News File Photo The City of Alpena water tower is seen in this photo from August.

ALPENA — During its meeting on Monday, the Alpena Municipal Council didn’t vote on a proposed settlement with Alpena Township that could have possibly ended the decade-old litigation over water and sewer rates.

The Alpena Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Dec. 5 to accept the settlement, leaving the council to act on the proposal.

Unless a deal is struck before Thursday, the two municipalities will return to the courtroom on Thursday.

Details on the settlement were not made public before or after the township vote or during the council meeting on Monday.

The council adjourned the meeting which lasted a touch over an hour after coming out of closed session.

Alpena Township has for decades bought water and sewer services for many of its residents from Alpena. The city sued the township in 2014, when the township refused to pay a rate hike, claiming the township is a wholesale customer and entitled to reduced rates.

The township continued to pay the lower rate it paid before the rate increase and city leaders hope to use the court battle to collect the difference between those two amounts.

Since Alpena filed the suit against the township and the dispute moved forward, the two parties continued to bargain on the side but made little to no progress over the years.

In 2017, the circuit court ordered the two sides into mediation. That lasted only one day, however, as city officials didn’t see enough progress to continue.

A settlement appeared likely early in 2018, when both governing boards voted to approve “principle terms” for an agreement. That vote wasn’t for a deal on rates but on seeking a process for establishing rates that could end the dispute.

After continuing negotiations failed to yield a deal, the local court essentially ordered the two sides to adhere to the terms they’d reached earlier in the year.

Shortly after, the township appealed a portion of that ruling to the Michigan Court of Appeals, and the city filed a cross-appeal. The appellate court also ordered mediation, which again yielded no agreement.

The appeals court then ruled that the 2018 proposed agreement was non-binding, which the township appealed to the state Supreme Court. The state’s highest court declined to hear the case and sent it back to the circuit court in Alpena.

During the initial hearing in circuit court, then-judge Michael Mack ordered the opening of an escrow account in the name of both governments. Mack required the township to deposit into that account the difference between the old rates the township had paid and the higher rates the city set for all of its customers.

The township now has about $4 million in escrow, city attorney Bill Pfeifer, told The News last month.

The two municipalities had worked together toward establishing a water authority several years ago that would oversee water and sewer operations for both governments and reached a draft agreement on a water and sewer authority early in 2022.

However, that plan fell apart, leaving the fate of the matter in the court’s hands.

The two sides have spent millions of dollars on attorney and consultant fees since the litigation began.

IN OTHER BUSINESS

The council voted 3-2 to amend the city’s zoning ordinance and rezone the Decorative Panels International property.

The city is going to change the zoning from large industrial to waterfront.

The plant closed earlier this year and more than 150 employees lost their jobs. The property is slated to be sold at auction in late January.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.