The first meeting included a strong attempt by North Mankato to refute the notion that there’s a problem.

Zellmer, speaking after the meeting, said he explained why the city withdrew from its GMG contract.

“We weren’t getting what we wanted and had to try something different,” he said.

As for the regional retreat in Chaska, the city has participated in previous retreats and considered them valuable. But city officials thought it was a mistake for this year’s event to be held outside of the Mankato area when the economy is in a deep recession, Zellmer said. A better choice would have been to spend those dollars locally.

“We took a stand,” he said.

And the aquifer study was similar. It’s an unfunded state mandate at a time when a similar study that was already funded by the state could have provided the necessary monitoring, according to Zellmer.

“What we were doing was questioning why there was two studies,” he said.

Berkland said the meeting resulted in “an honest airing of how we see the world.”

Now and then, two sides will see the world very differently, something Berkland said he’s witnessed as an attorney.

“I sometimes try lawsuits about a traffic accident and you couldn’t even tell the people were at the same intersection,” he said.

At this point, a second meeting between SMA and North Mankato hasn’t been scheduled.