"I think the courts have spoken on this." At an event in Pittsfield on Tuesday, Governor Maura Healey said it's time for the communities of Holden and Worcester to work together after the State Supreme Judicial Court denied Worcester's final appeal of a jury verdict which found the city overcharged the town of Holden for sewerage transport. According to Attorney Christopher Petrini, who represented Holden in the case, with interest the City of Worcester owes Holden approximately $35 million as of Friday, February 13th. The original jury verdict on April 22, 2023 awarded Holden $26,978,427.83. Since then the judgement has grown through interest by close to $9 million. 

When asked by Spectrum News 1 if the City of Worcester has asked the state to step in Healey answered, "Now that it's gone through the court process, this is a battle between two municipalities. It looks like this has been finally determined by a court. I hope the parties can work together. That's what I would encourage to work something out. But I think the court's spoken on this."

On Friday, February 13th Holden Town Manager Peter Lukes told Spectrum News, "We're thrilled to have it finally behind us. The SJC ruling is the end of the line. And we've been waiting to get restitution for our raid payers for being just grossly overcharged for well over a decade. I've been sitting at that table for 13 years with Worcester. We got absolutely no interest in striking a bargain, striking a deal for years. So we had to take it to the final end result, which is where we're at now."

The City of Worcester has declined comment.