City Manager Blog

The Budget, Part III

4/30/2007 2:55:23 PM

The City Council conducted the annual Budget Worksession this past Saturday. We have the pleasure of trying to provide services to our residents in these ever-increasing difficult times. Our budget has been able to withstand many of the downs that Michigan's economy is delivering. However, this year, that is not the case.

Here are the major items that will be cut or reduced from our budget:

The Assistant City Manager's position
New holiday decorations
The employee appreciation dinner
The Boards and Commissions dinner
The replacement of Engine 24 (a fire truck)
Replacing water meters
Cemetery storm drains
The sidewalk replacement program
The tree cutting and tree replacement programs
Mill Pond weed harvesting
Mosquito control
Major street patching
And a variety of smaller items

The City Council will be holding a budget public hearing on May 14, 2007 at 7:30pm. This will be held at City Hall. Even with these cuts, we would still like to hear from you. Please stop by!

Mike Senyko

Take Your Child to Work!

4/23/2007 10:29:23 AM

Thursday, April 26 is Take Your Child to Work day. I have two great kids: Emma and Connor. Emma, my 6 year old, will be at State Road Elementary that day having fun like all kindergartners do. I have a 3 year old son who I will bring to work for a little while. I'm not sure how long since he is a little rambunctious!

This day is a great day to spend a little extra time with your children. It also helps them understand where you go when you "go to work" or even what you may do. Securing the family bond is essential in helping raise your children and this is only one of many steps in doing so. Feel free to stop by and meet Connor!

Mike Senyko

The Budget Crunch

4/16/2007 3:31:11 PM

I have completed my recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2008. Unfortunately, this was the most difficult budget I have yet completed.

We are facing financial stresses in our budget like we have not faced in twenty or thirty years. It does not impact our General Fund alone. Our Water and Sewer Funds are facing tremendous pressure as are Parks and the street funds.

In the next fiscal year, we are facing pressures from the revenue side AND the expenditure side. Our revenue is declining and our expenses are going up. As with a business, our first priority is cutting costs. Then, we must consider the price points of the various "services" we deliver. Lastly, we must refocus our marketing efforts into this great city and community. We do not look to drown our residents in ever-increasing tax burdens; we do look to promote this entire area as a great place to live, work and play.

If you would like more details on the budget that I am recommending to Council, I would love to hear from you! Contact me at City Hall (629-2261) or via email at msenyko@cityoffenton.org. You can also attend our Budget Worksession on April 28, 2007 at 9am at the Fenton Fire Hall.

Mike Senyko

It's Budget Week!

4/9/2007 7:37:13 AM

The budget is the most important document for a city. Mine is due to the City Council on April 16. Needless to say, this whole week will be focused on that!

Here are a few brief stats about our budget (FY 07, ending 6/30/07):

General Fund: $5.9 million
Parks and Recreation Fund: $248,000
Major Street Fund: $759,000
Local Street Fund: $676,000
Sewer Fund:$2.8 million
Water Fund: $2.7 million

These are the major funds that the City utilizes. There are a variety of other funds that we use to pay for the cemetery, equipment, 911, etc. Of the list above, the bottom five are relatively self-explanatory in terms of what they are responsible for. The General Fund is used for police, fire, permitting, public service, general services and other miscellaneous items.

The budget that we are working on right now is for Fiscal Year 2008 (ending June 30, 2008). Once I complete the budget, I submit it to Council who then reviews it. We hold a Budget Worksession on Saturday, April 28, 2007 at 9am to review the entire document. Finally, the budget is adopted after a public hearing in May.

If you have any questions, please feel free to stop by and take a look at our information. We would love to show you what we do for our citizens!

Mike Senyko

Chris Wren

4/3/2007 2:48:37 PM

As everyone knows now, Chris Wren has accepted the position of Linden City Manager pending a final vote of the Linden City Council. This is a great step for Chris professionally. He has been the Fenton Assistant City Manager for six years and has done a great job. His areas of focus in Fenton have included streets, public relations, building facilities managment, bidding, and a myriad of other areas. His services in Fenton will be missed! Linden has the individual that will successfully help lead them into the future!

On a personal note, I have most definitely enjoyed working with him! I would like to wish him all the luck in the world in his future endeavors and look forward to his success!

Mike Senyko

Dale Martin

3/12/2007 8:22:37 AM

I would like to congratulate Dale Martin, Linden City Manager, on becoming the City Manager for Dowagiac, MI. His new city has a population of about 6,000 and is located in Cass County near the Indiana border. In addition to his broad city management duties, he will now be responsible for the management of an airport, a hospital and an electric utility. It is certainly a good move for him! Unfortunately, Cass County's gain is Genesee's loss. Good luck, Dale!

Mike Senyko

The Website

2/26/2007 3:19:36 PM

Our website is proving to be a big success. The site is so well utilized that we average over 90,000 hits per month and over 2,000 visitors. I regularly receive compliments about the site from citizens and users from outside the City. In the next year, we expect to roll out a variety of other improvements that will make it even more user-friendly. On-line permitting and on-line payment are only two options that should be happening soon.

Thank you to Creative Web Spinner for making our site look fantastic!

Mike Senyko

Water Mains & Cold Weather

2/12/2007 10:22:53 AM

Now that we have had a sustained cold weather period, we will probably see a few water main breaks around the City. Unfortunately, these are a common occurrence in cities across Michigan. Simply stated, it is common for the ground to shift with this cold weather and thereby break a very frigid pipe.

We had a relatively major break on Friday afternoon near the intersection of Dauner and N. Leroy. This event forced us to shut water off to multiple neighborhoods in the northern part of the City. In order for us to fix the problem, as you can well imagine, we must turn the water off. Fortunately, we had the break fixed by Friday evening.

We always try to minimize these types of events and fix them as quickly as possible. It is an unfortunate part of living in a cold weather state.

City Manager's Conference: A Big Success

1/29/2007 8:58:52 AM

Chris Wren, Assistant City Manager, and I attended the annual Michigan Local Government Manager's Association (MLGMA) Winter Institute last week in Frankenmuth. It was held at the Bavarian Inn with the theme of Planting Seeds, Growing Success.

Our conference started with a "Kick Off Your Shoes" reception where we loosened the ties. Conference sessions included Bob O'Neil, President of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), technology, website development, personnel, health care, the Michigan economy, and many other exceptional topics. We also had a lunch session with Tim Skubik, Lansing political correspondent, that covered all of the Lansing gossip. Lastly, we had a member of the military who has just returned from Iraq. Very interesting indeed.

These conferences are designed to assist city managers by keeping us informed on the issues of the day, learn how to do things better, and listen to our colleagues. It was another great conference and we are both glad we attended.

Mike Senyko

Winter has finally arrived!

1/15/2007 8:20:07 AM

Now that winter has reared its icy head, I would like to send out another reminder of how the City clears roads and sidewalks.

We will salt and plow roads based on the amount of snow and ice we receive. Our biggest priorities are railroad crossings, steep hills and major streets. Once those are properly cleared, we move to the smaller streets. We do not clear sidewalks! It is the property owner's responsibility to clear sidewalks within 12 hours of a snow/ice event. If you have a sidewalk, please remember that some people don't simply want to use it, they need to!!!

If you have any questions, please never hesitate to contact us.

2007!

1/8/2007 1:32:25 PM

Happy New Year!

With the new year comes budget preparations for the City administration. The various department heads in the City submit their goals to me by early January each year. Then, I modify them based on what I believe the City should focus on. Finally, the City Council modifies that to accommodate their wishes for the upcoming fiscal year.

Here is a quick synopsis of our budget process:

Due January 2, 2007: Department head goals

January 29, 2007: City Council Goal Setting Worksession

March 1, 2007: Department head budget requests due to the City Manager

April 16, 2007: City Manager's budget due to the City Council

April 21, 2007: Budget Worksession

May 21, 2007: date which budget is required to be adopted by

That's it in a nutshell! I will update this periodically along the way!

Merry Christmas!

12/18/2006 1:33:07 PM

From the Senyko family (Mike, Kristen, Emma and Connor) to your family, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

At Long Last, the Bridge is Open!

12/11/2006 9:31:07 AM

As you may have heard by now, or literally noticed, the Torrey Road Bridge is open. Certainly a major inconvenience for residents and businesses along that route, we are happy that a high-quality structure is now in place. That project cost in excess of $1.1 million with grant funding covering 95%. According to our engineers, a bridge of this style is typically completed in about five months. As the bridge closed in June, it took us a little more than five months.

This project was one that I heard more comments on than usual. Virtually everyone agreed that it needed to happen, and understood the inconvenience, but still gave me an earful every time they saw me! I am happy that it's open and happier that the residents of our area can travel easier and more safely on that route thanks to the new bridge.

Mike Senyko

Jinglefest a Success!

12/4/2006 10:30:12 AM

Well, this year's Jinglefest was a big success! I am always pleased with the efforts that this community puts forth. It's a little known fact that the City does not manage any of our "town festivals." We are certainly involved, but we're not in charge. Jinglefest, the Fenton Freedom Festival, Jubil'Eve, St. John's Applefest, etc., etc., are all done by community leaders. This is tremendous!

My family and I attended the Rotary Club's Christmas in the Park at Bush Park and had a great time with hot chocolate, donuts and Santa. We also attended the Jinglefest Parade Saturday evening with our relatives. Everyone had a great time!

Thank you to the Jinglefest Committee for a great job!

Mike Senyko

Water Rates

8/3/2006

We have certainly heard a lot recently about a possible water rate increase. Justifiably so, to be quite honest. First, on behalf of all of our employees and City Council, we take comments from the citizens very seriously and are looking at this very carefully. Second, I would like to set a few things straight (hopefully!).

At this point, all we have talked about recently are proposed increases. I know it’s a slight distinction from increases that are set in stone, but it’s an important one. Part of our notice to the public is to obtain feedback on a proposed increase or proposed project. Additionally, Genesee County, who provides sewer to the City, is increasing their rates on us. Attached here is a link to the proposed increases as prepared by our financial advisor.

To say it simply, we have completed over $13 million in new water system infrastructure in the last eight years. This has provided a tremendous improvement to the quality of life in our city. The down side, of course, is the increase in rates to pay for these improvements. No decisions have yet been made, but the administration will be recommending some level of increase in the near future.

Having said all that, we encourage you to contact City Hall with your thoughts and/or ideas. We are always interested in hearing the opinions of our citizens!

Changes

6/26/2006

I hope that you have had a chance to peruse our brand new website! We are very proud of its creation (although a little overdue!) and truly believe that this site will help you access your public servants more easily. Bear with us on a few things that we may still be improving or perfecting, but I think that you will find that it is a major help to you. Our long terms plans include maximum interactive ability including on-line payments, building permit applications, and a myriad of other exciting things!

For our City Hall staff, we have been in a bit of chaos the last couple of weeks. We have been installing new carpet throughout the building and, wow, what a difference! The previous carpet was thirty years old and in very poor condition. We are definitely happy and have received a major morale boost! In addition to the new carpeting, we also had the entire interior of the building repainted and will be completing furnishing renovations to our front office in about a month. This will dramatically improve the appearance of the building and how efficient we are able to handle citizens requesting service. We look forward to seeing you take a look at our new digs!

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