Mayor Lynn Swinford and the council accepted the petition from the Harris family to annex all four corners of the intersection. Now that the city owns the property at the intersection, it can ask the Alabama Department of Transportation to install a traffic light.
There has been public demand to have a traffic signal since volunteer firefighter Matthew Rouse was fatally injured in a traffic accident at that site in October. Swinford said he will contact the state about the signal soon.
In other business:
• The council passed a resolution to take unemployment compensation tax out of the town employees' paychecks. Swinford said the city had mistakenly never taken out that tax since it incorporated and hired town employees. Munford will have to pay the tax for the past two years and the pay that had been missed this year.
• Two men addressed the council about separate road issues. Oscar Crow said a drainage problem near a home he owns on Carter Street has washed part of the driveway away. Crow said he had been complaining to the town for two months about the problem.
Swinford said he is aware of the problem and agreed with Crow that repairs needed to be made to fix that drainage problem, but the recent wet weather has prevented the town from being able to do anything in that area.
Albert Whitman addressed the council about problems with part of the road the town owns on the way in to Deerwood Estates. Whitman said the road is developing large areas of standing water as well as several deep potholes only six or seven months after work had been performed on it.
Swinford said he and the county commissioner had gone out and looked at the road, and they had decided the trashcans residents put out at the entrance to the road need to be moved to reduce traffic. He also said he saw the end of the road fallen into disrepair, which would be addressed as well.
• Paul Cockrell announced that the Library Board will dedicate the history section of the library in honor of Hugh Parnell on May 17 at 2 p.m.
• Councilman David Dabbs announced that mosquito spraying should start up again on Monday with sprays occurring three times a week.
• An audience member asked the council if there was a way to fine people who speed through Munford on Alabama 21. Swinford said since the town does not have a police force there was not much it could do. He hoped the new red light would slow people down, though.
