COLONY — It won’t be ready to approve until the next town council meeting, but the Colony town council is expected to adopt its 2021-2022 budget next month. 

Although the fiscal year starts Oct. 1, Councilman Michael Johnson said he’s working on the budget and wanted to get input from his fellow council members. He said he is also going to be organizing the budget differently than it has been in the past. 

“We can better run our town if I can compare one year to the next and if I can see that specific item,” he said.

Johnson, head of the finance committee, said he’s been working towards the goals of repairing the Education and Community Centers, looking at grants for the town to apply for and determine which ones can be done internally and which ones will require an outside grant writer, reorganizing the town’s internet system and working with each council member to help them achieve their goals for the town.

One of his stated goals — find a new internet provider — got taken care of at the council meeting Tuesday when the council voted to change their internet and phone provider over to Sprout Fiber, the internet service provided by the Cullman Electric Cooperative. Johnson said at the previous council meeting that the town could save up to $100 month by changing over to Sprout. 

“Heaven forbid, if something happens and the kids have to go out of school again, we’ll have internet at the community center and the education center and town hall and can piggy back off of it,” he said.

During the work session, Johnson told the council he’d gotten three bids for repairing the roof at the community center, along with a quote from Apel Steel for a new beam to go in the community center. Of the three bids, Johnson said it was his recommendation that the town select Fleming Roofing, which provided a total bid of $42,450 for the project.

Johnson said he’d like to see the town divide the project into two parts — repairing the flat roof over the kitchen area first — in order to avoid a large hit to the budget. He said a combination of funds from the American Recovery Act and a $12,000 Cullman County Economic Development grant should help cover the cost of the repairs.

The council didn’t take any action on the bids during the regular meeting. They also held off on adopting a new personnel policy manual, with Mayor Curtis Johnson encouraging the council to review the existing policy and suggest changes.

The Colony Town Council will meet again on Tuesday, Oct. 12. The work session begins at 5:40 p.m., followed by the regular meeting at 6 p.m.