As is the case in most compromises, the 11th-hour settlement between developer Dan McClary and the water district he sued leaves both parties somewhat unhappy.

McClary gets the water certificate he needs to move forward on his motel, but it’s a smaller version and comes with caveats. Water District 19 upholds its policy of one meter per building, a critical piece to maintaining the district’s delicate balance, but it has to pay McClary $275,000 to end the dispute.

Who won? Reasonable people can disagree.

One thing, however, is clear. The Island’s three commissioners have worked harder than any of them bargained for when they agreed to serve the Island as volunteer overseers of one of our most precious resources.

They’ve held countless meetings, many in law offices in Seattle. They no doubt have second-guessed themselves, agonized over various decisions, lost time with their families and probably many hours of sleep. They’ve also held firm on issues they deem most important in an effort to ensure they’re doing right by the district’s 1,400 customers.

Say what you will about the outcome, but there’s little doubt these three men have served the Island well and to the best of their abilities. The decision they reached was hard-fought. They deserve not Monday morning quarterbacking — the kind of second-guessing all too popular in this day and age of endless news cycles — but our gratitude for their willingness to play a leadership role on the Island. In this instance, it’s not been easy.