City manager highlights grants, lead-line removal and infrastructure investments in year-end report

City Manager delivered a year-end report to the Wayne City Council that outlined grant-funded projects, capital purchases and staffing gains, and said improved relationships with community stakeholders enabled the progress.

The report said the city rebid a water-reservoir remediation project for Goudy Park and reduced the cost from about $2,000,000 to $400,000, a savings the City Manager described as “$1,600,000.” The presentation also listed other savings — including about $43,000 on design and construction work after renegotiation and rebidding — and identified multiple funding sources for Goudy Park, including the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, HUD, Wayne County ARPA and a DDA grant.

The report said the city secured nearly $9.9 million in grants across departments. Among items listed: lead-service-line replacement work supported by a roughly $4.9 million state grant and a $960,000 federal EPA grant; a state paramedic grant that the presentation said saved about $96,000; and additional public-safety and facility grants used for equipment and HVAC upgrades. “We were able to put the project back out to bid and get it done for $400,000, saving the city $1,600,000,” the City Manager said during the presentation.

City departments also reported operational metrics: the police department responded to 22,937 calls for service and filed 2,565 reports over the year; the fire department responded to roughly 4,600 calls, including 3,561 emergency medical calls and about 45 fire calls. The council packet named equipment purchases — a new fire truck, a thermal drone for public-safety use, new street‑sweeping and DPW vehicles — and said DPW cleaned and televised about 29,000 linear feet of sanitary sewer in targeted neighborhoods.

Community development accomplishments the City Manager cited included purchase and rehabilitation of 30 houses through Wayne County programs, zoning activity and DDA streetscape work (new benches, landscaping, seasonal lighting). The presentation also described a $700,000 Wayne County community development block grant the administration said will fund demolition of an underused parking structure and construction of a new library parking lot, with relocation of a peace memorial nearer Veterans Park.

The report highlighted a small downtown housing development (Abigail/Abby Loft, six units) and said the owner of a vacant parcel next to the parking structure has expressed interest in expanding if the structure is removed. The City Manager credited cross‑departmental work and praised department heads, naming finance director Katie Sample and personnel director Leslie for specific accomplishments.

Why it matters: the presentation packaged financial, capital and grant activity that the administration says stabilized city finances (the report listed a shift from a $1.2 million budget deficit at the 2024 fiscal year start to a roughly $746,000 general-fund surplus at year-end) and positioned the city for additional projects in 2025.

Council members responded with thanks and condolences on unrelated personal losses mentioned at the meeting and praised the administration and department heads for the reported progress. The City Manager took questions after the presentation and noted the full slide deck will be posted on the city website.

The report and related details came during the presentations portion of the Feb. 4 council meeting and were followed by routine agenda items and public comment.