By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – Nearly a month after 18-year-old Haleigh Green’s death, city and county leaders are inviting residents to honor the teen and participate in an open discussion on ways to improve Columbiana at a City Council meeting Aug. 18.

The meeting will take place on Main Street at 6 p.m. and also will serve as an opportunity for residents to bring the green bows they displayed in memory of Green and watch them be incorporated in memorial wreaths for her family.

“We’re trying to get every part of the city to participate,” Columbiana Mayor Stancil Handley said. “I feel like now we have more unity within the city than I’ve ever seen here, so I want to take advantage of the fact that people from different parts of the city are concerned about the city.”

Volunteers led by Susan Conn, owner of Main Street Florist in Columbiana, will attach the bows to three, 6-foot wreath forms during the meeting.

Conn spearheaded efforts to make the bows in exchange for donations to the Green and Bivins families for Haleigh Green’s funeral expenses.

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office investigators located Green’s body in a wooded area in the county on July 11 after she was reported missing July 6. Preliminary reports indicated she had been fatally shot, and on July 21, U.S. Marshals located and arrested the suspect in the case, 19-year-old Demarcus Means of Columbiana, and charged him with Green’s murder.

The wreaths will be given to Haleigh’s mother and father, and one will be placed on her grave, Conn said.

“We were just trying to figure out how to find a use for the bows that would mean something to the family, Conn said. “It’s just been a community effort to help them in any way.”

Conn said she and many other volunteers made about 1,500 bows and have raised $23,000 in donations for the family.

“The community-wise support has been phenomenal,” Conn said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would raise $22,000 in a week and a day. It took everybody pulling together to do it.”

Conn said people as far away as Texas, New Jersey and Maryland ordered green bows, and in Columbiana, locals flooded Main Street Florist to help Conn assemble the bows.

“Volunteers just showed up to make bows,” she said. “People were just flocking in here to help. I didn’t have to even ask for help.”

Some people have written messages on their bows, Conn said.

The agenda for the meeting will be “to explore support for a citywide effort to make improvements in habitual high risk areas” within Columbiana, Handley wrote in a press release.

Handley said Shelby County District Attorney Jill Lee, Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego, Columbiana Police Chief Lamar Vick, City Attorney Bill Justice, City Judge Michael Atchison and Columbiana City Council members are set to attend the meeting.

A moderator will be present, and anyone who wishes to speak will be allowed to do so, Handley said.

“The green ribbon drive showed much support from our citizens during a tragic time,” Handley wrote. “I am very proud of the way our town has become unified during our tragic event. Everyone is urged to attend and support our efforts to unify and make a difference.”