The town of Colony is shutting down - ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, Sports

The town of Colony will shut down Monday and it could stay that way for months. That's because three council members failed to show up for a called meeting to put a plan in place to keep the town functioning.

The Colony Town Hall, Community Center and the Education Complex will all shut down Monday. Right now, the Alabama Attorney General's Office is figuring out how to operate the town under the circumstances.

The Mayor of Colony, prayed for its future Sunday. After midnight, his term is over and the town has no leadership. Mayor Morris Fitts says "After tonight, all of us go out so we don't have no power at all."

Two council members tied in the mayoral run-off, but the council could not agree on selecting a mayor. Mayor Fitts says "We tried in five meetings, we couldn't it."

The council also tied on letting the clerk pay the bills until the situation could be resolved. Sunday night's called meeting was to pass that, but not enough council members showed up to vote.  So Monday, Colony is closed.

Senator Paul Bussman says "The mayor's term ends and three of the council people's terms end so you've only got three members left and you have to have four to have a quorum. If you don't have a quorum you can't operate a business."

268 residents live in Colony and many can't believe what they're hearing.

Kimberly Twitty says "When we come inside the doors and do business, we need to put our personal feelings aside and do what's best for our community and having our community shut down over one simple issue is not the answer.

One resident even called a councilwoman, not present, to get her to show up. Twitty says "I don't understand why we can't as grown people and adults make decisions that good for our community."

Senator Paul Bussman says Governor Robert Bentley will now have to appoint a council member so there will be enough members to begin filling seats. As for the town itself. "The next step is for the Attorney General to give us an opinion on how to operate and he'll tell us whether we need a conservator or someone to oversee the business of the community. The thing we don't want is to have power bills delinquent, don't want loans pass due."

Senator Bussman made arrangements to make sure the Cullman County Sheriff will have the key to the town hall so poll workers can unlock it for the election on Tuesday. It could take 60 days for the governor to appoint a person to the Colony Town Council.