FLINT, MI -- Gov. Rick Snyder made a last-minute, personal appeal to keep Flint connected to the Detroit water system before it began using the Flint River for drinking water, former Mayor Dayne Walling says.

Testifying in Genesee District Court on Wednesday, Nov. 14, Walling told Judge Jennifer Manley that the governor met privately with him and former Flint emergency manager Ed Kurtz in Detroit early in 2013, asking them to give Detroit the opportunity to make a best and final offer for a long-term water contract.

The meeting came just days before the Kurtz, with Walling's support, pushed ahead instead with plans to buy into the Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline project to Lake Huron.

Walling -- as have state official since -- said he did not know emergency managers in Flint would go on to make separate decisions that led to the city using the Flint River as its source of drinking water until the KWA pipeline was put into service.

The former mayor testified for the second straight day Wednesday in the preliminary examinations for four current and former officials with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, testimony that grew contentious as the day wore on.

Detroit's best and final offer was known before Flint bought into the KWA, only to leave the partnership after the city's water crisis, but Snyder's personal intervention has been less known.

Under questioning from Mark Kriger, an attorney for Stephen Busch, one of the DEQ defendants, Walling said he was involved in a larger meeting between state officials, including Snyder, and representatives of the city in early 2013.

The governor took Walling and Kurtz into a side room alone and asked them to reconsider staying with Detroit, which like Flint was in a shaky financial condition at the time.

The mayor said Kurtz asked him what he thought, "and I said there was no reason not to uncover every stone in an attempt to make the best decision."

But Walling continued to maintain Wednesday that Kurtz, with support from the Department of Treasury, alone had the authority to act on behalf of Flint.

Walling said he ultimately agreed with Kurtz that the final offer from Detroit still wasn't as good as the prospect of owning part of the KWA's pipeline.

By April 2013, former state Treasurer Andy Dillon gave the green light for Flint's KWA membership to Kurtz, who ultimately rejected Detroit's final offer.

Flint's use of the Flint River was calculated to gave the city millions of dollars while construction of the KWA pipeline occurred, but instead it triggered the city's water crisis.

Walling testified Tuesday, Nov. 13, that he only learned of the city's plans to use the Flint River when he reviewed a new budget for the coming fiscal year and found no money to continue water purchases from Detroit.

From April 2014 until October 2015, the city attempted to treat river water but the experiment led to problems with levels of bacteria, lead and chlorination byproducts in water.

Busch, Michael Prysby, Liane Shekter-Smith and Patrick Cook worked at the DEQ during the water crisis and are four of the 11 remaining defendants facing charges of wrongdoing related to Flint water.

Walling was challenged repeatedly Wednesday by Kriger, who pointed to the mayor's request for $30 million to help compensate the city for water problems in September 2015.

The former mayor said he made the request because Flint residents didn't deserve to be left with the bill for cleaning up after the crisis.

"The city was under emergency management for a number of years while these water problems festered...," Walling said. "Privately, I was prepared for the city to pay that full amount, but I negotiated for the state of Michigan (to pay) because I thought I it would be absolutely unfair ... to just put another burden (on city taxpayers)."