Colony continues to pay down debt

Published 5:00 am Thursday, February 13, 2020

COLONY — The Colony Town Council continues to chisel away at legacy debt while facing present issues of road repair and maintenance.

At the town council meeting Tuesday night, Councilman Melvin Hammond said the town recently paid $5,000 towards a loan taken out by a previous administration, paying down the principal in order to reduce interest payments. The town had been making $571 monthly payments on the loan. Prior to the $5,000 payment the balance on the loan was $40,000.

Town Clerk Patricia Ponder noted that the debt was inherited by the current administration, and the current mayor and council have made progress in reducing the debt and paying down a court-ordered judgement related to non-payment on the loan.

“You didn’t make this debt, you inherited this debt. The previous administration inherited it,” said Ponder. “And you’re taking care of it, and I applaud you for that. And for allowing me to manage to cashflow in order to do that, because that’s all on you, it’s not on me. You decided to go forward with that, and I applaud you for that.”

The money has been owed for 11 years. A previous administration took out the 15-year loan to add bathrooms at a town facility and make other facility improvements. When the then-mayor did not make payments on the loan, the lender sued and the town was ordered to pay an additional $47,000. In the past three years, the town has reduced the judgement payment to $24,712.

At the meeting, the council also discussed two road complaints received during the heavy rains. Ward Hill Road and Twitty Lane were reported as having dangerous road conditions for school buses. The town put six loads of gravel to fill a pot hole on Ward Hill Road, but the town doesn’t have the funds to repair the entire road.

“With the road situation, we don’t have funds,” said Mayor Donnis Leeth.

He noted that several years ago, Colony Road was repaved by the county and cost approximately $1 million. “And Ward Hill, that’s not half of Colony Road,” he said. “That’s going to be up in the $400,000-500,000 [range]. The thing that costs so much is the material and labor, to pay people to do that. And then they [people in the community] sit back and point fingers. Everybody’s got some fingers. Make your fingers work, come out and help somebody.”

In other business, the town council:

Approved participating in a summer meal program for area children.

Announced the next meeting of the planning committee for Colony Days will be Feb. 29 at 2 p.m.

Approved pay increases for the mayor and town council following the next municipal elections. The mayor’s pay will increase from $75 per month to $300 per month, while council member’s pay will go from $10 per meeting to $20 meeting. 

Editor Amy Henderson can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext 116