Pictured above is a screen capture from the Marysville State of the City video which was released today. The image shows an overhead view of the Marysville Bicentennial celebration last summer. (Image submitted)
The City of Marysville Thursday released the State of the City address.
Unlike years past when the video was part of a larger, public meeting, Thursday’s was simply a 13:31 minute video released on a variety of city media sites.
“Under our State of the City format, we would have had an event that would have consisted of the public attending,” City Manager Terry Emery said. He said that type of event “just isn’t appropriate right now.”
Emery said discussions at the State of the City event, which was to be held at the headquarters of Union Rural Electric “would have surrounded public utilities.”
He said the city intended to talk about the upcoming water plant project.
The event was to include a panel discussion with:
– City Engineer Jeremy Hoyt, who was to talk about city projects completed and those expected for the next year.
– Economic Development Director Eric Phillips, who was to talk about “the natural gas supply and things that are taking place to make sure we have the necessary natural gas supply for development in the future,” according to Emery.
– Beau Michael from URE, who was to discuss the future of the utility provider.
– Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission Executive Director William Murdoch who was to discuss passenger rail service and the future of the proposed Hyperloop project.
Emery said Sarah Barr, executive director of the Avalon Theatre, would have also had time to discuss the future of the project.
For this year, Emery said he “decided, at the end of the day, that this video could serve as our State of the City this year, under the circumstances.”
He called the video “pretty complete.”
He said the video serves the purpose of the State of the City presentation.
“The whole intent of the State of the City is for the city manager to give an overview to city council on various aspects of what’s happening in the city,” Emery said.
Emery opens the video by saying he is “really excited to talk a little bit not only about what’s going to be coming up in 2020 but also revisit a little bit of the activity that occurred in 2019 as well.”
Emery discussed the Bicentennial celebration, the dedication of Dana Morey Park, Impact 60 Stadium and the Memorial Hospital expansion project.
Emery also discussed the city water plant project.
“What we’re going to be doing is building a new water plant out on Raymond Road,” Emery said. “It’s about a $60-million facility. It will be adjacent to our reservoir and it’s going to be a facility that’s going to serve this community for years to come.
The video highlighted the renovation of the Avalon Theatre. He said the goal is to have funds raised and the renovation complete “with the hope and with the goals of putting it in use in the summer of 2021.”
“So that’s something that everyone can look forward to, looking for a new cultural arts facility that the entire community can soon enjoy,” Emery said.
City Recreation and Events Manager Amanda Morris also discussed the city bicentennial and the new city flag.
Public Service Director Mike Andrako talked about the West Fifth Street renovation project.
“We’ve really been able to transition West Fifth Street from previously a rural looking road into a city street, along a very nice and aesthetic park,” Andrako said.
He talked about taking ball fields out of Schwartzkopf Park and renovating the ball facility at the County Home Road.
Andrako talked about the addition of traffic signaling and other upcoming construction projects.
Emery also provided a financial update for the city.
He said in 2019, the city “ended up in an excellent cash position with an excess of 76 million amongst all funds. This is an increase of nearly 12 million from the end of 2018.”
He said the city’s general fund income tax collections exceeded $19 million and the general fund cash balance ended 2019 at $7.5 million.
“So in summary, I think our financial condition is excellent and I think as we enter into 2020 we only envision our finances to be stronger as we move through the coming year,” Emery said.
Phillips talked about the economic development partnerships in the county.
“Marysville is blessed to have a lot of great large corporations and small businesses that really make the backbone of this community,” Phillips said. “The partnerships that we currently have with many different companies really go a long way.”
He added that, “in Marysville, and in our county, we work closely together on a daily basis and if we didn’t have those partnerships, our community would not be where it is today.”
Phillips said Union is one of the few growing counties in the state “and that underlines, again, the importance of working together.”
Emery concluded the video thanking city staff, saying they do “an outstanding job, year in and year out but this past year was probably the best ever.”
He also thanked the city executive staff and council. He said council “will soon be sitting down to look at those strategic plan goals and we’ll be re-establishing new goals into the future.”