The war of words - and litigation - may be over between Manteca and Lathrop.

Nearly a decade of animosity between the two cities that led to a series of lawsuits ranging from the wastewater treatment plant to Big League Dreams and the proposed Center Point Business Park has been almost wiped clean after a series of meetings between two members of each city’s council.

The meetings - all focusing on either actual or threatened litigation - are the outgrowth of a desire for détente on both sides of the proverbial tracks that double as the common border between Manteca and Lathrop in a bid to aggressively push for more job opportunities.

“Everybody understands that a development in Manteca means jobs for both Manteca and Lathrop residents and that development in Lathrop mean jobs for both Lathrop and Manteca residents,” noted Manteca Mayor Willie Weatherford.

Weatherford had praise for Lathrop Mayor Chaka Santos and his council colleagues for wanting to get to solutions to address common issues.

Santos has made it clear that he wants to get things done and encourage the development of jobs.

An agreement forged from the meetings has Lathrop dropping its lawsuit against Manteca and its approval of the Center Point Business Park with its promise of 600 permanent jobs and 800 construction jobs with the development of 4 millions square feet of distribution directly across from the Union Pacific intermodal facility. In exchange, Manteca has agreed to commit a set portion of the regional transportation improvement fees that Center Point will pay to go toward helping improve the Lathrop Road and Interstate 5 interchange.

At the same time, Manteca has agreed not to pursue legal action against the 384- acre Lathrop Gateway Business Park northwest of Manteca’s proposed interchange on the 120 Bypass with McKinley Avenue. Lathrop, in turn, will make sure that project that includes 57 acres of offices, 168 acres of industrial and the balance in housing will pay its fair share toward interchange improvements.

The two cities are also working on cleaning up residual issues from Lathrop’s lawsuit to try and force Manteca to pay for perceived traffic impacts the Big League Dreams and Stadium Retail Center projects have on Lathrop surface streets. The case was dropped without prejudice several years ago which means Lathrop could re-file. Talks are under way to essentially close the door on that possibility.

Weatherford noted that more often than not Lathrop hotel rooms - and restaurants- are filled with members of teams playing in weekend tournaments at the BLD complex.

The issue that turned the burner up on litigation happened nearly 10 years ago when an audit led Manteca to contend they had been undercharging Lathrop for its share of the waste water treatment plant facility’s operations. A previous city manager had interpreted the contract one way while the city manager at the time - Bob Adams  - interpreted it another way.

A Grand Jury report partially handed out criticism to both cities in terms of the billing and payments. Lathrop did end up reimbursing Manteca for back costs but it was at a lower amount that Manteca originally claimed they were undercharging.

Weatherford said now that growth pressures on available capacity have dropped off he is confident an even better working relationship involving the wastewater treatment plant can be forged.

The two cities have a number of areas that they work together. Manteca Police and Lathrop Police Services, for example, coordinate efforts to combat crime as law enforcement leaders in both communities have noted criminals don’t respect city limits. Lathrop also has a contract with Manteca for use for a portion of the animal shelter capacity for stray animals they impound in Lathrop.