News Photo by Steve Schulwitz A crowd of about 40 people listen on Wednesday as Alpena Township officials provide an update on their water-sewer dispute with the City of Alpena.Christmas spent with family in North Port, Fla., at the Warm Mineral Springs hotel in 2002.

ALPENA TOWNSHIP — The years-long dispute between Alpena and Alpena Township over water and sewer rates is back in mediation, the township’s attorney announced during a public forum on the issue Wednesday.

While presenting a history of the case to about 40 residents, attorney Dan Florip said Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Christopher Murray has ordered the two parties to return to mediation and that a mediator from the Saginaw area has been hired to work as an in-between for the two litigants.

Florip said it is not a forced litigation and that either party can walk away from it at any time. The court did not demand a deal be reached, but that negotiations begin again in hopes a deal can be struck. It is expected talks will begin in January or February.

Township Supervisor Nathan Skibbe said that, although the results in prior mediation were less than fruitful because the city ended them after only one day, he hopes this time will be different.

“It is the township’s intent to go into mediation with an open mind and a willingness to bend,” Skibbe said. “This is something that we don’t want to go on one day longer, and I think at this point everything is on the table. We need to find a solution and we are still committed to doing that. We are looking for ways to lessen the impact on our residents.”

The case is in the appellate courts following a local court order earlier this year.

Wednesday’s special meeting of the township Board of Trustees gave residents an opportunity to learn more about the five-year legal battle and get some of their questions answered. At the end of the meeting, most seemed pleased with the explanations they heard.

The township called the meeting on Tuesday with the intent of bringing residents up to speed on the lawsuits stemming from increased water rates the township deemed excessive and refused to pay. A decision from the Court of Appeals may not come until well into 2019.

Many of residents’ questions were about the rates, how attorneys are being paid, and how customers would be refunded with money from an escrow account that the 26th Circuit Court has ordered released. The escrow account was created to set aside funds so past-due balances owed to the city by the township can be paid.

Florip said the order by 26th Circuit Court Judge Michael Mack split the account in two. The city was to receive nearly $1.4 million and the township would receive about $2.3 million. Township officials had promised to use those funds to reimburse customers who had been paying a provisional fee. Florip said those funds are not released, yet, and, as the case moves forward through the higher courts, the money should remain in the account in case the city should prevail.

If a deal is reached, or if a judge rules again and the township receives money from the escrow account, cutomers will receive money back based on the amount of water they used, he said.

“You paid it and you’re going to get it back,” Florip said.

Some people believed payment for the attorneys was coming from the money from the provisional fees, but Skibbe said that wasn’t the case. He said the township’s water department has a litigation line-item in its budget and payment for the legal assistance comes from that. That line item is funded from water bill revenue.

Legal bills for both the city and township continue to climb and are now well over a combined $2 million. Florip said that total also includes the cost of hiring rate experts and consultants, which can be costly. Now that the case has moved to the appeals court, he said the bills won’t pile up as fast and will be smaller.

“The most expensive part was during discovery and gathering evidence,” he said. “All the heavy lifting and fact-finding is done, we just turn in briefs to the appeals court and appear once and that won’t be near as costly.”

The city raised water and sewer rates for all of its customers in 2014. Before that, the township paid $2.91 per 1,000 gallons of water and $3.48 per 1,000 gallons of sewage. The price hike by the city pushed the amounts to $4.57 per 1,000 gallons for water and $5.17 per 1,000 gallons for sewer. Florip said that equates to $700,000 a year in higher rates.

Township officials considered the township a wholesale customer who shouldn’t pay the higher rates.

As the case progresses in the courts, the township is continuing to pay the lower rates. It also is depositing the difference between the higher rates and lower rates into the escrow account.

Looking ahead, Florip said, it would cost the township and its customers about $21 million more over 20 years than what the old rates were and projected rate increases are figured in.

“That is a huge amount of money,” he said. “We are doing this because we’re looking five and 20 years out, even decades out.”

The meeting was scheduled Tuesday afternoon, and some felt that left little time for people to make plans to attend. It started at 5 p.m. and that may not have provided a chance for those just getting out of work to participate. Skibbe said there were residents who asked for the meeting, and, after having seven people comment at the board’s regular monthly meeting on Monday, he figured doing the forum sooner rather than later was best.

“You spoke and we heard you,” Skibbe said. “We’re doing everything in our power to be transparent. We are working for you and have your best interests in mind. That is what you have put us here for.”

City attorney Bill Pfeifer was in attendance, but did not make comment or take part. It is unknown at this time if the city intends to hold a similar meeting.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpeanews.com.