The Alpena Municipal Council and Alpena Township Board of Trustees each has approved a settlement that put an end to a decade-old court battle over how much Alpena Township should pay Alpena for the water and sewer services the township buys from the city for township residents.

All of Northeast Michigan should breathe a sigh of relief.

The deal ends litigation that has cost the two governments millions of dollars in attorney and consultant fees over the years, built up bad blood, and injected uncertainty for residents about water and sewer rates and what will happen with millions of dollars in an escrow account set up near the beginning of the city’s suit against the township.

The fight isn’t entirely over.

The deal approved during special meetings of the two governing boards on Wednesday only addresses with what the township should have paid in a handful of previous years. Negotiations will continue over how to address more recent years and going forward.

Hopefully, however, the agreement reached this week — along with some key rulings from Judge Ed Black in recent months that set parameters on the talks — sets the tone for those negotiations and will make it easier for the two sides to hash out answers to the remaining questions.

Lord willing, we can avoid any of this ending up back in court.

For now, we issue thanks on behalf of the entire community to city and township negotiators and to Black for finally bringing this ugly saga to a close.

And we say godspeed to negotiators as they work out the remaining questions.