Saline City Council Extends Rec Center Evaluation Deadline

Due to multiple external factors, including the transition between city managers and the expectation of further detailed reports later next month, the Saline City Council voted to extend the Rec Center Task Force’s deadline to Oct 31, 2025.

Saline City Council formed its Rec Center Task Force at a meeting earlier this year to look into the finances and sustainability of the Saline Rec Center and recommend a plan to go forward. Plante Moran, an external business advisory firm, was brought in to assist, and are due to present their findings in Aug of this year.

“The Plante Moran report is not a formality, it is a foundational tool to test and refine our proposed models,” Acting City Manager Elle Cole’s July 21 report said. “Without this data in hand, we risk anchoring our recommendations on assumptions rather than analytics.”

Concerns about further delaying decisions regarding the Rec Center were brought up by several council members, including Dean Girbach and Mayor Pro-Tem Janet Dillon.

“I am disappointed that we couldn’t have an answer back again or even our preliminary reports from the financial position of the Rec Center,” councilmember Girbach said. “It’s still taking at least the $400,000 this year, if not more, because we haven’t taken into consideration all the repairs and everything else. As we were just talking about the millage related to the road, these are the funds that have been substituted to support this rec center, at the disadvantage to the community on every other activity.”

Councilmember Nicole Rice, a member of one of the Rec Center Task Force’s subcommittees, concurred that the work regarding the Rec Center needed to be done before beginning planning for fiscal year 2027, but recommended extending the deadline for the quality of the reports and final decisions.

“I concur that this needs more time and due diligence,” Rice said. “You know, we approved a budget for the Rec Center for this upcoming year with the understanding that we would work really hard to solve some problems. I don’t think that, you know, rushing this is necessarily going to help, but I also agree that this needs to be done.”

An additional reason that the Oct 31 extension was recommended was due to the hiring of a new City Manager.

“A rushed decision now could undermine the integrity of the entire process and limit the future City Manager’s ability to lead with confidence,” Cole’s report said. “A brief delay ensures we deliver a fully integrated plan, not just for today, but for the next generation of Salinians.”

The motion to extend the deadline passed 6-1.