Good evening. City Council, City Manager Campbell, City Clerk Royal, and my fellow citizens. I’m honored to provide a mid-year update on the progress we’ve made as a community. When I first began my campaign for Mayor more than two years ago, I talked about the paramount importance of responsibly managing city finances. In a sense, I’ve never thought of them as the city’s dollars; these resources belong to the residents and business owners who live and work in our community. For that reason, I believe we have something of a moral responsibility to be pragmatic in the way public resources are invested. Because of the tough but appropriate decisions we’ve made over the course of the last two years, I’m very proud to announce that Standard and Poor’s has upgraded Saline’s bond rating two levels, from A+ to AA. This is a very exciting development, and indicative that we are headed in the right direction. Part of being good financial stewards is scrutinizing all programs and services to see if there is opportunity for improved cost savings and efficiencies. That’s why Council decided to take a thorough look at Police Dispatch, and last year we explored the idea of merging Saline Parks and Recreation with Saline Community Education. Although neither of these discussions yielded structural changes, I have no regrets about exploring these ideas. If we didn’t look to every possibility to improve services and reduce costs, we would be failing the people we represent. For the first time in the city’s history, we have a fund balance policy, which clearly articulates the value of maintaining a healthy fund balance. I’m proud to say that the trend of the last few years has been reversed, and we are now starting to add to our rainy day fund. We also have a policy that outlines how we will support community events that will enrich the lives of our residents.

In addition to protecting the precious resources we have, we’ve also worked hard to leverage new opportunities. As it relates to parks and recreation grant and funding opportunities, as a city we have not done all we could to take advantage of what is available. That’s why I’m proud to announce that we have a new workgroup created to explore possible funding sources to improve and enhance parks and recreation programs. I’m very excited about this group’s potential. As a community, we continue to be blessed by the high quality of professionals who serve selflessly as police and fire fighters. As it relates to the Saline Area Fire Department, I’m proud to say that for the first time in his tenure, we conducted a formal evaluation of the Fire Chief, which was helpful not only to him, but to the entire Department. The Saline Fire Board is very pleased with his leadership and strong community presence. As most of you are aware, our Police Chief has taken an active leadership role on the Saline Community Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force. As we continue to make great strides to combat substance abuse and addiction in our area, I’m very proud that the Task Force, with Council’s blessing, established three subcommittees: Prevention, Resources, and Grants and Funding. I’ve been overwhelmed by the number of people willing to help; right now, we’re actively recruiting some of the community’s young people to get involved, since we believe their perspectives will make our efforts all the more effective. City government is making some big investments in our infrastructure this summer. We have a reconstruction project on North Ann Arbor Street between Bennett and Thiebault Lane, a major artery in our community that was in desperate need of repair. Another small, but visible, project will be on Lewis Street just south of Michigan Avenue. Although every effort is being made to ensure that projects are completed in a timely manner, there will be some inconvenience to those travelling in those areas for a short time. When the work is finished, though, I’m sure you’ll appreciate the upgrade. We’re also continuing work on a comprehensive plan to improve our sidewalks. An initiative of this magnitude has not been done in more than 20 years. As we proceed, you will certainly be hearing more.

The city continues to make progress stabilizing and upgrading our wastewater treatment plant, which accounts for the most substantial investment in that facility and its technology in almost 30 years. Another issue I’ve talked about in the past is the need to identify long-term, sustainable funding sources for roads and infrastructure projects. Staff has already been working diligently on this question, and Council will begin to tackle that issue in earnest early next month. Two weeks ago, a meeting including City Council, the Saline Chamber of Commerce Board, and the Saline Main Street Board allowed for robust discussion of economic development and business retention and attraction. One of the most exciting things to come out of that meeting was a new Chamber-sponsored workgroup to explore new approaches to crowdfunding, an exciting tool that is working well in communities across the region. Later this month, we will hold the next luncheon and forum with some of our larger industrial businesses to offer the city’s assistance, and to better understand their needs. One of the main topics of discussion will be Personal Property Tax reform, an initiative I strongly support. The current PPT is an antiquated approach, and eliminating it will make our business community more competitive. The Code and Ordinance Review Task Force continues to work hard to strengthen some policies, but also simplify and remove regulations that may be overly burdensome to businesses and citizens. If business owners or residents have thoughts or suggestions for the Task Force, they can email members at CRTaskForce@cityofsaline.org. As a city, and as a Council, we continue to strive to engage openly and effectively with the people we represent. I strongly encourage residents to reach out to me, my Council colleagues, and staff whenever they have a problem or question. A very useful tool is our “See, Click, Fix” app, which can be downloaded for free to your phone, allowing you to report problems to city government instantly.

With the assistance of the Clerk’s office, Council is continuing to explore new ways to engage with our residents. There are many volunteer opportunities in this community – and in the city, specifically – and I’ve come to believe that the best way to be in the know and understand the “pulse” of our community is to be involved. I encourage anyone interested in serving on a city board or commission, or on City Council, to explore that possibility. More information can be found online at cityofsaline.org. We are always in need of volunteers for our signature community events, such as Summerfest and Oktoberfest, and also the Saline Celtic Festival, which takes place this weekend. It is an outstanding event that has seen substantial improvement in recent years. If you’re not volunteering for the Festival, I hope to see you at Pub Night on Friday, and welcome you to enjoy all of the featured attractions on Saturday. I want to again thank my colleagues on City Council for their dedication, and I look forward to working with them in thoughtful and sincere ways to make this community an even better place. Mayor Pro-Tem Linda TerHaar Lee Bourgoin Dean Girbach David Rhoads Jim Roth Terri Sibo-Koenig Clearly, we have made substantial progress in recent years, but much work continues. I’m excited about this community’s prospects, and I continue to believe that Saline’s best days are ahead of us. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless Saline. Mayor Brian D. Marl