The County of Hamilton and the City of Cincinnati entered into a Consent Decree requiring the County and City to implement infrastructure improvements to the county-wide Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) to address longstanding capacity and pollution problems.
The County and City disagreed on the prevailing procurement laws that apply to Consent Decree sewer improvement projects and agreed to resolution of the issue by the Magistrate Judge.
The court concluded that the terms of the Consent Decree are clear and unambiguous and require the City to apply County rules, regulations, and resolutions, as well as state law, in procuring contracts for MSD Consent Decree projects both within and outside of the City limits.