History of Munford

¹For 5 years before the Munford Water Authority was incorporated, Mr. Frank B. Carter ran and maintained the Munford Community Water Service without any remuneration.  

• In March 1972, the Board bought the No. 1 and No. 2 well sites for $500 from Carter Estates and, in September of the same year, paid Mr. F. Eugene Waters and Mrs. Joyce T. Waters the sum of $500 for the Ponder Lane tank site, where a 500,000 gallon water storage tank was installed. 
• In 1972, after the death of Frank Carter, the County Commissioner elected Harold Woodard to the Board of Directors.
• In September 1973, the office building at 43590 Highway 21 was purchased for $5,000 from Fred and Ella Fuller.  
  
• The estimated sale of water for 1979 was $33,744.00.  The minimum rate for the first 3000 gallons was raised in April from $4.75 to $5.25.
• In 1982, a contract was awarded for a water line extension of 5000’ to provide water to the Hill Elementary School on Jenifer Road.  By this time the system had 365 customers. 

A report in January 1984 showed the system had 90,793 feet (17.2 miles) of main water line in size from 2” to 8” PVC.  The Carter Street well produced 36,619,500 gallons of water and 32,530,080 gallons were sold for an income of $50,252.51.  The system had 410 customers at that time.  After completing the northern extension in 1986, the water system had 32.5 miles of main line, the number of customers had increased to 610, with water sales of $75,000. 

The northern extension provided water service to Jenifer Road, McKinney Street, Granttown Road, Priebes Mill Road, Cole Road, and Ledbetter Road and included installing a 200,000 gallon water storage tank on Scenic Circle. 

Some events of 1991 were an extension on Highway 21 north to install a metered connection with Oxford Water.  The minimum bill increased to $7.50 per month and three full time positions were established.  These positions were Manager, Maintenance Supervisor and Clerk and a part time meter reader.  William Haynes was manager, Barbara White was the clerk and John M. Daugherty, Jr. was maintenance supervisor.  In October of this same year, another rate increase was approved by the board, raising the minimum rate from $7.50 to $9.00. 

The main event for the authority in 1992 was that the number of directors changed from three to five.  The board makeup was: Malcolm G. Coley, Chairman; Carl F. Smith, V-Chairman; Donald O. Cockrell, Director; William E. (Billy) Swinford, Director; and Arthur L. Dial, Director.  Carl F. Smith became a board member after the death of William Haynes, and Malcolm G. Coley became manager as well as board chairman.  William Haynes was one of the incorporators in 1970 and had served as board chairman and manager during his 20 years serving the authority.

In 1993 Bobby Robinson was hired as manager.  Mr. Robinson was the first manager who was not a board member.  Water rates increased to $10.00 for the minimum bill from $9.00, and the Goodenville extension was started.  The Goodenville extension included extending lines on Campbell Road to Lackey Lane and on Watts Road. 

By July of 1995 the water system had grown to 897 customers with water sells for that month of 6,612,089 gallons. 

In 1996 Stella Fowler was hired as clerk/secretary.  Another extension was also done that year. This was the Metal Samples extension which added water service to Cedars Road, Hopeful Road, Henderson Lake Road and Davie Road.

In July of 2000 the system had 1042 customers and sold 7,507,110 gallons of water. 

The next extension was in 2001.  This extension was referred to as the McElderry Road Extension and Armbrester Road Upgrade.  The 2-inch line on Armbrester was upgraded to a 6-inch line.  The McElderry Road extention added lines South along Highway 21, across Oak Grove Road, Curry Station and Watts Road.  McElderry Road South was extended to Highway 21, Twin Churches Road, Ivey Way, Chinnabee Road and Cheaha Road. 

On April 5, 2004, the original loan of $230,000 from the Farmers Home Administration to establish the water authority was paid off.  In March of the following year, the Board voted to change the legal name of the water authority from The Munford Water and Fire Protection Authority, Inc. to Munford Water Authority, Inc. 

In July 21, 2005, the Board of Directors signed a resolution, approving the employee’s enrollment into the State Retirement Systems of Alabama.   

By February, 2007, the Authority had grown to 1,300 customers with 51 miles of water mains, 500,000 gallons of water storage capacity and produced an average of 294,000 gallons of water per day.  Water rates were $11.00 for a minimum of 3,000 gallons, and $4.50 per 1,000 gallons over 3,000.  The Authority had 3 full time and 2 part time employees. 

In May 2007, the Water Authority moved to our new office at 78 Railroad Street.  The construction of the new office was made possible by the State buying our old office building and land located along Highway 21 for the widening of Highway 21 to a four-lane.  The new office has about twice the space as the old office.  For the convenience of our customers, the new office is equipped with a drive-thru window for paying bills. 

In 2007, the Board of Directors started discussing the need for a new well as the demand for water was going up each year and the only way to meet this increase in demand was to buy more water from the Oxford Water Works.  Financing options for a new well were investigated in 2008 and in 2009, a contract was granted to construct a 500 GPM drinking water well.  The well was completed in April, 2010, and an operating permit was granted from ADEM for 400 GPM (the reduction from 500 GPM to 400 GPM was due to the ground water supply.) 

On April 30, 2011, Munford Water held a start up ceremony for the new well and combined this with Munford Water Authority, Inc.’s 40th Anniversary Celebration. 

Currently, the Authority has 1340 customers and produces over 300,000 gallons of water per day. Water rates are $12.26 for the first 3,000 gallons and $5.25 per 1,000 gallons over 3,000. 

Stephen B. Adkins
Retired General Manager (11/18/2021)
May 2012

At the start, the water system covered the initial Munford area and had about 300 customers. There were two wells; the No.1 well on 1st Avenue North, and No. 2 well was located on Carter Street. The No. 1 well was drilled in 1952 and in 1974 the pump was disconnected and this well was not used again.  The No. 2 well was drilled in 1960 and produced all the water for the water system.  The No. 2 well on Carter Street was and is 348’ deep and produced 160-170 gallons per minute from the Knox Aquifer as its source.

In October 1971 a grant in the amount of $57,400 and a loan of $230,000 was applied for from the Farmers Home Administration.  The purpose of this loan and grant was to build a waterworks and distribution system.  As a condition of this loan and grant, Munford Water Authority, Inc. was required to change its name to Munford Water and Fire Protection Inc.  This name change was made in February 1972.  

An Accountants report showed the assets of the Authority were $7,681.91 as of December 31, 1971, with total revenues of $5,557.35 and expenses of $7,100.30.  

WATER RATES IN 1971 WERE AS FOLLOWS:

Attorney for the Authority, to nominate and elect three men to serve as Directors of the Authority. These men were William M. Haynes, Frank B. Carter and William Nathan Foshee.  Mr. Haynes would be Chairman of the Directors and Mr. Foshee would be Secretary and Treasurer.​

The by laws of the Munford Water Authority, Inc. was presented and adopted by the Directors at the meeting.  Before the Authority was formed the Munford water system operated as the Munford Water Commission.  

Munford Water Authority, Inc.
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A Brief History of the Munford Water Authority, Inc. Celebrating 40 Years of Service 1970-2010

​The Munford Water Authority, Inc. was formed in October 1970 by Frank B. Carter¹, William M. Haynes, William Nathan Foshee, William D. Camp and Harold E. Woodard.  The incorporators met on January 13, 1971, in the office of Ralph Gaines, 

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Munford Water Authority, Inc.