Poll workers, from left, Tony Duke, Mary Sue Freeman and Marie Sanford count votes after polls closed for the Berlin incorporation vote in Feb. 2018.

BERLIN — The votes are in, and the residents of the Berlin community have chosen to incorporate into Cullman County’s newest municipality.  

A little more than 300 residents of the proposed town limits were eligible to vote in the referendum, and 68 came to the Berlin Community Center on Tuesday to decide the matter. 

The final tally was 45-23 in favor of incorporation. 

Once incorporated, Berlin will be the twelfth municipality in Cullman County, joining Cullman, Hanceville, Good Hope, Dodge City, Fairview, West Point, Baileyton, South Vinemont, Colony, Holly Pond and Garden City.

Berlin resident Patrick Bates has spearheaded the incorporation effort over the past two years, researching tax apportionments, circulating and submitting a petition and covering the $5,000-$10,000 cost of the election. 

He was present when the final vote tally was announced, and said he was overwhelmed seeing all of that effort coming to fruition on Tuesday night. 

Next up in the incorporation process is a census performed by the Cullman County Probate Court to determine the exact population of the fledgling town, and then an order of incorporation will be entered, Bates said. 

After the order of incorporation is made, an election will be held to elect a mayor and town council. 

Bates said he believes the census will be performed in the next few weeks, and thinks the elections for council and mayor should take place before the statewide primary elections in June. 

“The real work now begins,” Bates said.