3/3/2020 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 3-03-2020 Councilman Brossard said it is because of differences of opinions on the matter. He said Council is trying to be prudent and wait out the litigation with the City of Westlake because North Olmsted receives its water through Westlake. He said depending on what happens with that, the City may or may not have the ability to receive water through those pipes. He said it is an opt -in at any time and there is no deadline. Ms. Dietz said litigation can go on for years so that is the gamble we take. Mr. Brossard said you are right litigation can go on for a while, but during that time the City still continues to get the repairs fixed for free by Cleveland Water. Ms. Dietz asked why the community wasn't told about this. Mr. Brossard said this isn't Council's piece of legislation, it is the administrations, so it would be up to the administration if they wish to inform residents or not. Councilwoman Hemann said to address why waiting out Westlake's litigation is a sound decision is because there is no guarantee Council would not have to look at residents in the future and say you are going to have to pay a one-time $5,000 reconnection fee because that is what Cleveland Water told us it has to charge. She said Cleveland Water will not make any guarantees to North Olmsted and they won't discuss it because they are in litigation. If water needs to be rerouted it may or may not be North Olmsted's financial burden and Cleveland Water will not guarantee that it won't be. There are multiple reasons, but that is one of them. She also said only 30% of our water lines qualify for this lottery type program and 30% isn't an attractive number if Council might have to come back and say sorry we made a mistake by entering this agreement. She said for the moment the Council just doesn't have the answers it needs. Ms. Dietz said she believes Fairview and Rocky River have signed it and asked if they get their water through Westlake as well. Councilwoman Hemann said multiple communities have signed it and no they do not. Councilman Limpert said there is a contractual component to this. He said not only would the City be signing over pipes to Cleveland Water, but there are other stipulations such as how rates are managed and what kind of percentage increases are allowed. He said when you sign an agreement for 20 years that passes over all of your pipes and you would have to buy those back, you are essentially signing a life -time agreement with that municipality. It has obviously been done by other communities, but it is something not to be taken lightly and I believe many of us on Council feel like we have not received all the answers to feel comfortable making that decision. Ms. Dietz said North Olmsted has owned it's pipes for 20 years. Councilman Limpert said more like 100 years, except for the mains which Cleveland Water owns. R