Quite frankly, we’re tired of writing this.

Quite frankly, you’re probably tired of reading about it.

But Alpena and Alpena Township officials keep the mess going, so we have to keep opining on it.

We’ve said it many times before, but here we go again: The decade-old court battle between the two governments over what the township should pay the city for water and sewer services needs to end.

Judge Ed Black has already established some guardrails for negotiations, saying, for example, that the city can’t charge the township for upkeep on parts of the water-sewer system from which the township doesn’t benefit and, importantly, saying the township ought to be treated as a wholesale customer.

With those guardrails in place, city and township leaders are down to essentially talking about numbers. And numbers always have a midpoint, a perfect compromise. City and township leaders could take what each side wants, find the midpoint between the two, and shoot for that.

We know it’s more complicated than that, and that there’s a lot of history, and that both sides think they’re due something more.

But the court battle already has cost taxpayers millions of dollars in attorney and consultant fees, and it’s left some bad blood between two neighbors.

It has to end.

It’s time for the two sides to reach a deal — we continue to think a new authority overseeing water and sewer operations for both governments is a good idea — and move past this thing.

Let’s get it done.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)