News File Photo The City of Alpena water tower is seen in this photo from August. Alpena County and Alpena are in litigation over water and sewer rates, and the county hopes to end the decade-old lawsuit soon.

ALPENA — Alpena County agrees with 26th District Court Judge Ed Black’s decision on proposed water and sewer rates and wants to hold a closed-session meeting with the Alpena City Council to reach an agreement that could end a decade-long lawsuit .

That’s what the town conveyed in a press release issued Monday night.

Alpena County and Alpena were in litigation over the municipality’s water and sewer rates imposed on the county.

In September, the city proposed water rates ranging from $3.80 per 1,000 gallons to $4.10 per 1,000 gallons that the county would pay from 2014 to 2018. Sewer fees will range from $3.60 per 1,000 gallons to $3.75 per 1,000 gallons.

At a hearing last week, Black ruled that the city’s proposed water prices to the court were not fair and reasonable and ordered the city to offer even lower prices at a hearing on Nov. 22. He also concluded that the proposed sewer rates were fair. This could close that chapter in the case.

Rates should be determined by the percentage of the city’s water and sewer system that the county uses for service, Black said, and should be determined because the county is a wholesale customer.

Black has no authority to set the odds, only whether the odds are fair and reasonable for both parties.

“The Court declared the City’s proposed water fee to be unreasonable and determined that the City included figures that were too high in its prices, given its status as a wholesale customer of the County,” the letter states.

The county agreed with Black’s decision, saying the latest sewer rate was appropriately charged based on the percentage of the city system used in the county and that the rates were fair.

Still, the county says there’s more work to be done and it hopes discussions with the Alpena City Council can help bring closure to the case before its next court date.

“Although the District is satisfied with the court’s decisions, it continues to seek a reasonable resolution with the City; This is a lawsuit that will end this litigation and avoid future unnecessary litigation, the press release states. “In fact, the County’s preference is to meet with the City in a joint closed session before November 22nd to discuss a solution that the County has previously sent to the City. The County’s offer will end this lawsuit and provide the necessary closure. “The District is hopeful that the City will accept the meeting proposal and the parties will discuss how to move past this case.”

The district did not say what it was looking for in terms of solutions.

The council has yet to discuss Black’s decision but is expected to do so in closed session at its next meeting on Nov. 4. More information about the city’s situation will be given from now on.

The city and county also reserve the right to appeal Black’s decision.

The county buys water from Alpena, and for years the city used a formula in a contract from 1977 to set rates. Starting in 2013, the city chose not to use the formula that said the agreement had expired; This was the beginning of more than a decade of dispute over water rates. The district claims the rates are too high because it does not use the entire municipal water and sewer system and is a wholesale customer.

At the end of the hearing earlier this year, Black ruled that the county was essentially a wholesaler and that any rate charged to it should be based not only on the amount of water it purchased but also on the percentage of the city’s water and sewer systems. The district uses uses to receive service from Alpena.

The case began in 2014, and as the dispute progressed, both sides continued to bargain on their side but made little to no progress over the years.

In 2017, the district court ordered the two parties to go to mediation. However, this only lasted a day as city officials did not see enough progress to continue.

An agreement likely emerged in early 2018, when both boards voted to approve the “terms in principle” of the deal.

This vote was not for an agreement on rates but to seek a process for setting rates that could end the dispute.

After ongoing negotiations failed to reach an agreement, the local court essentially ordered the two parties to honor the terms they had reached earlier in the year.

Shortly thereafter, the county appealed part of that decision to the Michigan Court of Appeals, and the city also filed a cross-appeal. The appeals court also ordered mediation, but this again failed to reach an agreement.

The appeals court later ruled that the proposed agreement was not binding, and the county appealed it to the state Supreme Court. The state’s highest court declined to hear the case and sent the case back to the district court in Alpena.

During the first hearing in circuit court, then-judge Michael Mack ordered an escrow account opened in the names of both governments. Mack asked the county to deposit into that account the difference between the old rates it paid and the higher rates the city charged for all its customers.

Over the past few years, the two municipalities have worked together to establish a new authority to oversee the water and sewer activities of both governments.

The two sides reached a draft agreement on water and sewerage management in early 2022.

However, this plan fell through and the fate of the matter was left in the hands of the court.

The two sides have spent millions of dollars in legal and consulting fees since the lawsuit began.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or [email protected]. Follow him at X @ss_alpenanews.com.