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Pelham City Manager outlines growth, fiscal restraint and big capital projects in 2025 State of the City
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Summary
City Manager Gretchen DeFonte reviewed 2025: balanced budgets and a 4% average revenue growth since 2017, record recreation facility revenues and investments in water, roads and public safety; the council heard plans and progress on multiple multiyear capital projects.
Pelham City Manager Gretchen DeFonte delivered the 2025 State of the City on Dec. 15, highlighting what she called “significant progress and continued strong financial stewardship” and previewing several multiyear capital priorities.
DeFonte said the city has maintained balanced budgets and reported an average 4% year‑over‑year revenue growth since 2017 while average annual expenditure growth was about 3%. She cautioned that 2025 figures are unaudited. The manager said the city is shifting from funding capital projects out of operating surpluses to proactively setting aside funds for long‑term projects.
The presentation highlighted major capital work completed since 2017 — including a roughly $7.5 million renovation of the Civic Complex and Ice Arena — and larger investments between 2021 and 2024. The city has set aside money for a planned flyover estimated at about $55 million, for which Pelham’s share was described as roughly $10 million.
Recreation and enterprise facilities were a focal point. DeFonte said Ballantree Golf Club has posted a 95% increase in gross revenue since 2010 and the Civic Complex and Ice Arena recorded 119,000 unique visitors in 2025, an almost 80% increase, producing the facility’s first net operating profit of more than $100,000. City officials credited improved programming and a Venue Works partnership for the results.
On public safety and emergency services, the manager reported the city’s first full year operating EMS: 1,896 EMS responses and more than 1,000 transports through Sept. 8, 2025, with an average response time of just over eight minutes. The police department has streamlined hiring — cutting candidate processing from roughly 60 days to under three — added a master sergeant rank to bolster supervision and invested in training tools including a virtual‑reality firearms simulator.
Infrastructure updates included long‑running water‑system improvements. DeFonte said investments and borrowing for upgrades have cut water leaks by about 72% over the last decade, reduced monthly water loss by roughly 31% in the last two years and shortened the planned replacement timeline from about 21 years to approximately 10½ years. The manager also cited traffic‑signal AI pilots that improved 'arrival on green' metrics and reduced wait times at an I‑65 ramp from 26 to 16 seconds.
DeFonte closed by noting staff recognitions and certifications across departments, and listed upcoming projects — Greenway Trail extensions, Highway 31 lighting, Highway 261 utility work and master developer selection for the former Live Nation property — while emphasizing continued citizen engagement.
The council took no formal action on the State of the City report itself; DeFonte’s presentation was followed later in the meeting by separate votes on agenda resolutions.
