City Council Approves Several Motions as City Moves Toward Buying Davenport-Curtiss House

Saline City Council passed several motions at Monday's meeting as the city moved closer to buying the historic Davenport-Curtiss House.  The split votes indicated that council remains divided about the decision to spend more than $3 million on the building and property. 

4 Motions Approved

Council voted 5-2 to pass a motion creating the Davenport Working Group. The group will focus on finding ways to utilize the Davenport-Curtiss House and property in a way that's financially sustainable. It is scheduled to make a final report on its findings to council in February of 2029.  Rebecca Schneider will be Chairperson of the group. It will also feature Bob Cameron, Mary Dettling, Sue Kelch, Molly Leumpert-Coy, Brett Pollington, Terri Sibo-Koenic, Dean Girbach and Jim Dell'Orco. Mayor Brian Marl and City Councillors Janet Dillon, Nicole Rice, Dean Girbach and Jim Dell'Orco voted in favor of approving the group recommended by Marl. Councillors Tramane Halsch and Jenn Harmount voted against approving the committee.

"They have a lot of work ahead of them, but it is a wonderful group of dedicated and talented community members," Marl said. "I'm really optimistic. I think they will hit the ground running."

Marl estimated the group could meet next week.

Next up, council voted 4-3 to amend the general fund to spend $3.15 million on the Davenport-Curtiss Home. The money will come from the unassigned fund balance. The motion also called for City Manager Dan Swallow to work with city bond counsel to develop a capital improvement bond issue to repay the general fund and restore the unassigned fund balance to 15-20 percent of the annual general fund expenditures. Marl, Dell'Orco, Dillon and Girbach voted yes on the motion. Councillors Rice, Harmount and Halsch voted against the motion.

Council then voted 4-3 on passing a motion of intent to issue a capital improvement bond not to exceed $3.25 million and to confirm Miller Canfield as the city's bond counsel. Again, it was Marl, Dell'Orco, Dillon and Girbach on one side and Rice, Harmount and Halsch on the other.

Lastly, Council voted 4-3 to pass a resolution authorizing the execution of closing documents to purchase the Davenport-Curtiss House at 300 E. Michigan Ave. The vote went the same way.

"I hope everyone is committed to making this a successful process and trying our best to turn this into a viable community asset that can be, not only sustainable, but enjoyed by Saline residents for generations to come," Marl said.

Council Split

The criticism began in response to Tyler Kinley's presentation on the Downtown Square (which appears to be the project's latest name). Councillor Halsch said he'd heard from three colleagues who said it was hard to approve the $500,000 investment in the project.

"Something that was presented to us with a clearly outlined plan with a clearly outlined timeline and with clear guidelines as to the road to completion. And it was hard to invest $500,000. But we're voting on an acquisition of three million dollars with no plan," Halsch said. "So my question is, what was so hard about this decision that wasn't hard about the decision we're making tonight?"

Later in the meeting, Halsch expressed concerns about the transparency and public engagement regarding the project.

"I don't feel there's been accountability to the citizens for the lack of input citizens had during the decision," Halsch said. "The funny thing is, I am confident that if you asked the citizens, an overwhelming majority of the citizens would approve it. But it's hard as someone who believes in radical transparency of the job we've got to do up here, it's hard for me to support this when it seems like we're going to make the decisions in a vacuum and the citizens will have to deal with it."

Halsch pointed to issues like the Rec Center and the Mill Pond Dam and asked how the city council is going to ensure it knows, when it spends millions of dollars, it has a mandate from the citizens.

Swallow said the city council never knows for sure, short of going out for a vote.

"We are a representative democracy, even at the local level. It's incumbent on our council members. our committee members, incumbent upon myself to try and seek that input throughout the process," Swallow said.

Marl took issue with Halsch's statement about a lack of transparency. He said the matter was discussed at his annual senior conference, at a coffee hour, a townhall event, and two other coffee hours.

"Certainly in our future. should consider additional opportunities to engage our citizenry? Absolutely," Marl said. "But I think the characterization that little or nothing was done was not accurate. I talked to dozens upon dozens of residents and business owners and community stakeholders about that, both the benefits and the potential downsides of acquiring this property."

Marl reiterated that he believed Council had to act ot preserve the home.

"Like it or not, there aren't current protections on the property. There's nothing to prevent the parcel from being sold and the home and the outbuildings from being demolished. That would be a loss," Marl said. "I would rather try and fail than to look back in 20 or 30 years and see the home, outbuildings and property lost and know that we missed an opportunity to put forth an effort to make a transformative change in the Saline community."

Councillor Girbach said it would be detrimental to the community if the Davenport-Curtiss House wasn't protected. He compared the purchase to the land purchases made for the industrial parks in the past.

"We made a significant investment and those investments have paid off," he said.

Councillor Harmound noted that her vote on the work group was not a vote against the volunteers who signed up.

"My trepidation about it is what's in the best interest of the house, financially responsible for the city," Harmount said. "There's risk with this that we don't have with the social gathering space. We could risk losing several million dollars with this property."

Cost

Halsch had questions about the increasing cost in front of Council. It went from $3 million to $3.15 million for the sale to a $3.25 million bond. Swallow said that the city incurred costs for structural engineering and other tests. The higher bond cost would also include closing and other potential costs.

Marl said the working group would probably need a budget at some point.

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