MEDINA — Changes in water service are coming to parts of Brunswick and Hinckley Township next week following a settlement between Cleveland and Medina County.

Some residences and businesses in Hinckley that are customers of the Cleveland Water District will become customers of the county starting Aug. 14. Homes and businesses in a section of Brunswick will start receiving county water, even though they still will be Cleveland Water customers.

County Sanitary Engineer Jim Troike said that the changes were outlined in a 2005 agreement between Cleveland and the county, which said the county would increase water pressure to specific sections of Brunswick and Hinckley.

The part of Brunswick included in the agreement is largely bordered by Interstate 71, Center Road, West 130th Street and Laurel Road. The Hinckley portion is bordered by West 130th, Laurel, Center and various residential streets.

According to the agreement, once the county built infrastructure to increase pressure, it would start supplying water to customers.

In 2005, the county built a water tower for about $1.2 million on Stony Hill Road in Hinckley to add water pressure. Around 2007, it built a water line for about $2 million on Laurel Road to bring the water from the tower to the areas specified in the agreement, Troike said.

But Cleveland Water didn’t allow the county to tie in once that was done, he said.

“Our lines were in place and they didn’t allow the lines to be hooked together,” he said. “So the water couldn’t flow.”

Cleveland Water spokesman John Goersmeyer said there was a disagreement over language in the contract between Cleveland Water and Medina County. He said it was unclear in the contract who would supply the water to the Brunswick and Hinckley areas. Therefore, he said, Cleveland would not allow the county to tie in.

Medina County filed suit in 2009, claiming Cleveland breached its contract. Cleveland’s law department and the Medina County Prosecutor’s Office settled last month.

Goersmeyer said Cleveland Water wanted to “put the legal aspects behind us so we could move forward with the agreement with Medina County.”

County Prosecutor Dean Holman said in a statement that Cleveland agreed to follow the 2005 agreement.

That means those in the Brunswick area will start receiving water from the county, but still will be customers of Cleveland Water because Cleveland owns Brunswick’s waterlines. Those in the Hinckley area will become county customers.

Troike said all the Hinckley homeowners have been notified. They will begin receiving county water rates, which Troike said are generally lower than Cleveland’s.

In addition, residents in the Hinckley and Brunswick areas have been offered free water pressure regulators. He said there are older waterlines in the area and residents have expressed concerns about the increased pressure.

“An older waterline could have problems with pressure being too high. This allows people within their home to adjust pressure,” he explained.

Cleveland also agreed in the settlement to pay about $190,000 to make up for the money the county would have earned by serving the new areas between 2007 and this year. Troike said that money will go to his department and likely will be used to pay off some of its debt for projects.

The 2005 agreement between Medina County and Cleveland also stipulates the county eventually will serve about 500 homes in northwest Hinckley. Troike said that includes neighborhoods such as the Brookside Estates. They will become customers of the county by 2012, Troike said.

Contact Maria Kacik Kula at (330) 721-4049 or mkacik@medina-gazette.com.