Westlake's pursuit of new water source threatens stability of Cleveland utility

 

WESTLAKE, Ohio -- Suburban Westlake is making large waves in regional water politics with an ambitious gambit to tap an outside water source -- a move that could lead to major financial problems for the Cleveland water department.

 

One of Cleveland's biggest customers, Westlake is working on plans to set up its own water department and buy wholesale from the Avon Lake water system in neighboring Lorain County.

 

The Cleveland water department, already struggling with declining consumption, is moving aggressively to stop the revolt led by longtime Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough.

 

It would be the first defection from the regional water system since several Lake County communities left in the early 1980s, and it could have far-reaching ramifications. Some fear that if Westlake pulls out, other dissatisfied western suburbs will follow.

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/01/westlakes_pursuit_of_new_water.html

Nobody has anything to say about this?

Nobody has anything to say about this?

 

It was inevitable.  Cleveland Division of Water has long lagged behind the electric and gas companies where customer service is concerned.  Examples: When I quit dealing with them a few years ago they still weren't accepting online payments, expected separate checks (and postage) for water and sewer (though overdue bills could be paid together) and expected you to see two different people if paying an overdue bill at the office.  The media's been full of examples regarding overbilling and poor maintenance service.

I have an interest in a business in Westlake and quite frankly this makes me very nervous.  I don't know if Clough is thinking things through and he really is not the type who likes to be told he is wrong so this might go forward even with the potential problems.  Looks as though Cleveland is going to play hard ball with them as well which should make all the lawyers happy (nothing wrong with that of course)

All I know is that my parents have had some awful experiences with the Water Department in recent years, bad enough that it actually gets me furious when I think about it. I can't blame Westlake for wanting nothing to do with those incompetent $%$#s.

Cleveland has good (outstanding, really) quality water, and I can't recall any problems even while growing up, but their administration has obviously taken a nosedive in the past few years. Several of my relatives in the suburbs have had serious billing issues that took a long time to resolve, and customer service was unresponsive or rude. They hire people with serious attitude problems, and probably don't pay them very well. Apparently it's gotten better, and they (recently) tend to be apologetic and responsive to customers who have complained.

 

I'm not sure it's worthwhile for Westlake to go through all this, and I hate to see more fragmentation. I think Cleveland can keep them, but I'm not sure absolute hardball is the way to go about it. Cleveland might get some money back, but they will certainly galvanize Clough and his supporters by being confrontational. Westlake didn't create the problem, and even though they may be adding to it, deciding to play hardball will just throw gasoline on the fire unless the lawyers for the city are very assured in their position. And even then, Westlake might just bite the bullet and pay to be rid of them.

^ this is the biggest complaint the anti-regionalization people bring up. Imagine a sanitation department ran on the same mentality as the water department...

 

Or worse... the police

Westlake mayor's complaints about Cleveland's water system are just a ruse: Brent Larkin

 

The Cleveland Water Department and Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough deserve each other.

 

One has been horribly mismanaged, causing customer service and billing issues that ill serve its 1.5 million customers in 70 Northeast Ohio communities.

 

The other is an overrated bore who wants to bully his way out of Cleveland's water system and switch to buying water wholesale from Avon Lake. Clough claims Cleveland is guilty of wasteful spending and inadequate cost-cutting.

 

Mayor Frank Jackson's Water Department has become a bit of a laughingstock, but there's nothing at all funny about Clough. Nor should his longevity as mayor of Westlake -- a quarter-century -- be taken as a sign of greatness.

 

It takes no special talent to preside over a filthy rich suburb of 33,000 -- a city with about $50 million in the bank.

 

A fairer test of Clough's ability would be for him to trade places temporarily with East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton. For Norton, every day is a struggle for municipal survival. For Clough, it's a leisurely stroll down the tree-lined sidewalks of Crocker Park.

Ugh, listening to "Water Wars" on 90.3. The mayor of Westlake is in for a rude awaking regarding utility precedent regarding stranded costs and making other parties whole when a wholesale customer leaves a large system.

Listened to this as well and agree with you, CBC. I wonder where he's getting his legal advice from, and what facts or law they're relying on to make this work...I don't see it. Unless he's counting on somehow winning concessions by playing up the political aspects of the water system. Not sure why the Water Department would do anything other than pay increased attention to maintenance and service issues there, though - Cleveland is clearly (unless there's something in the contract they didn't mention) not on the hook, and Westlake would be if they break the contract (which certainly didn't sound 'year to year' to me).

 

The woman from Westlake who called in - what was her point? 'We should do it because we won't do it unless it makes sense, and we'll save money. Oh, and Cleveland water is fine, but I use filtered water.' Seriously?

 

I think I posted about this before, but a family member in the west burbs had repeated issues with CWD, they were using decades-old data to estimate a bill. After receiving the complaint, they responded and have basically waived the bill up until the balance is where it 'should' have been, they also replaced the meter and did manual reads. They are not a model public utility but they are getting better, and the product really is outstanding.