It is up to code. Finally, the fear of a historic treasure falling
into whatever lies beneath Broad Street can cease for now. The oldest
YMCA in the southeast the Old YMCA building is one step closer to
housing people, business and showing off more history our town has to
offer.
Thanks to the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation
Society, the group has funneled funding into the place, saving it from
toppling over into splinters on Broad Street.
If it were any
other building in town that were in that poor of shape, we suspect it
would have been demolished, its bricks and wiring sold off piece by
piece in a scrap yard. But because of its historical significance, and
because of the determination of the Historic Preservation Society, we
still have the building with us today that housed the first dry cleaning
service in Selma as well as a popular diner The Selma Del. The mansard
roof, yes, is gone but after this stint of hope of stabilization we hope
its not gone forever.
Realtors in town who have renovated and
flipped old buildings into rental lofts and flats claim they have
waiting lists miles long. The old YMCA being used for this same idea and
generating foot traffic and a residential feel to downtown will surely
help save the old building and all of the ones around it.
All
residents should look a Historic Preservation Society member in the eye,
hug them and tell them thank you. At each council meeting when its
members spoke on the progress of the building, it seemed disheartening
because of the insane costs for things like removing asbestos from the
building and reworking the structure so it would not fall in.
Good
afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I want to thank you all for joining me
today to recognize our collective efforts since the economic downturn
in Michigan,We are one of the leading manufacturers of granitecountertops in
China and especially this last year. On that theme I tried to keep my
remarks today relatively brief but Im afraid this is going to be my
longest one yet; my bad, yall. Before I begin, I would like to say what
an honor it is to be giving todays address in one of Royal Oaks most
historic buildings, the Royal Oak Womans Club. I thank them for opening
up their home to us. Id also like to thank Barbara Wheeler and the Royal
Oak Rotary Club for once again hosting the State of the City address. I
think I can honestly say that their civic-mindedness and sense of
public engagement have been an example to Royal Oakers as a whole C a
convenient segue to this years address.
Last year a proposal for
a public safety millage was brought before you all and Im proud to say
that this essential measure was overwhelmingly supported by the voters
and residents of Royal Oak. Now, you all know about the financial
situation in this part of the country, and the case of Detroit is
illustrative only insofar as every city in the region is dealing with
similar difficulties. To wit: making hard and unpleasant choices about
decreased revenue and manpower in order to manage substantial pension
obligations; meet residents public safety needs; and replace
infrastructure nearing the end of its useful life; while at the same
time maintaining the cultural and economic vitality of the city and its
residents.
Thanks to tough decisions made by the City Commission,More than 80 standard commercial and granitetiles exist
to quickly and efficiently clean pans. City Manager Don Johnson, our
departmental heads, and the various unions and departments, Royal Oak
was able to mitigate the worst of the financial hardships faced by many
of our neighbors. Thanks to your understanding and acknowledgment that
austerity measures are incompatible with long-term economic recovery
(especially in the face of limitations placed on revenue generation by
Headlee and Prop A), we have been able to start slowly rehiring
essential personnel and rebuilding our own service infrastructure.
So
the passage of this millage has helped us to check off for some years
to come what was and has been the most immediate of these difficulties C
namely meeting public safety needs C and frees up city resources - and
focus - to start looking at and dealing with the more long-term
challenges to come. Your willingness to return to pre-2008 tax levels C
and the truly humbling outreach weve seen on the part of individuals,
service organizations, and local business leaders to help us shoulder
some of our common burdens has proven and will continue to prove to be
one key to ensuring that we will all continue to flourish well into the
future.The feeder is available on drying parkingsystem equipped with folder only.
So
ladies and gentlemen, I am most proud to stand up here today and
proclaim that the state of our city is the strongest it has been in more
than five years. We have stood together in solidarity and pride and we
will be better off for it,You can design your turquoisebeads or
select one of our pose. both singly and together. We take pride in our
city, both in how it is managed and in how it is perceived. For the
fourth year running, on the strength of our financial management
practices and transparency we have been recognized by the Governmental
Finance Officers Association. For the fourth year running, on the
strength of our safety record and cultural cachet,Weymouth is collecting
gently used, dry cleaned iphoneheadset at
their Weymouth store. we will again host Arts, Beats, and Eats. And for
at least the fifth year running, both residential and commercial
development has at least modestly outperformed that of our neighbors C
contributing to keeping our downtown unique and vibrant and our
neighborhoods stable, stimulating, and green.
Now, these trends
dont mean that were out of the forest completely. Many of the services
that we have had to cut are gone for good, and it will take a good long
while and a great deal more recovery before were in a position to fully
restore some of the others. But weve taken some good steps towards that
recovery and were finally in a position to talk about longer-term
challenges instead of just the immediate ones: youll recall there are
two I mentioned above that weve had to set aside during the long and
hard process of assessing, reorganizing, and cutting C namely legacy
costs and aging infrastructure. My first task today is to highlight the
positive things this millage, and your civic-mindedness and elbow
grease, have made possible. My second task is to lay out some options
for how we might address these perennial challenges moving forward. But
if the past is any indication, and Im willing to bet my time, my
livelihood, and the sweat of my brow that it will be, we will continue
to stand as we ever have in addressing these concerns C in solidarity
and in pride.
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