The ball will soon be back in St. Joseph Township’s court after the Lincoln Township Board of Trustees met this month to discuss the ongoing dispute between the two over the Maiden Lane sewer line.

Lincoln Township Trustees held a special meeting July 10 regarding the litigation. They came out of a closed session, and Trustee Amy Pheifer proposed a motion to authorize the township attorney to draft and present a settlement offer to St. Joseph Township. The meeting minutes say the offer is based on a financial analysis completed on inflow and infiltration, lift station costs, and operation and maintenance of sewer lines.

It’ll now be up to St. Joseph Township to respond. However, it looks like the offer from Lincoln Township has yet to be presented. When reached by email on Monday, St. Joseph Township Manager Denise Cook said, “We have not received a settlement offer from Lincoln for the Maiden Lane Sewer Line.”

The dispute over the sewer line goes back to 2023, when St. Joseph Township moved to terminate a 50-year-old agreement that allows Lincoln Township to use the sewer line free of charge. Negotiations over maintenance of the line then began but have so far resulted in no new agreement.