You may have heard by now that we are changing our name to Avon Lake Regional Water. Why, you ask? There are actually several reasons. Here are a few we think are the most important:
Increasing customer understanding of our 24/7 availability: Apart from water, life does not exist. Yet, the provision of water and wastewater services are considered so basic that most don’t give it a second thought. However, if you wake at 3:00 a.m. to find your basement filling with water, we want you to have our name and number (440-933-6226) and our round-the-clock availability top of mind. The word “water,” rather than “Municipal Utilities” helps to make what we do more intuitive for our customers.
Saving you time/money: We often receive calls about electric, gas, and trash services. Having the word “water” in our name clarifies the scope of our services, saving you time from a wasted call or trip here to pay electric or trash bills or start/stop non-water services. Secondly, your money (from the rates you pay us) is saved as our staff receives fewer of these calls that should be directed elsewhere, freeing them up to perform their duties.
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Reducing confusion: Customers/media often do not realize that we are governed by the Board of Municipal Utilities—not the City Council. They then call the Mayor or a City Council member with a question or for a comment about water and/or wastewater services in Avon Lake. The icing event in January is a great example. Though we kept the Mayor apprised, he and City Hall should not have had to spend time responding to media and otherwise dealing with our crisis.
Why “Avon Lake Regional Water”? The choice was simple. This utility is owned by you—the residents of Avon Lake—and, as such, the name should include “Avon Lake.” We provide utility services related to water. At this point, these services include providing you drinking water and collecting and treating the wastewater you generate. (If the City ever determines it wants to create a stormwater utility, we would be responsible for running it. However, at present, the City manages stormwater through the Service Department.) We added “regional” to our name. Why? We’ve been providing water to cities beyond Avon Lake almost as long as we’ve been in business. This helps keep our rates among the lowest in the state. “Regional” is a reminder to not only our existing customers about one of the reasons we can provide good quality services for about $1 per day, but also to potential new customers that we provide services to much more than Avon Lake.
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We hope you believe we provide you excellent service. Whether you do or not, have you considered helping assure that we do provide excellent service by becoming a member of the Board of Municipal Utilities? A position on the Board is becoming available, and the Board is seeking candidates. Please see the following link for more information: http://alwtr.us/BdCand.
Avon Lake Municipal Utilities/Avon Lake Regional Water is your water and wastewater service provider. Questions/comments? Contact us via phone (440-933-6226), email (contact@avonlakewater.org), social media (Facebook/Twitter), or in person (201 Miller Road). You can also learn more by watching our semi-monthly Board Recap Show on ALC-TV’s government channel (Time Warner 12 or WOW! 21) or logging on to avonlake.pegcentral.com to see recap shows or Board meetings. Avon Lake Regional Water: Serving the region, protecting our resource.