Although Aleppo commissioners voted in September to accept a settlement that was supposed to end the bitter legal feuding that has fractured the board, it may not be over yet.

Commissioner Linda Talmon said she and Commissioner Oliver Poppenberg intend to continue an appeal that is still in federal court, even if they have to pay for it on their own.

Ms. Talmon said she knows her decision to continue litigation that has plagued the township during the past year is not a popular one, but she believes it is the right decision for the community.

She and Mr. Poppenberg cast the only dissenting votes Sept. 19 when the board voted on a settlement that, in effect, was to stop the lawsuits.

The litigation began Dec. 20 when Commissioner Carolyn Smith filed suit in federal court accusing the other four commissioners and the township solicitor at the time, Bernard Rubb, of impinging upon her First Amendment rights and her ability to fulfill her duties as a commissioner.

In a 28-page opinion, a judge agreed with Ms. Smith and issued a preliminary injunction against any continued attempts by the other four commissioners and Mr. Rubb to deny her access to township information or municipal meetings. The four commissioners and Mr. Rubb in June appealed that decision to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Under the mediated settlement the board approved in a 3-2 vote Sept. 19, the township was to pay $130,000 to Ms. Smith's attorney, E. J. Strassburger. The question is whether that vote effectively halted the Third Circuit appeal.

Mr. Strassburger said he doesn't believe the court will hear the appeal, and he is planning to file a motion to dismiss the appeal as moot in light of the settlement.

"The case is over in our view," he said. "The vote of the township is binding on the officers."

Mr. Rubb disagrees and believes the case will be heard in the first quarter of 2006 with a decision likely by the middle of the year.

By continuing with the appeal after the vote by the commissioners to drop the case, Ms. Talmon no longer has the financial backing of the township. She said she is still seeking counsel, preferably someone who would take the case pro bono.

At stake, she said, is the commissioners' ability to govern effectively.

"If every time I vote against you, you can turn around and sue me ... you can't govern," she said. "If the vote is 4-1 or 3-2, that's the way it goes."

Ms. Talmon said she's disappointed with the reaction she's received from other township residents. Most disturbing, she said, is that most people haven't bothered to ask her why she feels the way she does about the case.

"When you drive through your [neighborhood] and know that people hate you, it's not a good feeling," she said. "They forget you're still human."

Mr. Rubb said he's confident the case will be reversed on appeal.

He said that even if Ms. Smith's claims that the other commissioners wouldn't talk to her and limited the amount of information they gave her is true, it doesn't matter.

"The point of the matter is, from legal perspective, that happens every day," he said. "There is no such thing as retaliation between elected officials because they are equal. That's politics. That's the nature of political life."

Ms. Smith did not run for re-election, and her term as a commissioner will expire at the end of the year. According to unofficial results from last week's general election, three new commissioners -- Edward Beaman, Andrew Forsyth and Gregory Smith -- will join Ms. Talmon and Mr. Poppenberg on the board.