When, as News staff writer Steve Schulwitz recently reported, the Michigan Supreme Court denied Alpena Township’s appeal in its yearslong court battle with Alpena over water and sewer rates, the justices sent a clear signal that the fight must be settled locally.

Even before the Supreme Court’s decision, city and township officials announced they’d begun negotiations on establishing a water authority that might oversee water and sewer services in both communities. Currently, the township buys water for its residents from the city, and the court fight began years ago when the township balked at paying a rate hike imposed by the city, saying the city should treat the township as a wholesale customer.

We welcomed the Dec. 17 announcement on negotiations toward an authority. The devil will be in the details, and officials haven’t said anything more about the negotiations since the winter, so we can’t say whether the authority is the way to go.

But at least it meant negotiations, and we always welcome those.

Now, the Supreme Court’s decision puts new urgency on city and township officials to get it done. And they must. They’ve already spent millions of dollars on this fight, which has only rankled the community and slowed potential investments in the water and sewer system. We have to move forward.

We’re hopeful that can happen. Separate city-township negotiations on a possible firefighting contracting have proved productive and transparent. We see that as a sign other talks can move forward.