ Council member Patrick Ward told the council he wanted to look into getting a fire hydrant at the volunteer fire department.

‰ Fitts announced the Cullman County Sheriffs Deputy who patrols the area will begin attending the meetings.

‰ Fitts said the auditor will give the audit report on May 1.

‰ The town is currently looking to hire a maintenance person for the town on an as needed basis. Applications will be accepted and the dates for the application will be posted on the town hall door.

‰ The council announced a community Fun Fest will be held on July 4. More details about the event will be discussed further at future meetings.



‰ Tiffany Green can be reached by e-mail at tgreen@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 221.

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