Alpena Township’s auditors recently told township trustees they need to prepare for potential financial liabilities from an April trial that could settle the township’s years-long fight with Alpena over water and sewer rates the city charges the township.

That audit was the first and only time the public learned of the pending trial, which could end a court battle between the two municipalities that has dragged on since 2014.

We do not want the fight to go to trial. We believe the best settlement to the dispute — the settlement that would leave the fewest hurt feelings and maintain the best relationships — would come through negotiations between the two sides, rather than a judge or jury’s order.

However, as we have repeatedly written, we believe the fight has gone on far too long, and any end to the dispute is welcome.

Alpena Township buys water and sewer services from Alpena and then passes those services on to township residents and then bills township residents that receive municipal water and sewer.

In 2014, the city raised rates on all of its customers, including Alpena Township, but the township refused to pay the rate hike, saying the city should treat the township as a wholesale customer because of the volume of water it buys from the city.

The city sued, and the two have been in court battles ever since, including appeals all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court.

The two sides have collectively spent millions of dollars on attorneys and consultants.

Officials have repeatedly been close to a settlement, most recently announcing publicly they’d begun negotiations toward the creation of a water-sewer authority that would oversee water and sewer operations in both municipalities.

But they’ve never been able to end the fight.

Alpena Mayor Matt Waligora and Alpena Township Supervisor Nathan Skibbe told News staff writer Steve Schulwitz that they each remain open to talking, but currently aren’t.

We urge the two sides to get back to the table and keep working toward a solution (an authority sounds like a good and fair idea).

If they can negotiate a settlement, it increases the likelihood both sides will be happy with — or least OK with — the final deal. That increases the likelihood whatever they come up with will be successful, and increases the likelihood Alpena and Alpena Township officials can maintain a good working relationship.

If a judge orders an end to the fight, one or both sides could walk away with sour feelings, and that could gum up the workings of whatever solution is ordered and threaten the working relationship of the two municipalities.

However, whatever way this thing ends, it needs to end soon. It has cost the local governments too much money and thrown too much uncertainty into the lives of residents of both the city and the township.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)