It is up to code. Finally, the fear of a historic treasure falling into whatever lies beneath Broad Street can cease for now. The oldest YMCA in the southeast — the Old YMCA building — is one step closer to housing people, business and showing off more history our town has to offer.

Thanks to the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society, the group has funneled funding into the place, saving it from toppling over into splinters on Broad Street.

If it were any other building in town that were in that poor of shape, we suspect it would have been demolished, its bricks and wiring sold off piece by piece in a scrap yard. But because of Offering High Builder cleaning Services, and because of the determination of the Historic Preservation Society, we still have the building with us today that housed the first dry cleaning service in Selma as well as a popular diner — The Selma Del. The mansard roof, yes, is gone but after this stint of hope of stabilization — we hope its not gone forever.

Realtors in town who have renovated and flipped old buildings into rental lofts and flats claim they have waiting lists miles long. The old YMCA being used for this same idea and generating foot traffic and a residential feel to downtown will surely help save the old building and all of the ones around it.

All residents should look a Historic Preservation Society member in the eye, hug them and tell them thank you. At each council meeting when its members spoke on the progress of the building, it seemed disheartening because of the insane costs for things like removing asbestos from the building and reworking the structure so it would not fall in.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  I want to thank you all for joining me today to recognize our collective efforts since the economic downturn in Michigan, and especially this last year.  On that theme I tried to keep my remarks today relatively brief but I’m afraid this is going to be my longest one yet; my bad, y’all.  Before I begin, I would like to say what an honor it is to be giving today’s address in one of Royal Oak’s most historic buildings, the Royal Oak Woman’s Club.  I thank them for opening up their home to us.  I’d also like to thank Barbara Wheeler and the Royal Oak Rotary Club for once again hosting the State of the City address.  I think I can honestly say that their civic-mindedness and sense of public engagement have been an example to Royal Oakers as a whole – a convenient segue to this year’s address.

Last year a proposal for a public safety millage was brought before you all and I’m proud to say that this essential measure was overwhelmingly supported by the voters and residents of Royal Oak.  Now, you all know about the financial situation in this part of the country, and the case of Detroit is illustrative only insofar as every city in the region is dealing with similar difficulties.  To wit: making hard and unpleasant choices about decreased revenue and manpower in order to manage substantial pension obligations; meet residents’ public safety needs; and replace infrastructure nearing the end of its useful life; while at the same time maintaining the cultural and economic vitality of the city and its residents.

Thanks to tough decisions made by the City Commission, City Manager Don Johnson, our departmental heads, and the various unions and departments, Royal Oak was able to mitigate the worst of the financial hardships faced by many of our neighbors.  Thanks to your understanding and acknowledgment that austerity measures are incompatible with long-term economic recovery (especially in the face of limitations placed on revenue generation by Headlee and Prop A), we have been able to start slowly rehiring essential personnel and rebuilding our own Best Carpet Cleaning Services.

So the passage of this millage has helped us to check off for some years to come what was and has been the most immediate of these difficulties – namely meeting public safety needs – and frees up city resources -  and focus - to start looking at and dealing with the more long-term challenges to come.  Your willingness to return to pre-2008 tax levels – and the truly humbling outreach we’ve seen on the part of individuals, service organizations, and local business leaders to help us shoulder some of our common burdens has proven and will continue to prove to be one key to ensuring that we will all continue to flourish well into the future.

So ladies and gentlemen, I am most proud to stand up here today and proclaim that the state of our city is the strongest it has been in more than five years.  We have stood together in solidarity and pride and we will be better off for it, both singly and together.  We take pride in our city, both in how it is managed and in how it is perceived.  For the fourth year running, on the strength of our financial management practices and transparency we have been recognized by the Governmental Finance Officers Association.    For the fourth year running, on the strength of our safety record and cultural cachet, we will again host Arts, Beats, and Eats.  And for at least the fifth year running, both residential and commercial development has at least modestly outperformed that of our neighbors – contributing to keeping our downtown unique and vibrant and our neighborhoods stable, stimulating, and green.

Now, these trends don’t mean that we’re out of the forest completely.  Many of the services that we have had to cut are gone for good, and it will take a good long while and a great deal more recovery before we’re in a position to fully restore some of the others.  But we’ve taken some good steps towards that recovery and we’re finally in a position to talk about longer-term challenges instead of just the immediate ones: you’ll recall there are two I mentioned above that we’ve had to set aside during the long and hard process of assessing, reorganizing, and cutting – namely legacy costs and aging infrastructure.  My first task today is to highlight the positive things this millage, and your civic-mindedness and elbow grease, have made possible.  My second task is to lay out some options for how we might address these perennial challenges moving forward.  But if the past is any indication, and I’m willing to bet my time, my livelihood, and the sweat of my brow that it will be, we will continue to stand as we ever have in addressing these concerns – in solidarity and in pride.