Good evening.

City Council, City Manager Campbell, City Clerk Royal,

and my fellow citizens.

Im honored to provide a mid-year update on the progress weve 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, Ive never thought of them as the citys 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 weve made over the course of the last two years, Im
very proud to announce that Standard and Poors has upgraded Salines 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. Thats 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 didnt look to every possibility to improve services and
reduce costs, we would be failing the people we represent.

For the first time in the citys history, we have a fund balance policy, which
clearly articulates the value of maintaining a healthy fund balance. Im 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, weve 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. Thats why Im proud to announce that we
have a new workgroup created to explore possible funding sources to
improve and enhance parks and recreation programs. Im very excited about
this groups 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, Im 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, Im very proud that the Task Force, with Councils blessing,
established three subcommittees: Prevention, Resources, and Grants and
Funding. Ive been overwhelmed by the number of people willing to help;
right now, were actively recruiting some of the communitys 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, Im sure youll appreciate the upgrade.

Were 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 Ive 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 citys 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 Clerks 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 Ive
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 youre 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. Im excited about this communitys prospects, and I continue to
believe that Salines best days are ahead of us.

Thank you,

God bless you,

and may God bless Saline.

Mayor Brian D. Marl