Fellow residents, distinguished members of City Council, City employees and all elected officials; I was very fortunate to serve our residents as a member of City Council and listen with great anticipation to three previous mayors extend this annual address. I am now honored and privileged this evening to serve those same residents as Mayor, and to present, the State of our City.

This past year can be summarized in three words; transition, collaboration, and innovation. As I transitioned from City Council to Mayor, there was a formidable task ahead to continue with the exceptional work and dedication shown by former Mayor Christiane Schmenk. Chris Schmenk developed an unprecedented spirit of teamwork between City Council, the Administration, Union County, and all our residents. I have made it my priority to continue in that spirit and look for even more ways that we may collaborate. In the words of Henry Ford, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” I have made it an equal priority to our staff to make innovation part of our culture. Innovation challenges us all to improve and thus improve the quality of our services we provide our residents.

If time permitted, I would thank our 150 plus City employees each by name. All projects I highlight, any graph or data I could show you, and each accomplishment that I will summarize; was all the fruits of their labor. Our employees are our most valuable resource, and I thank each for their service.

To our City Council, our continued partnership is critical to the success of our City and I thank you for that support.  To our Union County Commissioners, I look forward to our continued collaboration for as I have said before, if it’s good for Marysville, it’s good for Union County. Together we can truly make a difference and all our residents will benefit.  Each department and division had a tremendously productive year. Again, due to time restrains, I can only provide highlights in this address by starting with our Administration.

The Administration:

My first task in transition was to enlist the services of Police Chief Floyd Golden as my interim City Administrator. Chief Golden wore two significantly important hats and performed commendable in keeping our City on track. I want to also recognize Senior Executive Assistant Chris Moder. Her 30 plus years of service to our City was invaluable in this transition phase.  Finally, a note of great gratitude goes to Council Clerk Connie Patterson. She is the conduit for the collaborative effort between City Council and any Administration and continues to be a true professional.

Our search for a new Administrator resulted in an outstanding hire for the City of Marysville, as Terry Emery joined our team. We began our collaboration journey by reaching out to Union County and Marysville Schools to form an Information Technology team and to share other resources such as archiving and vehicles. I will elaborate later in this address on the success to date of these collaborations.

Faced with an increase in sewer rates, my Administration worked with Council’s Finance Committee to offset this increase with a 7.5% reduction in the water rate, while still being able to pay-down some of our debt service.

We believe our parks are a major showcase in our community, but we are aggressively working to improve them. We’d like to see more residents across age groups frequent these gems by introducing new attractions like sand volleyball courts where future leagues can set, spike, and have fun.      

My first hire as Mayor was the staffing of an Event/Promotion Coordinator which exemplifies our commitment to a vibrant Historical Uptown Marysville. Earlier benefits of this commitment were the vastly improved Friday Night Uptown events and the increased attention to dressing up the Uptown during our holiday season. Finally, with the assistance of Human Resources we created and disseminated the City’s first-ever “Core Values” that defines our culture and are our expectations as to how every employee will approach each day and each resident. In minimal time, we embedded the values of Quality Customer Service, Accountability Throughout the Organization, Respect, and Proactive Communication, into the performance plans of all executives and into our City evaluation system so that we continue to focus our resources and our efforts to maximize service.

Economic Development:

Economic Development, under Eric Phillips and his staff, had a highly favorable year especially given the slow rebound in our economy. There were 10 commercial permits totaling $19.1 million and 45 residential totaling $7.1 million in 2011. Memorial Hospital of Union County began construction on its new $7.1 million Cardiovascular Center which further solidifies its partnership with The Ohio State University Medical Center. The Central Ohio Youth Center began construction on its new $1.85 million addition. Finally, Parker Hannifin Hydraulics announced a $2,000,000 investment that will result in 25 new positions. 

Business development continued throughout the City with the addition of 25 new businesses. Goodwill Industries, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, Hertz Car Rental, National Salt Distributors, Fultzi’s Pizza & Subs, and Cromwell Dental Care are among the new establishments. A Turkey Hill convenience store and car wash will open in early 2012.

The Union County Development Fund (UCDF) continued with various economic development projects. The group secured ownership of the former Lockerroom Restaurant and the former Marysville Cinema and is currently identifying additional investment opportunities. They also completed an uptown redevelopment plan and are seeking investors to partner with to begin implementation of the plan. 

In the Uptown District, new businesses included One Stop Bridal, WQTT AM Radio, and Sellers Law. The Union County Red Cross and Kristos Clothing expanded to new locations while Doc’s Café & Wine Bar re-opened after several months of being closed.

Marysville-Union County Port Authority launched its first project designed to provide natural gas service to residents in parts of Logan, Champaign and Union Counties. The growth of the Marysville Entrepreneurial Center in Uptown Marysville continued as one tenant, Capstone Innovations, was recognized as a start-up firm with high growth potential and was invited to participate in TechColumbus’ esteemed 1492 Accelerator Program. Finally, 18 Retention & Expansion visits were conducted at companies located within the City to help maintain and establish strong relationships with our business community.

Finance:

The state of our City’s finances is outstanding. It is the goal of our Administration to build a strong cash balance so that the City can continue to improve its infrastructure and maintain excellent service to our residents. Finance Director Jenny Chavarria and her staff are helping us meet that goal. The 2011 General Fund Revenues totaled $16,588,752, a healthy 24.3% increase from 2010.  Income Tax Revenue is the major source of General Fund Revenue at 79%.  2011 General Fund Expenditures totaled $13,909,261, which is a 12.9% increase from 2010.  

2011 Enterprise Fund expenditures increased $1,131,315 from 2010.  This is due to an increase in the debt service obligations for the Sewer Fund.  Charge for Services either maintained or exceeded 2010 receipts for all enterprise funds except for a slight decrease in the Stormwater Fund.

Looking forward, we submitted and worked with Council to pass a budget for 2012 that reduced the overall spending from 2011 by over $12 million dollars or 14.17%. Sound fiscal management is essential and my priority in providing for our City’s future.

The Moody’s Investors Service affirmed an “Aa3” bond rating on our City’s outstanding limited tax long-term debt.  That rating was described by Moody’s as one of “high quality with very limited credit risk.” It reflects our City’s stable economic and employment base. Moody’s credited us for our sound financial operations” and also sighted our “commitment to maintaining a healthy cash balance.” We were hoping for better, but maintaining our rate is a victory given the weakened economy.

Finally, Director Chavarria and her staff are also to be commended as the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) awarded our City its first-ever Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for our comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR). Our residents can rest assure we are under solid, sound financial management.

Information Technology:

As mentioned earlier, collaboration and innovation are two of my guiding principles for our City.  Innovation often begins with a commitment to Information Technology or IT. 2011 marked a year with more IT innovation and improvements than any other year in our City’s past. We created the City’s first IT Division led by IT Manager Scott Brock. He, along with our Administration, began a collaborative effort working with Marysville Schools and Union County to define a common IT platform in which all agencies can share and combine services.  Together we identified several initiatives that project a City savings of $847,000 over the next five years, while also improving our IT capabilities. Just a few of these projects include; the sharing of fiber optic cabling, centralized data center and data storage, a common phone system, and server consolidation.

The innovation continued with the IT Division’s work to redesign and vastly improve our website. This will transform the site into a more resident-friendly tool for obtaining information and giving residents the ability to conduct city-related business such as paying bills, from the comfort of their homes.

Finally, we replaced our Outlook email software by implementing a Google Apps or cloud solution.  This change will save us a modest estimate of $110,000 over the next 5 years by significantly reducing costs for software licenses and maintenance, while also improving daily efficiencies by improving connectivity.

Engineering:

Engineer Valerie Klingman and her team were significantly challenged in 2011 as development continued to spike in our great City. More transition is inevitable as we vastly improve the safety and security of our residents with three critical projects. The new Police and Court Facility and new Fire Station were designed, taken through the bid process and moved to construction in 2011. With just the weather as a potential obstacle, her team is dedicated to manage these projects to stay on schedule and start operation as soon as possible. They have also started working with contractors to design and plan for the rehabilitation of the existing fire station on South Main Street.  These three projects are collectively the most significant safety-service improvements our City has ever taken on. We are dedicated to the success of these projects.

Just some capital improvement projects completed in 2011 include:

-          A Reservoir Safe Yield Study and revision of the City-wide Water Model, which will minimize the cost associated with the consultant’s Professional Engineering Services.

-          The Downtown Streetscape and Walnut Signal.

-          The Scottslawn Roadway Widening project (funded through an Ohio Department of Development grant).

-          The Industrial Parkway Culvert Replacement (partially funded through an Ohio Public Works Commission grant).

Other capital improvement projects started in 2011 and scheduled for 2012 completion:

-          The City Water Treatment Plant project is in the process of finalizing the “Preliminary Study Phase.”

-          The Sanitary Sewer Extension - East of US 33 (Hall’s Corner)

-          The Main Street Pump Station Connector Sewer project was substantially complete in August 2011 with only punch list items remaining for 2012.

-          The replacement of the Town Run under Seventh Street (near the Eagles). 

-          Oakdale Cemetery expansion.  The Staff completed a field survey in 2011 and will be designing, drafting and managing this construction project all in-house.

It is our goal to make Marysville more walker-friendly, and this effort begins with our most precious residents, our children.  The City was awarded $412,000 and continues to work with Safe Route to School (SRTS) and Safe Communities/Safe Kids Coalitions for various infrastructure projects like sidewalks and striping.  We will continue collaborating with ODOT to develop the project and expect to begin construction in the summer of 2012.

Regarding our zoning efforts, 275 zoning permits were issued in 2011. Our Specialists implemented new procedures for code enforcement that resulted in fewer notice letters and increased compliance with the ordinances. A new sign ordinance went into effect and staff has been visiting businesses to provide proactive communication and education on the changes

Our Planning efforts included representation on the Board of Zoning Appeals, Design Review Board, Planning Commission and the Exterior Property Maintenance Commission.  We were given a $10,000 CDBG Tier I Downtown revitalization grant to help fund the Uptown Marysville Revitalization Plan and we were also awarded a $500,000 CHIP grant.

Police Division:

The Marysville Division of Police, under the leadership of Police Chief Floyd Golden continued their focus on community policing as they protect and serve our residents and businesses. Their dedicated force received 12,758 Calls for Service in 2011, a decrease of 667 from 2010. These calls range from parking complaints to felony criminal activity and led to 1,990 Incident Reports, an increase of 184 from 2010. The Division also investigated 447 traffic crashes. Sixty-one of these were personal injury crashes.  There were no fatal crashes within the City.

The Police Division continues to collaborate with the Columbus Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducting investigations that target individuals involved in the distribution of heroin and diverted pharmaceutical drugs which negatively impacts our community.  This joint-effort resulted in numerous state and federal arrests and the seizure of controlled substances and over $57,000 in U.S. currency.

The K-9 team of Officer David Nist and his partner “Kahn” continue to be a force in our community and a valuable service shared with other agencies. They conducted drug sniffs on 38 vehicles, six drug related vehicle sniffs for other agencies, and seven K-9 sniffs in the Marysville and Fairbanks School Systems.  They also participated in school related K-9 sniffs in the Hilliard, Delaware, Big Walnut and Olentangy School systems assisting other law enforcement agencies.  They have also participated in eight K-9 public relations demonstrations.

PD innovations included the establishment of an Apartment Managers Association that provides a network for managers to share crime-stopper information among themselves as well as with the Division.  There are presently twenty-one managers involved in this valuable program.

The Police Division was faced with a communication system problem as their VHF mobile radios were old and could not meet new FCC requirements.  They were able to acquire 13 radios from the Union County Local Emergency Planning Committee, and six from a State Homeland Security Grant Program.  These awards saved the City $6,716.12.

Another community policing effort was the Division’s sponsorship of six women’s self defense classes.  Marysville finest instructed 102 women in self-defense tactics.

The Police Division also received an Automatic License Plate Reader through a grant with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.  The unit is mounted in one of the police cruisers and checks the license plates of vehicles traveling in both directions.

Division Officers participated in an Ohio Department of Public Safety special traffic enforcement effort over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.  This was a multi-agency enforcement program on US 33 from Indiana to West Virginia that resulted in MPD acquiring a new mobile radar unit valued at $1,900.

Fire Division:

The Marysville Division of Fire had a solid year under Chief Gary Johnson in providing fire service, fire prevention, and emergency medical assistance to our citizens with 884 calls for fire service and 2,002 EMS calls. They implemented new, more efficient county-EMS protocols in 2011. The Division replaced and modernized the medic truck and the Fire Chief and Fire Prevention vehicles. New firefighter turnout gear was placed into service. This gear is critical to the safety of our firefighters and the service we provide the community.

An innovative new safety program initiated in 2011 was the staffing of an incident safety officer at fire scenes. Several firefighters attended the formal training for this position with more attending in 2012. This position vastly improves services by designating an Incident Commander at the scene to improve our operations, and potentially save lives and property. This is now being looked at on a county-wide level.

Training is an essential element of the Fire Division’s operational readiness. Several joint agency county-wide training sessions and drills took place in 2011 that included farm rescue training, water movement exercises, and a live fire training exercise. Internally, there are daily 2-hour training sessions conducted by staff to fine-tune core competencies. This year the Division also sent four firefighters to the National Fire Academy, a record attendance for a single year at this revered institution.

We can proudly announce that the Fire Prevention Bureau completed inspections of all required occupancies for the first time in many years. They visited and inspected 690 occupancies, many with follow-up inspections to address code violations. They also successfully conducted 16 fire investigations of suspect fires working hand-in-hand with law enforcement.

The largest project worked in 2011 was briefly touched on in the review of Engineering and dealt with the planning of the new fire station and the remodeling of the existing station. Fire Division staff, led by our new Fire Chief Jay Riley, provided critical input in the design phase and assisted in contractor selection. Their expertise and insight in this process will ensure each facility improves the quality of our firefighting and emergency medical services over the next 2 decades.

The staffing of our future two-station Division also received a management review as various staffing solutions were examined to provide the best quality service, at the lowest financial cost.  As we look at staffing we are focused on decreasing response times and improving operations, along with the addition of innovative GIS mapping, and the creation of response districts for the new two-station Division.

The Fire Division continues to focus on our community as they partnered with Union County Senior Services and Marysville Kiwanis to make smoke detectors available for all senior residents of Union County. Other community-focused programs and events included Keeping Kids Safe Project, and a County public health standards assessment as well as routine outreach education sessions.

Public Services:

Public Service, our City’s largest department, had a highly productive year. Director John “Mitch” Mitchell and his staff are responsible for leading and assisting their five divisions in achieving the goals established by our Administration and Council as well as maintaining our vehicle fleet of over 150 equipment items.

The Streets Division, under Superintendent Joe Tracey, is driven and focused to maintain our City’s roadways in the best possible condition, along with storm water and the City tree maintenance programs. In addition to their normal, rigorous routine maintenance schedule, Joe and his crews completed a mammoth two-phase Pavement Maintenance Program in 2011. This milling and resurfacing of City streets included portions of West Ninth Street, East Ninth Street, Oak Street, Vine Street and totaled 14 major sections of roadways.

Street crews were also responsible for installing 500 lineal feet of 5 foot concrete sidewalk on Damascus Road at Aldersgate Park, 90 lineal feet of curb at Greenwood Park, 40 lineal feet of curbing and 7 driveway aprons on Oak Street, and dozens of handicap ramps around our City. Tracey’s crack-sealing crews were able to complete a substantial amount of projects this summer having sealed 37 different roadways and street sections.

City snow removal crews were dispatched a total of 27 times for snow and ice control. They applied a total of 1,907 tons of roadway salt. When it snows, it is their job to ensure residents can safely get to their jobs and to help businesses operate normally.  

The Storm Water crew constructed a large storm water manhole/junction box to join several systems together on State Rt. 38 at Timberview Drive, they replaced 22 storm water inlets, repaired another 62 storm water inlets, and installed 832 lineal feet of various size tiles around the City to eliminate potential flooding.

The City’s arbor crew had a busy year as well with many removals and replacements. The Emerald Ash Bore eradication program continued with the removal of 60 trees city-wide including stumps. Tree lawns were regraded and seeded as the work was completed. They treated 75 Ash trees with chemicals to prevent future damage from the insects and they seem to be doing well. In all we were able to replant over 50 trees including memorial trees. 

Superintendent Lane Stillings and his Buildings and Grounds Division provided outstanding support and maintenance of our City parks, facilities, and cemetery.  

Our City parks continue to be professionally maintained making them a focal point in our community. Other grounds work around our City included the replacement of a retaining wall at the municipal pool, the installation of picturesque fountains in the Aldersgate pond, and the paving of the parking area and the walking trail in Greenwood Park.

Support of City Hall in 2011 included major repairs to the elevator, a landscaping facelift around City Hall and adjacent parking lot beds, the replacement of windows in the court room, a total rebuild of the loading dock, and a remodel to house our new IT Division that included substantial electric and drywall work all done in house at a lower cost.

City Hall also received a security system which will go a long way to protecting our employees and our resources. This aging building provides constant challenges; we are fortunate that Lane and his crew always rise to meet that challenge.

At Oakdale Cemetery they repaired a 36 inch storm sewer tile that drains the West end of Oakdale. This was a major excavation project to replace the tile, backfill, and restored the area by grading and seeding. Additionally, a GPS survey was conducted of the west end to prepare for the upcoming expansion in the first quarter of 2012.

Our Parks and Recreation Division, under part-time Superintendent Steve Conley, managed our City Pool and provided activities to lure our residents to our stellar parks.

The Concerts in the Park series returned the summer of 2011 with four concerts performed at the Sean Doebert Memorial Amphitheater. The Disc Golf course continues to be a popular seven-days-a-week attraction in our City. Numerous disc golf tournaments were held, a weekly league, and a local youth church group met there several times. Athletic field usage continued to have a very high demand. Organizations utilizing the City facilities included the Marysville Junior Baseball Softball Association, the Mitts, the Cobras, the Heart of Ohio, Elite FC, the YMCA, and the Junior Monarch Football Organization. Approximately 1,400 youth were provided opportunities for participation.

Pool memberships, swim lesson registration, and swim team registrations were all available for purchase online. This provides a great convenience to pool patrons. The pool ended the 2011 pool season financially in the black with approximately a $22,000 carryover. We also utilized the NIXEL system this year to notify residents of mechanical or weather related closures.

The state of our City Wastewater services continues to be solid under Superintendent Rick Varner. This was exemplified by the City receiving an excellent report on the compliance inspection by Ohio EPA in June as the Water Reclamation Facility was evaluated on all aspects of operation to include records on discharge reports, laboratory data, equipment operation & maintenance records, along with general inspection of the facility. The Ohio EPA also audited the Division’s Industrial Pretreatment Program in 2011 and determined the program to be in total compliance with regulations.

The City’s permit required to discharge from the Water Reclamation Facility was renewed in 2011 for a 5 year period.  This renewal also re-rated our facility from 6.0 million gallons per day to 8.0 million gallons per day of discharge volume at no additional cost to the City.

Our Wastewater Division collaborate with Union County to work on 201/208 planning. The plan, with final details to be worked out in 2012, will designate the sanitary sewer service areas and regional service providers for all of Union County. 

Rick’s crew completed a project that eliminated the Main Street Pumpstation by constructing a 48 inch gravity sanitary sewer Main Pumpstation on Third Street to the new Trunk Interceptor Project. This huge effort should help to eliminate Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO) at the Main Pumpstation location.

The Wastewater Collection Unit continued to decommission the old Wastewater Treatment Plant at 620 North Main Street.  Major portions of the plant were demolished, tanks filled and areas seeded.  They converted a covered digester to a heated storage building for equipment storage and began converting another building to a drive-through Maintenance Facility for wastewater equipment repairs. We will continue to find new ways to use old facilities to improve the quality of our services.

The Division of Water, under Superintendent Scott Sheppeard, managed several contracted water main installation projects throughout the City and County.  These projects included the Brock Rd. 16 inch water main and the Industrial Parkway 36 inch water main installation and are in conjunction with the Jerome Village subdivision. They also inspected the installation of 140 feet of 36 inch Ductile Iron water main at the intersection of Coleman’s Crossing and Industrial Parkway.  This project was in conjunction with the Storm Water crew culvert replacement project on Industrial Parkway.

The Water Plant pumped 750,109,000 gallons of treated water into the distribution system in 2011.  An average of 68% of the total was surface water provided by the Upground Reservoir and the remaining 32% was well water.  

The Ohio EPA conducted a Sanitary Survey of the Water Treatment Plant with a few minor comments that were immediately addressed to the satisfaction of the Ohio EPA. 

The Division’s Distribution Crews worked on several water main replacement and abandonment projects in 2011.  These projects eliminated old problematic cast iron lines by either taking them out of service or replacing them with new ductile iron water mains.  These old cast iron lines have deteriorated over time and have a history of breaking at any given moment interrupting service to water customers.  They also purchased and installed 10 Fire Hydrant Auto-Flushers on the distribution system.  The Auto-Flushers help maintain water quality and reduce the amount of man hours needed to manually flush the hydrants. Finally, the Ohio EPA conducted a Sanitary Survey of the distribution system.  The only notable item was to place a lock on a software management link panel at the base of the Dunham water tower.  They placed a lock on it immediately. 

New Water Treatment Plant activities included working with our Engineering firm to design the facility.  This involved a preliminary study to confirm our potential well fields have ample water to supply the new treatment facility.  Preliminary findings are good, but if the new plant is expected to expand in the future, additional water supply sources may be needed.

The Water Division also began working with Engineering to lay out the water line for the future Police/Court facility site.  The main on the Police/Court site will act as a transmission main for approximately 75% of our City.

I end this state-of-the-city address by returning once again to our most valuable resources, our employees. Human Resource, led by Brian Dostanko, is charged with serving those that serve by professional managing all wage and benefit programs, as well as employee performance programs and providing sound organizational expertise.

Human Resources led a group effort that included our City wellness committee and both labor unions in masterfully managing our City’s insurance programs. By implementing a modification to our traditional health insurance plan and adding in the consumer-driven options of both a Health Reimbursement Account and Heath Savings Account, we were able to obtain an incredible 5.1% premium reduction for 2012. This is the first reduction in insurance costs in the modern day history of our great City.  This is projected to actually decrease the city-wide insurance funding line by $300,000. This same funding line averaged an 11.25% increase over the past 7 years. An employee taking the traditional plan will save around $216 dollars over the entire year of 2012. This outcome is textbook win-win for the City and our employees.

Human Resources conducted a thorough 16 comparable city wage and workforce study. All done in-house, a study of this magnitude would have cost the City in excess of $20,000 from an outside vendor. The results of this study have already helped guide us to appropriately compensate our employees and also how we are organized. I plan to continue to use this study in the near future to make personnel decisions that will improve the efficiencies of our services.

Early in 2011, Human Resources finished work on the two City collective bargaining agreements. This process included Human Resource’s full representation for the City by preparing fact-finder statement folders and leading negotiations through two fact-finder meetings, all accomplished in-house saving us somewhere between $10,000 to $20,000.   

Human Resources just finished leading our executive team through a page-by-page revision process of our City Policy Manual. This includes the creation of new policy such as for our NIXEL system, incorporating various changes to policy and impact of changes in law, as well as tightening-up old language.

We created our City’s first Public Information Clerk position that has vastly improved our cable information channel and all connectivity to the media and the position doubles as the manager of our new $15,000 medical deductible program that will pay for the position itself by reducing future worker’s compensation premiums.

Finally, Human Resources exemplify our collaborative spirit by holding a joint employee health fair with Union County, spearheaded our involvement in the annual Community Challenge, and our Human Resources Manager served his unprecedented third year as the President of the Union County Safety Council and was instrumental in holding the County’s Job Fair.   

In summary, the state of our City is solid. We are using the hard work of previous administrations as a springboard for our future success. Our finances are strong. Our spending and use of resources are sound and prudent. We’ve imbedded sensible, customer-focused core-values into the very fabric of our culture. We’ve challenged our work force to innovate and collaborate for efficiencies. We are appropriately named Union County, for in union there is strength. I again thank City Council, Union County officials, our gifted employees, and all our partners; for helping us forge this great team. We look forward to the strength of our union in building a better tomorrow for our residents.          

Print State Of The City Address

Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight about the state of our City.  Before doing so, however, I would like to express my strong gratitude to City Council for your hard work and dedication over the past year.  It is hard to believe this is the beginning of my fourth year as your Mayor. We’ve accomplished so much together over this past year as a direct result of hard work, sacrifice, and dedication to serving our citizens.  We have much of which to be proud, and I look forward to another great year of teamwork.

I would also like to thank our City employees for another great year.  To our City Administrator, Jillian Froment, our Municipal Court Judge Mike Grigsby, City Law Director Tim Aslaner, our Economic Development Director Eric Phillips, and our Administrative Staff including Police Chief Floyd Golden, Fire Chief Gary Johnson, City Engineer Valerie Klingman, Public Services Director John Mitchell, Finance Director Jenny Chavarria and Human Resources Manager Brian Dostanko, I would like to say thanks so much for all you have done over the past year.  And, to all other City employees, I also say thank you.  They have done so much this year, and I feel fortunate every day to lead such an able team.

Over the last year we have worked hard to build a stronger Marysville.   Our work began with taking steps necessary to strengthen our finances.  The first major step we took was to run a successful campaign to increase our income tax rate to 1.5%.  As Council knows, it took a lot of teamwork to get this done.  We had to pick ourselves up from a loss in 2009, and we had to do everything we could to reach voters.  We felt very fortunate to have success at the May ballot, and we could not have done it without Council’s help.  Thank you for your hard work. 

Another step forward financially last spring was to learn that the City had received an MIG 1 rating for short term notes from Moody’s Investors Services – the highest rating available- and Moodys also affirmed the Aa3 rating on the city’s outstanding general obligation bonds.  Among the reasons listed for these ratings were our city’s stable economic and employment base, specifically the development at Coleman’s Crossing and City Gate, the resurgence of production at our Honda facilities, and the expansions at The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company.  Another key element to the ratings was the 0.5% increase in our income tax rate.  Moody’s also cited management’s commitment to maintaining a solid cash carryover balance in the General Fund. Moody’s did observe the city’s above average debt burden, but they noted that the city’s Administration has plans in place to manage this debt burden so that over time, the debt burden will moderate.

Another step taken in 2010 to strengthen both our Finances and the health of our employees was to implement a new approach to health insurance that included the City’s first-ever consumer-driven Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) plan. This resulted in a modest 7% premium increase for 2010, one of our lowest increases in over a decade. We did not rest on this success, but continued to work harder and smarter, with help from members of Council and the community. The City Wellness Committee, re-named “Well Pointe” crafted a City-wide wellness mission statement that captures our “desired state” with respect to the health of our employees and their families. They then created five goals to help reach that desired state with dozens of action steps to help ensure our success. Well Pointe worked with each department and division in the City to bring about major plan changes that are being implemented this year. They created a new, modified preferred provider organization (PPO) that will help keep both employee and City future costs down. They developed a second consumer-driven option by instituting a Health Savings Account (HSA), and they closely examined the HRA that had been implemented in 2010 and made minor modifications. Employees now have 3 healthcare options (an HSA, an HRA and the PPO plan), and together with our active wellness committee, we have in place the most aggressive approach the City has every taken in attacking rising health care costs. The result to date from this hard work was to see only a 5% increase in the City’s insurance benefit budget line item, the smallest increase in over a decade.

Our safety service divisions have also worked hard to keep our city safe and strong.  Our Police Division continues to be aggressive in the fight against illegal drugs.  During the Spring of 2010, Grand Jury indictments were returned on twelve individuals.  This investigation which began in late 2009, involved trafficking in heroin and prescription drugs within the City of Marysville.  Investigators seized 110 doses of heroin, along with approximately 105 unit doses of prescription drugs including Oxycontin and Percocet.

The Police Division also worked with our community’s youth to help them understand the dangers of drugs.  The police division continued teaching the DARE curriculum at Creekview Intermediate School with a total of 450 graduates in the fifth grade.  The seventh grade DARE curriculum was taught at the Bunsold Middle School, and our police detectives taught seventh, eighth and ninth grade students about the dangers of illegal drugs as well as the misuse and potential dangers of social media such as Facebook and texting.

Our Fire Division continues to work cooperatively and collaboratively with other county fire departments to bring better service to the citizens of Marysville and Union County. Efforts at formalizing 911 backup capabilities at 2 remote sites were pursued throughout the year, and at the end of the year were almost complete, with activation planned for early 2011. 911 computerized dispatching services underwent a dramatic overhaul with improved Computer Aided Dispatching (CAD) to units in the field. This could never have been accomplished without the significant cooperation of all county public service agencies.

The Division of Fire continues to improve on in-house focused and consistent training, requiring a minimum of 2 hours training each 24-hour shift. Outside training efforts are primarily directed at low/no-cost opportunities, usually federally funded, at various locations outside the state. A software training grant was received from the federal government in early 2010. This software allows us to do virtual training with various scenarios as well as nationally recognized Fire Officer training in-house. The long-term cost savings realized thru these in-house training efforts will be significant.

In September, the police and fire divisions both participated in the Union County Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Full-Scale Exercise held at the City of Marysville Water Reclamation Facility.  The exercise was developed to validate Union County’s Emergency Operation Plan and to provide participants with an opportunity to evaluate current response concepts, plans and capabilities for response to a terrorist incident. The exercise provided the opportunity for local, state and federal agencies to train together on a very realistic exercise.

Our City has also become stronger in 2010 through significant infrastructure and policy work furthered by our Division of Engineering and our Public Service Department.  These improvements include, but are not limited to:

• Completing the North Main Street sanitary sewer project which eliminated the pump station near K-Mart and completing a gravity sanitary sewer for a portion of the Industrial Parkway sanitary sewer, which provided much-needed improvements in our system to link it to the southern parts of the county.
• Completing our Storm Water Management policy.
• Undergoing an Ohio EPA audit of the Industrial Pretreatment Program.  Ohio EPA determined the program to be in total compliance with OEPA regulations and commented that the program was a model for other communities.
• Substantially completing the Job Ready Site project that will provide a “ready to build” site for new companies.
• Replacing water mains that were in desperate need of replacement due to pipe deterioration.  This should end a history of water main breaks that interrupted service and quality to our water customers.
• Completing a complex agreement with the Jerome Village Community Authority to provide water and sanitary sewer service to a large housing and commercial development in the southeastern part of the county.
• Improving quality of our community’s water by reducing the hardness to 140 mg/L of total hardness for the first time in the City’s history.
• Installing two drainage tile systems to eliminate flooding in residential and industrial areas.
• Creating a plan to deal with the threat of Emerald Ash Borer including methods to increase public awareness, means of treatment and a proposed schedule for affected tree removals and replacement options, and
• The removal of dead or dying trees from Legion Park, which was sad but necessary.  We were able to sell the wood to a local sawmill and use those funds to purchase replacement trees.

The City also worked to keep our families strong by providing them with activities throughout the summer.  This included the Ohio Chautauqua event held in Mill Valley Park in conjunction with the Ohio Humanities Council and the Union County Arts Council.  Additionally, our City Pool had one of its most successful seasons both in terms of attendance and revenues. The 2010 summer temperatures were significantly higher than the other recent summers which encouraged families to attend more frequently.

All in all, the City had significant accomplishments in 2010…but I also want to speak with you tonight about our future and how we plan to build an even stronger and safer Marysville.   We all know how critical it is to have the proper equipment and facilities to provide quality services to our customers. As you know, we are in the fortunate position of being engaged in the building of a new Municipal Court and Police facility. We are also building a second fire station with our sights on a location north of the railroad tracks to ensure fire and EMS are on the scene more quickly—again, to provide better services. Both projects are being worked on by our expert team of Administrator Jillian Froment, Engineer Valerie Klingman and her staff, and safety service Chiefs Floyd Golden and Gary Johnson and their respective staffs. The devil can be in the details, but these professionals will work out the issues, and we are confidant that we will emerge with the best possible facilities for our community while keeping to our modest budget.    

The Public Service Department is also heavily involved in strengthening our future. This year, the Water Division will continue to replace old cast iron water lines as part of our ongoing water main replacement program to provide the proper infrastructure to handle increased pressures when the new Water Treatment Plant comes on line. As the economy rebounds, we hope our City will realize additional smart growth, as our new Water Reclamation Facility is designed to meet the needs of this optimistic future. We will continue to work hard with our Economic Development Director Eric Phillips to market our Uptown and our entire community as an ideal place to live, work and play.  With a strategic plan in place to incrementally purchase new trucks, backhoes and mowing equipment, we are positioned to provide high-quality services regarding our streets and parks, which will add to our residents’ quality of life.

This year, our Finance Department is busy looking at ways they can build upon the City’s utility billing process.  With a goal of excellent customer service, they are gathering public input and will implement changes determined to be in the best interests of all.  Our IT Technical Committee has formulated a strategic plan that will help us all do our jobs more efficiently. Better software, hardware and connectivity while examining new, innovative IT solutions like cloud computing for possible City use, means better services to our citizens and a stronger Marysville. 

Our most important resource is of course our employees. They have all had to make sacrifices these past few years. Even through these tough times they have worked hard to strengthen our future. With a continued goal of keeping our employees healthy and safe while also keeping future costs down, we hope to be in a better position this year to consider merit increases or cost-of-living raises and to maintain key benefits. Maintaining the best possible workforce is essential in building a stronger Marysville, and we cannot take their service for granted.  We need to recognize and reward them for their loyal dedication to excellent service to our residents.

When I look back at these past three years, I have a great sense of pride in all that we have accomplished with Council’s help. I have an ever-growing sense of respect for our citizens, our staff and our elected officials who work together because of our love of Marysville. When I look to the future, I know that with your talents and your motivation, we will build an even stronger Marysville. Thanks for all you do and for allowing me to be your Mayor.      

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Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight about the state of our City.  Before doing so, I would like to express my gratitude to City Council, for a great continuing partnership.  We in Administration appreciate the support you give to our City employees and the role that you play in being a bridge between the City government and our citizens.  We appreciate your fine representation of their interests and the work that you do for our community.

I would also like to thank our City employees for another great year.  To our City Administrator, Jillian Froment, our Municipal Court Judge Mike Grigsby, City Law Director Tim Aslaner, our Economic Development Director Eric Phillips, and our Administrative Staff including Police Chief Floyd Golden, Fire Chief Gary Johnson, City Engineer Valerie Klingman, Public Services Director John Mitchell, Finance Director John Morehart and Human Resources Manager Brian Dostanko, I would like to say thanks so much for all you have done over the past year.  And, to all other City employees, I also say thank you.  I am grateful for all you do.        

And now, I’d like to discuss the state of the City.  Overall, your City is in good condition.  We have held our own during this period of economic recession, we have experienced employees in place who are capable of managing through these challenging times, and we are planning strategically for our future. 

City Finances

As I have in past yearly reports, I’ll first discuss our City’s Finances.  As Council knows, our sewer, water, stormwater and sanitation (trash) services are self-funding and are operated out of what we call “enterprise funds”.  In 2009, revenues were up as compared to 2008 for our sanitation and stormwater funds, while they were down for our sewer and water funds.  The decrease was primarily due to reduced investment earnings, although user fees were lower than we would have liked due to the economy.  However, these enterprise funds remain in good condition.

When preparing our 2009 budget, we recognized that our City’s General Fund expenses had been outpacing revenues for quite some time.    Setting aside our sewer, water, stormwater and trash services, all other City services come out of what we call our “General Fund”.  In 2009, our General Fund revenue was down 2.1% from 2008.  However, we were able to adjust and decrease spending so we could maintain the necessary level of cash reserves.

We made the determination to address the deficiency in the General Fund in several ways.  First, we cut over $1.1 Million from our initial proposed 2009 budget.  Capital expenses were $356,888 less than 2008.  Only one replacement police vehicle was purchased during the year to replace two vehicles lost in weather related accidents.  No other vehicles were purchased from the General Fund.  Open employee positions were not filled.  All street paving was cut unless it was to be funded by grants. 

The second way we determined to address the General Fund was to try to increase our income tax rate.  As Council knows, in 2009, we assembled a 22 member Citizens Advisory Committee to review our General Fund finances as well as to assess our ability to meet the safety service needs of the City.  They concluded that although the City was spending money wisely and that we have a low number of employees when compared to other cities our size, we would not be able to have a balanced budget unless we raised the income tax rate or made painful cuts.  They also concluded that the City’s current police, fire and municipal court facilities were inadequate to allow these professionals to continue serving the public adequately.  They reviewed the City’s 1% income tax rate and concluded that it was unusually low when compared with other Ohio cities and that it was intended when passed in 1968 to cover only street paving, not all the additional services that it has been stretched to cover.  Therefore, they recommended that the City increase the rate to 1.5%.  With Council’s help, we worked hard to do that in 2009, but we were unsuccessful.  Painful cuts were made so that we could balance our budget.  However, the needs are still there, and they will not go away.  Many residents have told us that we should try again.  We are therefore determined to go before our voters again this May, and we appreciate Council’s help in advance.

Make no mistake, we cannot continue with our usual services to the public at a 1% rate.  If we fail again in May, further cuts will be needed.  Our inability to pave streets or replace police and other vehicles will catch up to us, and as needs arise, we will have to cut in other areas.  As we reach out to the public this spring, we will inform them of what we have cut and what further cuts will be needed.  We will do our best to enlist the voters’ help so that our City’s financial future becomes brighter.

Ensuring our Foundation is Strong for the Future

Now, I’d like to turn to a brighter topic, how the City worked in 2009 to ensure that its foundation is strong for the future.  As I talk, I’ll follow some of the themes laid out in our 2009 Annual Report.  I encourage Council and our residents to go to the City’s website at www.marysvilleohio.org and read the entire Annual Report, which should be posted by next week.

Employee Wellness:  One important initiative was to focus on employee wellness.  As Council knows, health insurance costs have skyrocketed for all employers, and the City has been affected by rising insurance costs.  To address this, in 2009 the Wellness and Health Information Committee (WHIC) was established as part of our Employee Wellness Program.  The WHIC is a formal committee made up of employees who are charged with continuously looking at all city insurance benefits to ensure maximum plan coverage at the lowest possible cost.  The WHIC reviewed each city insurance plan to identify potential areas of improvement.  The WHIC also used expert guest speakers to explore various medical insurance plan options such as Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and various wellness programs and initiatives.  Meetings were held with three different health insurance brokers in order to find the best possible rate and medical plan for the city, and meetings were held to lay the groundwork for possible HRA or HSA options.  As a result of the WHIC’s work, the city had the lowest percent of increase on its total insurance cost since 2005. The city realized a savings of $45,209.00 on medical costs by implementing an HRA option.  A new broker was also selected to position the City for future cost savings and efficiencies in future years.  Additionally, employees participated in on-line health risk assessments, which provided them a base line for their individual wellness programs.  Employee wellness will continue to be a focus of our City, as we strive to minimize expenses as well as have healthy employees.

Revision of the City Policy Manual:  Another important initiative to ensure a strong foundation for the city was a review and revision of the City Policy Manual in order to look for improvements and to ensure the city is in compliance with ever-changing laws and regulations. Led by our Human Resources Division, new policies were created to address the executive evaluation process, violence in the workplace, “at-will” employment of exempt employees, retiring equipment procedures, the city communication process, and the use of city resources. This Policy Manual will ensure a single consistent approach to the city’s daily operations.

Revision of the City’s Hiring Process:  A third foundational project in 2009 was a revision of the city’s hiring process.  Hiring the best possible person for a vacancy is arguably one of the most critical processes to ensure our city’s success.   Our Human Resources Division performed a 4-month review of the city’s hiring and recruitment process, which had not been reviewed in its entirety since 2003.  As part of the review, Human Resources gathered together all city hiring procedures, including all individualized departmental/divisional products, and performed a fictionalized hire through each department/division, making notes and changes along the way. This review resulted in the creation of a Hiring Guide to reduce the length of process as well as to create more standardization among forms, providing a single guide to all supervisors, ensuring better documentation and, most importantly, helping to ensure the best candidate is selected for the position.     

Completion of Traffic Studies:   Another project to ensure a strong foundation was the completion of studies by our City Engineering Department to examine potential traffic issues within the City and provide recommendations to improve those situations.  These studies included the Downtown One-Way Pair study, the US 36/SR 4 & Milford Ave Traffic Study, a Traffic Signal Study, a North Marysville Traffic Study, the Delaware Avenue Corridor Study and the Milford Avenue & Maple Street Intersection Study.  Additionally, a Safety Study was conducted for the Interchange at US 33/SR 4/SR 31.  These studies provide the city a basis for determining future improvements that will be needed as the City grows.  They will also be used to identify immediate concerns that can be addressed as funds or resources become available.   For example, the Traffic Signal Study identified issues with the City’s traffic signal operation - many of which were corrected or addressed over the past year by the Streets Division.  Finally, the studies will be used to apply for state and federal funding. 

Building for the Future

New Development:  In 2009, in spite of the recession, our City saw new developments still occur.  Construction starts included the Inn at Halcyon Village, a new Scotts Miracle-Gro office building to be called “The Kelly Swartz Center,” a new Scotts production facility and warehouse, Aaron Rents in City Gate, and Crazy Burrito in Coleman’s Crossing.  Although at a slower pace than previous years, new residential development continued and included a total of 68 single residential homes in the following developments:  Green Pastures, Keystone Crossing, The Links, Scotts Farms, Shepherd Landing and the Village at Timber Lakes.

Water Reclamation Facility:  Also during 2009, the City’s new Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) was placed into operation.  This was the culmination of a long process that had begun with the issuing of findings of noncompliance and orders to comply by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2002.  With the commissioning of this new facility, The City of Marysville is well positioned for future growth and development, as the City’s wastewater treatment capacity has been increased from 4.0 million gallons per day to 8.0 million gallons per day. 

Water Reservoir:  The City’s Water Department also had a year of building for the future, as the City Reservoir located on Raymond Road, the Inflatable Dam located on Mill Creek and the Mill Creek Pumping Station were completed in mid-summer.  The Pumping Station, when operating at full capacity, can fill the 41 feet deep reservoir in approximately 45 days.  Together these structures will ensure the city’s future water supply by creating a supply of 1.3 billion gallons of water.  This amount is enough water to supply the city for approximately 375 days.  The reservoir can viewed by citizens who can enjoy the 2.1 mile walking track located around the top of the structure.  Additionally, the City is proactively working to address future water supply, treatment, and distribution needs and ever-tightening regulatory requirements.  To meet these needs and requirements, the City has begun the design process for a new Water Treatment Plant.  The design process will take approximately two years and will look at the well supply, potential treatment alternatives and distribution system improvements.  Once the design process is completed, the plant will take approximately 3 years to build and will result in a plant that can meet future daily demand, meet compliance requirements, address water pressure issues and deliver better water quality.

Preserving and Sustaining our Future

In 2009, the City put renewed focus on adopting environmentally friendly processes that would preserve and sustain our community.  These ranged from using recycled concrete and asphalt to making our own top soil from wood chips and leaves.  All pedestrian crossing lights were replaced with LED crossing heads, which will result in cost and energy savings.  The water division identified and repaired leaks in the system, which will save an estimated 77, 700 gallons of water per day.  The Memorial Tree Program was begun, with residents now being able to honor loved ones by donating a tree to be planted in city parks.

Protecting our Future

In 2009, our Police and Fire Divisions continued to provide exemplary service for our citizens.  The Fire Division had a total of 2778 responses to calls for aid.  Mutual aid from other fire departments was required 116 times for calls that occurred when our staff was already responding.  The Police Division responded to 12,336 calls for service, an increase from the prior year.  Incident reports were also up from 2008.  In the Fall of 2009, the Police Division obtained Grand Jury indictments against eighteen individuals for trafficking in heroin and other drugs.  Throughout the year, our safety services participated in numerous training exercises to ensure they are prepared for emergency events and remain ready to protect our citizens.

Connecting to our Future

Much improvement was made to the City’s Information Management systems during 2009, including a major upgrade of the city’s network and the establishment of wireless network connections between City Hall and the Water Reclamation Facility.  The City also began work on a technology plan by first creating a technology committee, which has begun developing a unified vision for the city’s technology systems.

Planning for the Future

And now, I’d like to update Council and the public on how the City planned for its future in 2009.  While we didn’t have money to spend, we knew that the economy will turn around eventually, so we felt that this past year was a good time to prepare for the future.  We first did this by embarking on the development of a new city Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan).  The Comp Plan was created to develop a shared understanding of Marysville’s future needs and best strategies for ensuring a successful future.  Like many historic and fast-growing communities, Marysville will benefit from a long-term strategy to guide its efforts, both today and into the future.  The Comp Plan is a tool to help the community lay the groundwork for making great things happen. It is based on a realistic evaluation of the City, including its assets, its opportunities and its regional context.  The Plan drew upon meaningful, active involvement of a wide range of the City’s Stakeholders, including its residents, business operators, elected officials, municipal staff and appointed officials, including the members of the Planning Commission and Design Review Board.  We are in the process of finalizing the Comp Plan and, when completed, it will provide a vivid statement of Guiding Principles for the City’s future and an ambitious, but achievable, program of improvements that will give the City the capacity and methods for achieving those Guiding Principles.  These improvements include future changes in zoning, amendments to the Planning and Zoning Code, the establishment of new traffic patterns, the establishment of pedestrian connectivity and the establishment of vehicular gateway features.  While growth in our City has slowed during the last two years, we know it will pick back up again, and with our new Comprehensive Plan, we will be ready to ensure that growth is sustainable and beneficial to our residents’ quality of life.

Another area in which the City planned for its future during 2009 was Parks and Recreation Planning.  Parks and Recreation play an important role in the life of Marysville residents. In order to address the current and future needs of our residents, the City initiated efforts to create a comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan.  The purpose of the Master Plan was to create a vision and plan to guide the decisions which affect the parks, the recreation programs and the community they serve.  The planning process evaluated existing programs, parks, facilities and services and resulted in 13 recommendations on new or enhanced programs, parks, facilities, and services.  These recommendations include action steps and timelines for completion.  Public participation was a critical element of the parks planning process.  We knew that it was essential that the citizens of Marysville be given an opportunity to have input on the future of the Parks and Recreation system, so our goal was to involve as many residents as possible in the process.  In order to achieve this goal, community input was gathered through community forums, surveys and stakeholder interviews.  This input revealed that residents of Marysville are accustomed to having well maintained parks and multiple recreational opportunities available through the Marysville Parks and Recreation System.  Members of the community consider recreational services important and want sports fields available.  However, they also want more emphasis put on trails that connect the city and the parks together.  These trails can be used by residents of all ages—parents with young children in strollers, runners and bikers, rollerbladers and walkers, whether they are young or older.  As our city expands, we will therefore incorporate more sidewalks, trails and bike paths so that our citizens have linear parks in which to enjoy recreation.   The input from residents showed us less interest in creating new parks; instead, residents said that focus should be placed on maintaining and improving our existing parks and that focus should be placed on expanding recreational opportunities within those existing parks.  Although we were not able to make new capital improvements into our parks this past year, the planning we did will serve us well in the future.  As growth resumes, our Parks Master Plan will serve as a guidebook for upgrades and additions to our recreational opportunities.

Well Positioned for the Future

As Council has heard, the City of Marysville is well-positioned for future growth.  2009 was a year of planning.  Much was accomplished so that we are prepared for when the economy revives. 

As always, I want to say a heartfelt thanks to our city employees.  In spite of financial challenges and cutbacks, they remain dependable and resilient.  They serve the public cheerfully and with dedication.  For that, I say thank you.

In concluding, I advise you that the state of our City is strong.  2009 was a year of planning and ensuring that we have a strong foundation for the future.  And, our future continues to be very bright.         

To City Council, thank you for allowing me to speak tonight, thank you for all you do, and God Bless.

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Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight about the state of our City.  Before doing so, however, I would like to express my strong gratitude to City Council, for a great first year in office.  You have made this year such a pleasure.   I hope that you agree that the City Administration and you have worked well together.  We are truly part of the same team, and we are working toward the same goals.  That is something of which we can be very proud, and it bodes well for the future of this City.

I would also like to thank our City employees for a great year.  To our City Administrator, Jillian Froment, our Municipal Court Judge Mike Grigsby, City Law Director Tim Aslaner, our Economic Development Director Eric Phillips, and our Administrative Staff including Police Chief Floyd Golden, Fire Chief Gary Johnson, City Engineer Valerie Klingman, Public Services Director John Mitchell, Finance Director John Morehart and Human Resources Manager Brian Dostanko, I would like to say thanks so much for all you have done over the past year.  And, to all other City employees, I also say thank you.  Our employees are what keep our City running, day in and day out.  They are the heart and soul of our City, and I am grateful for all they do.

And now, I’d like to discuss the state of the City.  Overall, your City is in good condition.  Our finances are sound, we have a great Administrative Staff in place, our employees are loyal and hard-working, and we are planning strategically for our future. 

More specifically, I’ll first discuss our City’s Finances.  This has been a tough year for all, and our City is no exception.  I’ll start by reporting how we did in 2008, then discuss what we expect for 2009.  Our Finance Department is run by Director John Morehart and Assistant Finance Director John Green.   The Finance Department is responsible for the overall day-to-day financial activities of the City involving cash management, budget, debt administration, investments, income tax, accounts payable, payroll, utility billing and collection, and prudent investment of the City's resources. 

As of December 31, 2008, the unreserved General Fund balance was $3.9 million, which was down approximately $850,000 from the unreserved cash balance last year.   This was a planned use of cash reserves to help fund the 2008 General Fund operations, but we cannot keep using cash reserves like this for long.  We have been studying ways to minimize our expenditures and increase our revenues, and we will be gathering public input on these avenues later this year.

A major component of our revenues comes from City income taxes.  One major accomplishment that occurred in 2008 in this area was to take the first steps to allow electronic filing of individual income tax returns.  Electronic filing provides a convenient way to file, it is lower cost and it saves paper, so it is better for the environment.  We will continue to make improvements in this process in 2009.

The City utilities, including refuse and recycling collection and disposal, wastewater reclamation and disposal, water treatment and distribution, and stormwater management, ensure the public health and welfare while providing an opportunity for economic development within the City and surrounding areas.  Funds in these areas are carefully managed with the goal of having them be as self-supporting as possible.  For 2008, all the utility funds experienced growth when compared with 2007 except the Stormwater Fund.  The Stormwater user fee revenue decreased 2.6% from 2007, primarily due to customers improving their stormwater infrastructure which qualified them for credits and discounts.

A major activity that occurred this year in the utilities area was the enactment of a new trash collection program.  Effective January 1, 2009 the City transitioned from a multi-tiered pricing program to a flat-rate, unlimited refuse, recycling, bulk item, and yard waste collection program.  This change required months of review and hard work by all of the parties involved but is anticipated to streamline the collection and billing processes for both the contracted waste hauler as well as the City.  It also provides a benefit for many City residents in permitting unlimited refuse collection.  City Administrator Jillian Froment did a wonderful job obtaining public input by means of a survey conducted through our City website.  Our residents responded well, and primarily as a result of the survey, a flat rate was recommended and passed by City Council.  City Council deserves commendation for the manner in which it encouraged and fostered public input during the process.  This is a great example of how we have been able to partner effectively and accomplish good things for our City.

The City’s 2007 financial audit was conducted during the year, and it revealed no material misstatements.  The financial statements were deemed to present fairly in all material respects the financial position of the City as of December 31, 2007.  

Debt management continues to be an important function in the Finance Department.  The City needs to maintain an aggressive position regarding debt reduction.  During 2008 we paid down $1,705,000 on the long term debt and $1,150,000 on the short term notes.  Of the total $2,855,000 that was paid down, only $1,250,000 was paid from the General Fund and the balance from the Water, Sewer and Tax Increment Financing Funds.

And now, as we look forward to 2009, we will continue to monitor our budget very carefully.  I won’t mince words—we are concerned.  Our concern is not fueled by our actions necessarily—we are managing our resources well, and we are not overspending.  However, as political advisor James Carville once said, “It’s the economy, stupid”.  The economy continues to worry us all.  Locally, we know that some of our largest employers are decreasing production.  Eventually, that may affect payroll, and decreased payroll means decreased income taxes for us.  We have not seen a decrease yet, but we will carefully monitor income, and if we need to, we will cut expenses.

I’d next like to touch upon economic development within our City.  Our City’s Economic Development function is headed by Eric Phillips, a resource we share with Union County and the County Chamber of Commerce.  Even though 2008 was a slower year, our City was fortunate to still see growth.   2008 economic development projects included: 

• Creation of the Marysville-Union County Port Authority, which provides us with another economic development tool;

• The opening of the Army National Guard Training and Community Center at the Union County Family YMCA;

• Many improvements and new businesses in Uptown Marysville.  More will come, with our receipt of a $400,000 CDBG Tier II grant and the Preserve America Designation;

• Veyance Technology began an $18 million expansion, and

• Various new businesses opened in Coleman’s Crossing, City Gate and the Mill Valley Plaza.

In 2008, we worked very closely with our County Government in planning for the provision of utilities in the southern part of the County.  When growth occurs there, we will be ready, and that will bode well for both the County and the City.

As we move into 2009, an area that will be receiving a lot of attention will be our Safety Services, which consists of our Police Department, our Fire Department and our Municipal Court.    These departments protect our City and maintain law and order.  As you know, our Police Department is ably led by Chief Floyd Golden and Assistant Police Chief Glenn Nicol.  In 2008, our Police Department’s calls for service increased by 6% over the prior year.  In addition to performing their day-to-day duties, they went above and beyond the call of duty in several areas, including:

• Assisting the U.S. Secret Service with security for Presidential Candidate Barack Obama as he spent the night in one of our local hotels;

• Providing security for Justices of the Ohio Supreme Courts as they held court in Marysville:

• Providing numerous public service activities such as providing crowd and traffic control for local parades, festivals, funeral processions and walk-to-school events;

• Expanding the Neighborhood Watch program to cover more areas of the City;

• Presenting the DARE program to 450 intermediate school students;

• Obtaining electronic fingerprinting equipment to improve the accuracy of submissions and reduce time required to fingerprint suspects;

• Acquiring and installing mobile computers in all marked police cruisers to include Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) of all vehicles; and

• Installing AVL software in our communications center to allow the monitoring of police, fire, and EMS vehicles within the City of Marysville and Union County.

As to training, all of our Police personnel completed city mandatory training, but they also completed close to 2000 additional non-mandatory training.  Highlights included:

• Assistant Chief Glenn Nicol graduated in February from the Certified Law Enforcement Executive course sponsored by the Ohio Chiefs of Police Association;

• Detective Doug Ropp earned his certification as a Master Evidence Technician from the Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy, and

• Detective Don McGlenn earned his certification as a Master Criminal Investigator from the Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy.

Looking forward to 2009, due to budget constraints, we unfortunately had to defer the scheduled replacement of one of our police cruisers.  We realize that we are not always able to provide our Police Department with all of the resources it needs, and we deeply appreciate the fact that our Police are still able to provide our citizens with an extremely high level of public service and professionalism.

Another critical component of our Safety Services is our Fire Department, led by Chief Gary Johnson and Assistant Chief Jay Riley.   In 2008, the department experienced a 9% increase in Fire Calls for service.  The Department continues to be challenged by budget constraints but they are committed to serving the City of Marysville with the highest level of life and property protection with the given resources available.  In 2008, in addition to their day-to day duties including fire and EMS calls, they were able to accomplish extensive training, including a live fire training exercise in April and a county-wide training drill in July.   Their attitude of continuous improvement resulted in the department logging close to 2500 training hours during the year.

Other major 2008 accomplishments, included:

• The receipt of grants and donations exceeding $40,000 which will be used to upgrade or buy critical equipment that would otherwise be purchased from the general fund;

• The revamping and county-wide implementation of the Department’s Juvenile Fire Setter program, including a two day training program;

• A renewed emphasis on increasing fire safety opportunities for youth in our community and numerous other public relations/educational events including a Boy Scouts of America Preparedness Camporee which our department led and a live broadcast from the station of FM radio station B107.9’s “Hometown Hero” program.

The Department suffered one major equipment loss during the year, as its Engine 272 was permanently taken out of services due to serious safety issues.  A replacement engine has been ordered and is expected to arrive in March.  As we looked at equipment for the upcoming year, we were forced to postpone the scheduled replacement of 2 staff cars for the 3^rd year in a row, due to budget constraints.

And now, I’d like to spend a few minutes looking forward into 2009 for our Safety Services.  This past year, we began the process to assess our resources for these areas.  Unfortunately, I must report to you that they are woefully inadequate.  For example, when we assessed the Police Department, we found that while the typical Police Department for a city our size is about 25,000 square feet, our department occupies 3500 square feet.  That is 1/7 the size of a facility that it needs to accomplish its duties efficiently.  As to the Fire Department, as Council knows, we have been concerned with the current location for some time.  Their building is very old, and it needs repairs exceeding $100,000.  However, we simply cannot in good conscience invest that much money into an old building in a less than optimal location.  We have been advised by outside experts that in order to maintain satisfactory response times, we need a fire station north of town or with quicker access to Route 33.  And as to the third part of Safety Services, our Municipal Court, we also have been advised that their facilities are inadequate.  They do not have proper space for holding criminal defendants, conducting probation activities or simply storing records.  They also could benefit from increased security screening protocols, although in the current location, it is impractical.

Because of these serious shortfalls, 2009 will be a very important year for our Safety Services.  I am pleased to announce that in the next few weeks, the City will kick off a planning process which will include gathering citizen input as to what the public wants, in terms of facilities for our Police, Fire and Municipal Court.  This cannot be just an effort by your City Administration; rather, as City Council knows, this must be a joint effort of both Council and the Administration.  We will gather public input.  If the public tells us that they want different facilities, then we will also ask them to advise us of the funding mechanism they prefer.  We will need additional revenues if we are to do anything, but you have my pledge, that we are committed to fiscal conservatism.  More information about this planning process will be available on our City Website (www.marysvilleohio.org) as the process progresses.

Next, I’d like to turn to our Engineering Department, ably led by City Engineer Valerie Klingman with help from Assistant Engineer Brian Palmer.  This Department has primary responsibility for the planning, construction and maintenance of infrastructure throughout the City.   They also are responsible for engineering, zoning and subdivision regulations and for construction inspections for City capital improvement projects and subdivision construction.  2008 was a year of transition for Engineering.  The slowing of development in 2008 has allowed Ms. Klingman the opportunity to assess the department and make a few changes, such as the initial implementation of a new GIS system that will allow us to operate more efficiently.  Other accomplishments for the department in 2008 included:

• Facilitating the Cooke's Pointe Preliminary Development Plan through Planning Commission and Council.  As Council knows, this was the first mixed- use Planned Unit Development (PUD) that had come before us, and we have definitely learned from the process;

• Obtaining OPWC grants for Maple and Milford Intersection and Columbus Ave/Industrial Parkway Culverts;

• Overseeing the Collins Ave reconstruction;

• Successfully partnering with the Marysville School District to facilitate SR4 roadway improvements at the new Bunsold School;

• Continuing work on the Reservoir, Water Reclamation Facility and related infrastructure projects;

• Receiving a CDBG Tier II grant for uptown improvements, and

• City Planner Greg DeLong graduated from the Union County Leadership Institute this past year.

In 2009, the Engineering Department will lead a very important initiative, the creation of a new Comprehensive Plan for our City.  A Comp Plan provides for orderly and strategic development.  It designates the ways that land in our city will be used, and it ensures that our city maintains a high quality of life.  We have not updated our Comp Plan since 1999.   As we conduct this process, we will gather much input from Council and our residents, and we are excited to plan for the future.

Moving on to the Public Services Department, this was also a year of transition, as John Mitchell took over as Director this past summer.  We were fortunate to maintain stability, however, since we are blessed with long-time Division leaders including: Buildings and Grounds,  headed by Lane Stillings;  Parks and Recreation, headed by Steve Conley; Streets, Sanitation and Stormwater, headed by Joe Tracy, and the Wastewater and Water Divisions, ably led by Rick Varner.  Public Services, along with our Engineering Department, have continued to be front and center when it comes to the very major infrastructure projects occurring in Marysville.  During 2008, this department made major progress on the following projects:

• Our Water Reclamation Facility is 96% complete, and start-up is planned for Spring, 2009.  This will position us well for economic development within the County;

• The Upland Reservoir Project and piping is substantially complete, while the dam and pump station are 75% complete.  Use of the reservoir will begin in the next few months;

• E. 5^th Street was widened, re-paved and reopened for thru traffic;

• Collins Ave was replaced, using funds obtained from an Ohio Public Works grant;

• Several sidewalk improvements were made, including on E. 6^th St and Hickory Drive, which provided safer routes for our school children;

• The Buildings and Grounds Division, as well as the Parks and Recreation Division,  added several facilities, including a new storage building at Oakdale Cemetery, a new greenhouse to grow and maintain all flowers throughout the City and an addition to the walking trail in Mill Valley North; and

• The Sanitation Department supplemented its day-to-day activities with a tremendous amount of cleanup necessitated due to the remnants of Hurricane Ike.  This department received large amounts of praise from our residents for their heroic work.

As this Division moves into 2009, they will lead an important initiative by updating our City’s Parks and Recreation Plan.  We have grown tremendously since the last parks plan was completed, and we need to ensure that our residents’ needs in this area are being met.  Parks and Recreation currently serve our citizens well, but we are optimistic that an updated Parks and Recreation Plan will allow that level of service to continue well into the future.

And finally, I’d like to provide an overview of our City’s Division of Personnel and Services, which includes our Human Resources, Safety and Information Management services.  This Division is ably led by Brian Dostanko, with assistance from Donna Nicol and Gwen Beech. 

2008 was a year that stretched this Division, as the City Administration required much assistance in building our Administrative team.  This was their busiest year in recent history, but they stepped up to the plate and did an excellent job in providing professional and high quality services.  They have helped us build a team that is ready to help lead our city to new heights.  At the same time, they continued to place a major emphasis on training and performance management for current employees.  I am pleased to report that this was the first year in recent history without a single employee receiving performance ratings of unsatisfactory or marginal.

I am also pleased to report that this is the first year in recent history that the City had its first year without a single grievance.  I attribute these successes to the excellent management training that our Division of Personnel and Services is providing.  They focus on building leadership, management and coaching skills, and their work has paid off.

Other accomplishments that deserve mention include managing employee benefits so that the yearly cost increase was minimized, an increased focus on employee wellness and a significant decrease in our Bureau of Workers Compensation ratings due to a very successful employee safety program.  Additionally, our Information Management division was involved in many important projects, which led to employee Gwen Beech being chosen twice in 2008 as the Employee of the Quarter.  Finally, Human Resources Manager Dostanko deserves recognition for the high quality work he has done in capturing data that will be critical as we launch our planning for Safety Services Infrastructure.  Mr. Dostanko completed a survey of comparable cities, went on 10 site trips to capture the best of what other communities have done and has been very successful in presenting this information in ways that will be beneficial to the citizen task force that we will assemble.  His work is to be commended.

As I complete my first year in office, I want to say a heartfelt thanks to our wonderful city employees.  They are what keep this City running, day in and day out.  They deserve much credit and thanks for the fine work they have done this past year. 

In concluding, I state with certainty that your City is in good hands.  Our finances are stable, the public’s resources are being used wisely and we are meeting the essential needs of our residents.  This has been a year of strong partnerships, with City Council, with county and township officials, and with the public.  As we move into 2009 and put plans in place in the areas of Parks, Comprehensive Land Use and Safety Services, those partnerships will continue, and that makes our future very bright.

To City Council, thank you for allowing me to speak tonight, thank you for all you do, and God Bless.

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Thank you for having me here tonight.  I would like to add my welcome to our two new members of Council, Nevin Taylor and Debbie Groat.  Thank you for being willing to give your time and talents to serve our City.  And, thanks also to the other members of Council.  You keep our City’s legislative functions running smoothly and are a critical part of this City.  I look forward to working as part of your team and pledge to do my best to keep us on the same page, working together toward the same goals. 

As most of you know, I was elected as Mayor this past November, and I was just sworn in on Monday, December 31.  Therefore, I have a grand total of a week and half of experience, which doesn’t give me a lot of credibility in delivering this State of the City Address.  However, what does give me credibility are the wonderful employees of our City.  As I speak and provide an overview of the City’s challenges and accomplishments during 2007 and provide you with our basic goals for 2008, our approximately 159 employees deserve all of the credit.  Even though Mayors may change every 4 years, these employees keep the City going, without a hitch.

So, giving credit where credit is due, I’d like to start by thanking all of our City employees.  In business terms, employees are known as our “human resources”, and our Human Resources Department is headed by Brian Dostanko, with assistance from Donna Nicol.  Since joining us, Brian has professionalized this function and has done his best to ensure that our employees know that they are valued and appreciated.  Additionally, in heading our Information Services function, Brian has done a great job overseeing the creation of a topnotch city website.  Our site, located at www.marysvilleohio.org, is a wealth of information about who does what within the City and how our citizens can get almost any help they need.  If you have not spent time surfing our site or haven’t looked at it in a while, I’d strongly encourage you to visit it.

In 2007, our Human Resources area continued to place a major emphasis on the safety of all our employees.  They were able to complete a record high 99.1% of scheduled safety training and were able to reduce the City’s workers compensation bills significantly by participating in innovative programs.  In 2008, our Human Resources Department plans to continue proactively training our supervisors and managers in leadership training so that they will possess the necessary knowledge and skills to keep the City running smoothly.  We also plan to continue to focus on employee wellness, so that we can reduce missed work time, reduce costs to the City and ensure that our employees enjoy longer and healthier lives.

Another very valuable “human resource” that I’d like to recognize is Kathy House, our Director of Administration.  Kathy manages all of our City Departments, and her role is full-time, versus that of the Mayor’s, which under our City Charter is only part-time.  Kathy, thank you for all of your hard work over this past year.  You have led us through many challenges and opportunities.  Along with former Mayor Tom Kruse, you put plans into place and made significant strides in major infrastructure projects that will ensure our City’s growth and stability for many years to come.  Thank you for your loyalty and dedication to our City.

And now, I’d like to update you on the progress of our City and on our main goals for 2008.  I can tell you that in the short time I’ve been in office, I’ve been very impressed with the well-being and stability of the various functions of the City.  Our Department directors and chiefs are very well qualified, passionate about their jobs and hard working.  Your City is in good hands.

Getting to specifics, the Public Services Department, headed by Tracie Davies, had a very busy and productive year.  Public Services is in charge of many divisions that keep our citizens happy, including: Buildings and Grounds,  headed by Lane Stillings;  Parks and Recreation, headed by Steve Conley; Streets, Sanitation and Stormwater, headed by Joe Tracy, and the Wastewater and Water Divisions, ably led by Rick Varner.  Public Services, along with our Engineering Department, has been front and center when it comes to the very major infrastructure projects occurring in Marysville.  Very rarely does a community have to tackle so many major projects at once, but during 2007, this department made major progress on the following major projects:

• Our new wastewater treatment plant, also known as the Marysville Water Reclamation Facility

• The Crosses Run Pump Station, Force Main and Trunk Interceptor sewer projects

• A comprehensive update on the Wastewater Master Plan, so that we can determine how best to work with the County to provide services for areas outside our city limits, and

• Our Upland Reservoir Project and Water Lines, so that we can ensure a plentiful water supply for our citizens for years to come.

 Our Public Services Department also worked on many smaller projects during the year that are near and dear to our citizens, including:

• One Million Dollars in street re-paving

• The widening of East Fifth Street near the railroad crossing, so it can hopefully re-open this year

• Drainage improvements and the installation of a walking trail in Greenwood Park

• Completion of a new salt barn at the Public Service Center so that Joe Tracy and his very able crew can continue the great job they do in plowing our streets.

In 2008, most of the major projects of the Public Service Department will continue. The Department will bid out the remainder of the reservoir project and break ground in the next few months, begin work on the infrastructure for the site off of Scottslawn Road that received a $3.5 million Jobs Ready Site grant, possibly design a new water plant for the City, and, if all goes well, complete the new Water Reclamation Facility at the end of the year.  At the same time they are managing these major projects, they will ably handle day-to-day assignments, including paving of Collins Avenue, the installation of a new baby pool at the City pool and the possible design and development of a new soccer field at Central Park.  One thing I’ve noticed about the Public Service Department is that they’re very capable of handling extraordinary projects while ably performing their day-to-day work such as leaf and trash pickup.  Many kudos and thanks to this department.

Now, I’d like to turn to our Engineering Department, ably led by City Engineer Phil Roush with help from Assistant Engineer Brian Palmer.  This Department has primary responsibility for the planning, construction and maintenance of infrastructure throughout the City.   They also are responsible for engineering, zoning and subdivision regulations and for construction inspections for City capital improvement projects and subdivision construction.  Engineering has also been very busy working on major projects this year, including the new Water Reclamation Facility, working to obtain a re-rating of our existing Water Plant from the Ohio EPA so that we have more time before we need to build a new plant, and preparing for the construction of our new Water Reservoir off of Raymond Road.   Other major 2007 accomplishments include:

• Planning with Jerome Township and others in the Growth Area southeast of the City limits, working with planned developments in the City including the Cook property and Twigg property and assisting the Design Review Board with review of specific projects including those in Coleman’s Crossing and City Gate

• Beginning the design phase for a possible new fire station, and working with an architect and all current Fire staff to determine the proposed layout for a new facility

• Working with the Public Services Committee and Council to implement a traffic study to determine needed improvements for managing traffic and relieving congested areas

• Installing a new restroom facility and shelter house at Mill Valley South Park near the soccer fields

• Continued work with ODOT for final plans for a Transportation Enhancement grant for planting of trees and shrubs along Delaware Avenue from US33 to Charles Lane, and

• The completion of the East Side drainage study to determine needs.

In 2008, the Engineering Department will continue to stay very busy with major projects.  Our City will continue to experience growth, and the planning work that this Department does will become more and more important.   Major plans for 2008 include the following:

• Working on redevelopment of existing areas in the City including Eastpointe Plaza

• Continue working toward design for a possible new fire station, as well as putting plans in place for future stations

• Completing traffic studies and determining a schedule for implementation of recommendations for the interchange area with US33 at SR31 and SR4, the eastside corridor between five-points and US33 and a traffic signal system along Fifth Street

• Contracting for and completing the work for the Transportation Enhancement project along Delaware Avenue

• Continue sidewalk replacement program.  This is an area near and dear to my heart, and we will be assessing all sensible ways to enact a project to connect by sidewalks all of our schools and neighborhoods

• Complete northwest area drainage study.

• Compile listing of all storm projects from the three studies (Town Run, East Side and Northwest) for prioritization and planning.

Moving on to our Police Department, this area is ably led by Chief Floyd Golden, and Glenn Nicol is our Assistant Police Chief.  It has been a joy getting to know them both, and I look forward to working with them and their officers as they protect our citizens.  Their 2007 Major Accomplishments included the following:

• As the result of an undercover investigation lasting several months, a local liquor establishment that had become a nuisance was closed down.  The owner and three other people received prison sentences.

• The hiring of two additional police officers.  This will allow us to add an additional detective to expedite criminal investigations.

• “Neighborhood Watches” have been organized in Mill Valley, Green Pastures, Hickory Run, The Meadows, and Greenwood Colony.

• Seventy percent of the marked police cruisers were equipped with video in-car recording systems.

• The division placed a Honda motorcycle into regular patrol service with a primary purpose of traffic enforcement in residential neighborhoods.

• A February robbery of McDonalds was solved resulting in the arrest and conviction of three adults.

• Fourteen daytime residential burglaries were solved with the arrest of an adult male who received a ten-year prison sentence.

• Fifteen north and east side business breaking and entering cases were solved with three people being indicted for related felony offenses.

• Two adults were arrested and convicted of felony offenses stemming from over thirty thefts from motor vehicles.

In 2008, Major Goals include:

• Obtaining funding to acquire and implement mobile reporting in all marked police cruisers by means of in-car computers.  The ultimate goal is to have GPS and L.E.A.D.S. (Law Enforcement Automated Data System) access in each car.  Due to strong fiscal management by our Finance Department this past year, I’m pleased to report that we have funding available to do this, and with Council’s help, will fund it this year.

• Completion of the in-car video system implementation in the remaining three police cruisers.

• Conducting a facilities needs assessment to identify current and future physical plant needs for the division.

• Working with the City IT to enhance the website to allow public submission of reports, forms and information directly to the police division and

• Partnering with the schools, coalitions and other entities to improve overall traffic safety in school zones directed at “Safe Routes to Schools” for students.

Our Police Department is currently stretched thin, and its facilities and vehicles are not exactly optimal.  As our City grows, our Police Department will be strained even further.  I know that Council is well aware of the Department’s needs, and I pledge my help and support in working with you to find creative ways to fund improvements and to keep our Department top-notch. We will look at these issues in 2008 and plan for the future.

Another critical department for our City is our Fire Department, ably led by Chief Gary Johnson and Assistant Chief Jay Riley.  I met with them this week and toured our fire station.  I was very impressed by their organization. If you read their department website, you get a true picture of the pride and discipline they instill in their people.  Quoting briefly from their website:

“The Marysville Division of Fire proudly protects 30,000 people living in an area of 86 square miles.  We operate out of one station that protects a diverse area including residential, business, industrial and agricultural uses.  There is a heavy emphasis on organizational excellence through both mandatory and voluntary training and education.  There is also a significant emphasis on mission readiness and personal/professional development.”

In 2007, the Department had many accomplishments, including:

• Over $40,000 in grants and donations was received in 2007. This money was and will be used to upgrade or buy critical equipment that would otherwise be purchased from the general fund.

• The AVL/mobile computing project (initial phase) came online in mid-2007, providing GPS, mapping, and resource access/acquisition.

• Another siren was added to our Early Warning System, and our low power, AM Alert station was brought online. We are the only community in central Ohio to have a triple back-up, siren alert system that can be silently monitored, tested, and tied into an AM Alert radio system.

• General discussion and planning meetings were held with Council to explore the need for new facilities. 

• A “Code Red” system was implemented thru the joint efforts of City and County officials, providing a “reverse 911” notification of up to 1,000 residents per minute during an emergency.

The Department’s goals for 2008 are posted on their website, and the first one says it all: “Continuous Self-improvement”.  Other major Goals for 2008 include:

• Continued review and planning for possible replacement facilities as well as additional manpower, with examination of feasible funding mechanisms.

• Adding an additional Full-Time Inspector to the Prevention Bureau, creating 2 full-time fire inspector positions

• Working with the city attorney and the court system to collect nearly $50,000 in outstanding false alarm fees.

• Remodeling the downstairs offices to facilitate better public access and streamline administrative operations.

• Complete the AVL/mobile computing project, adding 2 more vehicle laptops, finalizing 911 mobile communications interface.

The final two areas I’d like to report on tonight involve the glue that holds all of this together: money.  Our Division of Finance manages all of our City’s money, while our Economic Development Department focuses on attracting and retaining quality businesses that will provide us with income tax funds to help run our City. 

Finance is ably run by Director John Morehart and Assistant Finance Director John Green.   The Finance Department is responsible for the overall day-to-day financial activities of the City involving cash management, budget, debt administration, investments, income tax, accounts payable, payroll, utility billing and collection and prudent investment of the City's resources. 

Our City’s Finances have been stretched thin in recent years due to our need for major infrastructure improvements, primarily in the areas of water and sewer.  However, while I have only been on the job a short time, I have the utmost confidence in the abilities of our Finance Department.  I am pleased to report that due to their efforts, the General Fund of the City continues to remain healthy.  At December 31, 2007 the unreserved General Fund balance was $4,780,272, which is favorable to the forecast.  Most of the favorable position was due to careful monitoring of expenses.  These efforts obviously paid off, and I thank Director Morehart and Assistant Director Green.

Other major Finance accomplishments for 2007 include:

1)      Completion of financing for the Water Reclamation and Reservoir projects.  Both required efforts from Council to pass utility rates to enable the funding to be adequate for the debt service of these capital projects.

2)      Payoff of a $490,000 vehicle note.  This repayment was 3 years ahead of schedule, primarily due to available funding in the General Fund. 

3)      Continued receipt of “unqualified” audit opinions from the Independent audit group.  The unqualified opinions means the financial statements are prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and there are no material financial misstatements contained. 

4)      Income Tax revenue continuing to remain strong.  In 2007 we received $7,877,319, which is 5.54% higher than the prior year.  

In 2008, we will continue to monitor expenses very carefully.  Additionally, as development occurs, we will work with developers so that growth pays for itself.

As most of you know, our City’s Economic Development function is headed by Eric Phillips, a resource we share with Union County and the County Chamber of Commerce.  This arrangement is wise, as it bodes well for cooperation and teamwork among these entities.  2007 proved to be another year of growth for Marysville, and 2007 ED Projects included:

• Construction began on the $9,000,000 Ohio Army National Guard Training and Community Center to be located adjacent to the Union County YMCA.  This 40,000 + square foot facility will provide a gymnasium, kitchen, and classrooms to the community.

• City Gate saw the opening of Bob Evans while construction began on Walgreens, Boston Pizza, Delaware County Bank, and Liberty Bank.  Additionally, a White Castle will begin construction in 2008.

• Coleman’s Crossing saw the opening of First Federal Bank, BW-3, Best Buy, Office Max, and MC Sports.

• Uptown Marysville saw the renovation and revitalization of two properties in Uptown Marysville, which will provide more retail and residential options.  With these developments, Uptown Marysville has realized over $2,000,000 of private investment since 2005.  These investments were made possible by the City’s promotion of the Community Reinvestment Area and the granting of incentives to various businesses.

2008 promises to be another year for growth and economic development in our community, and I look forward to working with Eric Phillips in my new capacity as Mayor.

My tenure as Mayor has been very brief.  My report tonight is of accomplishments earned by my predecessors: Former Mayor Tom Kruse, City Administrator Kathy House and the very able employees of your City.  They deserve much credit and thanks for the fine work they have done this past year.  They have guarded your resources well and have put plans in place that will provide for our City’s future.  My pledge to you tonight is to do my best to continue in the fine tradition they have set.  Additionally, I pledge a new spirit of cooperation and community.  We are one team, and we will work together in the best interests of our community.  We will also work together with our County and townships to make our community a strong region.  Thank you for all you do, and God Bless.