RICHFIELD — While most of us cringe at the high price of gasoline, one group of Richfield Village and Richfield Township residents have the same reaction when they open their water bills.

Things could get even worse for the 83 residents of the Briarwood Subdivision who are serviced with water and sewer by the private utility Water & Sewer LLC. The Woodmere-based utility recently sent the residents a letter announcing its intention to increase their water and sewer rates by more than 100 percent.

The current costs are 11 cents per cubic foot for water and 12 cents for sewer. If the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approves the rate increase, the costs would be 23.6 cents for water and 27.6 cents for sewer.

The subdivision, which consists of 36 condominiums and 36 homes located off state Route 303, mostly is located in the village, except for about six homes and 116 acres of undeveloped property (owned by Richfield Furnace Run LLC, the same owners of Water & Sewer LLC) in the township.

Vicci Stoerkel, of Burrwood Drive, is one of the residents who came to the Richfield Village Council work session March 18 looking for help from village officials.

“I’m paying $540 for water every two months,” she said. “How can I pay a water bill of $1,000?”

In a letter to the residents dated March 6, Water & Sewer stated it’s losing money and must increase the rates. The company also cited the increased costs of operations and capital improvements over the past seven years, which are not currently reflected in the residents’ rates.

Resident Trevor Kovach, of Sawbridge Drive, said the residents are doing everything they can to conserve water.

“We’ve installed new faucets at my house,” he said. “We don’t let the water run when we brush our teeth.”

Water & Sewer did acknowledge in the letter that the residents have cut back on their water use since the last rate increase in 2004. The company stated that is one of the reasons why it is requesting another rate increase.

The company also placed the blame for the impasse squarely on the shoulders of village officials for failing to approve an agreement with the city of Cleveland to provide water to that area. Cleveland already supplies water to most of the village and some areas of the township.

“We sincerely regret having to file for another rate increase,” the company wrote, “but, faced with mounting losses, and with no sign that Richfield Village intends to act in your interests, we have no alternative.”

Richfield Village Councilwoman Bobbie Beshara said the proposal with Cleveland referenced in the letter doesn’t have anything to do with providing water to the Briarwood Subdivision.

“This is a very complicated issue and there are a lot of things that we’re truly trying to sort through,” said Beshara. “I feel confident we will be able to resolve this.”

In response to the rate increase, Council passed a resolution opposing the rate increase later in the evening at its regular meeting. The Richfield Township Board of Trustees did the same thing two days later.

The saga of water, annexation and developing the undeveloped property in that subdivision has been ongoing for more than 20 years. According to township Zoning Inspector Laurie Pinney, in 1983 township officials agreed to a court order that allows the developer to build 280 units on that undeveloped property, which is a higher density than the township and village zoning codes allow. Over the years, the developer has had several proposals, including annexing the property to the village and constructing a combination of 230 upscale, single-family, detached and attached cluster homes. However, if the property is annexed, the village doesn’t have to honor the court order.

Village Mayor Mike Lyons said the village could annex the township property and take over the water lines to enable the subdivision to be serviced with water from the city of Cleveland. However, Lyons said the village has not been able to reach an annexation agreement with the Briarwood developer, Randy Kertesz, who is the owner/president of Water & Sewer LLC.

“If all of the property were in the village, it would be a simpler situation,” said Lyons. “The undeveloped property will be involved in [resolving this water issue] one way or another.”

Lyons also said if the land were to remain in the township, Cleveland water could service the subdivision, but Summit County would need to take back ownership of the water lines, which the county sold years ago. Lyons said the county has not indicated what it would do in this situation.

Township attorney John Slagter said the township and village have been working together, but added Kertesz wants to develop the vacant property in a way that doesn’t fit the village zoning code.

“We have spent thousands of dollars working on a good development plan, and then we haven’t heard from them in six months,” he said.

“They want to use a consent judgment against the township to force the village to change their zoning,” he added.

Lyons said he will meet with officials from Water & Sewer LLC and the Cleveland water department in mid-April, and he will meet with Briarwood residents one week later to give them a progress report.

Kertesz did not attend the meeting, but said he has tried to work the situation out with Richfield officials.

“We had a plan for annexation to the village and it got turned down,” he said. “We had a plan that the township signed off on, but the county said we could come up with a better plan. That compromise plan was also turned down.

“The village didn’t like our plan, which they said consisted of ‘cluster homes,’” Kertesz added. “We’re not trying to hold anyone hostage, and we’ve tried to reduce the density in our plans, but we keep getting turned down.”

Pinney said after the county compromise plan was turned down, Kertesz submitted another plan. However, she said the trustees and residents agreed it wasn’t as good as the first plan.

“It was a pretty overwhelming majority that thought the first plan was better,” she said. “When you’re talking about 200 homes, that’s a lot of density for an area of 116 acres. It’s pretty dense compared to most subdivisions.”

As the parties continue to negotiate, the residents are awaiting the announcement of the date of the PUCO hearing on the rate increase.

“We’re still in the middle of this,” said Coleene McDevitt, of Scanwood Drive. “The village and township want their zoning laws to be followed, but here we sit, paying these outrageous bills. We can’t sell our houses, and we can’t afford the water. We’re stuck.”

Kathleen Collins contributed to this report.