Suburban Westlakecan now buy water from a supplier other than Cleveland, but there is still a lot of work to do. This week a Cuyahoga County judge ruled that Westlake can go ahead with plans to purchase water from Avon Lake and possibly from Cleveland as well.
The ruling follows a nearly four-year fight over Westlake’s water contract that made Cleveland the sole supplier. Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough says it not only gives the city an alternate water source, it also eliminates Cleveland’s fee increase to re-coupe the cost of rerouting water lines imposed after Westlake announced it wanted the option of buying from another supplier.
But he says getting water from Avon Lake is still a long way off.
“We have to re-calculate the business model. We have to sit down with our city council. I’m sure we would have open meetings for our residents to voice any concerns they might have should we go with Avon Lake completely or if we try to work an agreement where we buy from both suppliers.”
Clough says when that’s worked out, it would then take about a year and a half to build a trunk line to bring Avon Lake water to Westlake. Meanwhile, Cleveland plans to appeal the judge’s ruling.