A longstanding dispute between two former Birmingham water board members and the utility apparently has ended, following a $77,500 settlement approved by current leaders of the utility.Board members of Central Alabama Water, which took over the utility from the Birmingham Water Works Board unanimously agreed Friday to pay George Munchus and Lucien Blankenship to settle their case. The former board members sued the utility when they were denied complete access to detailed legal bills from outside lawyers.

Munchus and Blankenship in late 2023 sued and accused the former board of violating Alabama’s open records law by hiding information about legal expenses from the public.

Central Alabama Water board members unanimously voted to settle the lawsuit without public discussion after spending about 45 minutes in a closed-door executive session with lawyers.

Attorney Richard Rice, who represents Munchus and Blankenship, welcomed the settlement.

“They sacrificed a lot of time and effort in their service on the board and we’re glad we were able to reach a resolution,” Rice told AL.com. “The lawsuit was initially filed to promote more transparency, and we do think it is a positive step toward transparency.”

In the lawsuit, Munchus said Michael Johnson, who was then the general manager at the utility, denied his requests to view and take copies of the utility’s monthly invoices for legal expenses. Johnson cited the board’s policy, which only allows the public to see a summary of the legal bills, according to the lawsuit.

The impasse over the invoices had lingered between Munchus, former board chairwoman Tereshia Huffman and then chief outside counsel Mark Parnell.

Munchus said approvals were made without adequate information because board members voted on totals, while details of the bills were kept under lock and key. On the other side, utility leaders at the time insisted that board members were not denied access to invoices but were required to review them at the office.

The board’s meeting agendas list the name of the law firm and how much the utility is paying, but they did not provide details about the legal services or cases. According to the policy, only a summary page of legal bills is available to the public.