A nine year legal fight regarding a condemned utility company in Bend is finally resolved. The City of Bend condemned Juniper Utility back in 2002. But the owner and the City have legally battled over what the utility was worth, after the City took it over. Mayor Jeff Eager says the City Council agreed to pay owner Jan Ward $6.1 million to put this issue behind them. “The current Council was in a difficult spot. This was not litigation we instigated, and given portions of the judgment and it was causing accrual of interested from the judgment; time was not on the City's side here.” This settlement comes one month after the Oregon Court of Appeals said the City still owes the developer millions of dollars after taking over Juniper Utility. All tolled, the City has paid out about $10 million in this case. The City already set aside the money several years ago to pay for this case.