Litigation that, among other things, accuses the city of using utility ratepayers’ fees for operations other than their intended purposes may stop the city from finishing one major project (Waste Water Treatment Plant upgrade) and starting another (Winslow Way reconstruction).

Simply put, the money-strapped city must secure loans or the multimillion-dollar projects will be delayed or scrapped. And the chance of obtaining bonds with a lawsuit hanging over the city’s head is probably nil, especially litigation that directly involves both utility improvement projects.

A judge has dismissed the city’s claim that the lawsuit filed by the Bainbridge Ratepayers Alliance is without merit. Other than that, the lawsuit, filed in April and amended with additional complaints earlier this month, clearly sits in the city’s lap.

To rectify the city’s actions, plaintiffs want judgments and injunctions and audits and refunds to ratepayers – things like that. They are not seeking damages, other than legal fees.

In part, what the plaintiffs apparently want is for the city to clean up its act regarding the comingling of utility funds, which, the lawsuit claims, the city has been doing of late. They also want the cost of the projects – particularly Winslow Way – to be spread around more so downtown ratepayers get some relief. There have been complaints about that perceived unfairness for at least a year, but the city has chosen to ignore them.

Now, because litigation is involved, the city understandably doesn’t want to talk much about the situation, and has chosen to simply go forward as planned with the hope that the legal issue will be resolved soon and all will be well.

But deadlines are creeping closer and money is getting tighter. Frustration is beginning to surface in the form of some city officials publicly blaming those who have filed the lawsuit. It’s as if the city is playing Russian roulette because it doesn’t want to admit that perhaps a mistake or two have been made.

But time is running out. Even a summary judgment motion likely wouldn’t be ruled on until early 2010. What’s a city to do? Start, perhaps, by seriously exploring a settlement.