A view outside Saginaw City Hall in June 2022.

SAGINAW, MI — Saginaw officials will spend $19.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for five municipal projects, including the renovation of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at City Hall. Insulation Ventilation Hose Flexible Duct

The Saginaw City Council voted 8-1 in favor of the projects during a Friday, Jan. 13, meeting. Councilman Michael Flores was the lone vote against the $19.3 million investment.

At an $8.1 million cost, the ventilation investment represents the priciest of the five projects, city records indicated.

“The city has struggled to maintain City Hall for years due to lack of funding,” said Phil Karwat, Saginaw’s director of public services.

The 1936-built City Hall today receives heat through a boiler system and cooling largely through 52 air conditioner units.

The $8.1 million project would replace those systems and piping while swapping out old windows and other elements that maintain the indoor environment at 1315 S. Washington, Karwat said. The updates would improve energy efficiencies within the structure.

“The ventilation within this building is something we need to get done,” Saginaw City Manager Tim Morales said.

The city also will spend $5.9 million in improvement projects at city-owned parks, including erosion prevention measures at Ojibway Island and Crayola Park.

Karwat said erosion — especially along the west bank of Ojibway Island — was beginning to creep near to the park’s trails and trees at points. He predicted the river could impact the road on Ojibway Island in less than five years.

Crews will insert rock, concrete or steel sheet piles to protect the bank from further damage.

“I’d hate to see us have to shut the island down,” Karwat said when advocating the council to approve the $5.9 million project.

The third-priciest project will cost $3 million to repair an existing combined sewer overflow facility as well as a parking structure — built atop the sewer overflow facility — at the corner of Court and North Hamilton streets.

Paul Reinsch, director of Saginaw’s water and wastewater treatment operations, said the city will seek additional federal funds to provide additional upgrades to the nearly half-century-old parking structure. He predicted updating facility would require $12 million in city investments over the next decade.

“The parking structure is very important to the (Old Saginaw City) business district,” Reinsch said.

Prior to the council approving the project, Reinsch warned inaction would eventually lead to the structure’s collapse.

“This is not something we can just brush aside,” Saginaw Mayor Brenda Moore said. “This is something we have to take care of on the front end.”

The city also will spend $1.3 million in renovations at the three city-owned cemeteries and $978,000 for City Hall-operated information technology and cybersecurity infrastructure.

Jeff Klopcic, director of technical services at Saginaw City Hall, said the investment in part will update the computer software system network used by Saginaw employees, reinforcing security measures that will prevent hackers from disrupting citywide services.

The $19.3 million in projects approved Friday will count against the $26.4 million revenue loss budget the council set in April 2022, city records show.

The Friday meeting wasn’t the first time council members or the public learned about the projects. The approved initiatives were among the $32.1 million in proposed projects presented for stimulus spending in May by City Hall department leaders.

American Rescue Plan Act stimulus spending served as the centerpiece talking point during the Friday special strategy session for Saginaw City Council.

The council in recent months picked up its efforts in allocating stimulus dollars for projects across the city. The community received $52 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds in 2021.

In December, the council voted to set aside $10 million of the stimulus for youth development programs but did not specify which programs would benefit from $9 million of that spending.

The council voted in 2022 on several multimillion-dollar investments for the stimulus Saginaw received from the U.S. Department of Treasury.

Tackling spending proposals by categories — such as health care and housing revitalization — the group continues to consider spending plans recommended last year by a council-appointed advisory group. While those recommendations included spending $10 million on youth development programs, there was no advisement related to workforce development.

Saginaw stimulus spending picked up in the latter months of 2022.

In November, the council voted to spend $5 million to build a new behavioral health clinic in the community. The clinic was linked to a mysterious health care-related investment in downtown Saginaw that leaders estimate could cost $100 million, largely in private investments. Advocates largely have remained mum on the details, citing nondisclosure agreements signed related to the larger project.

During one September meeting, the council approved $11.6 million in spending on four programs in part related to revitalizing Saginaw’s aging housing stock.

Earlier that month, the council voted to spend up to $1.3 million on demolishing the remaining buildings at the former Saginaw County fairgrounds in the city, although that decision could be reversed.

The council in May approved spending $864,750 on hazard pay for municipal employees who performed services during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first stimulus expenditure was approved in February, when the council OK’d its contract with Guidehouse, a consultant helping Saginaw with its stimulus-spending strategy. The three-year deal could cost up to $850,000, although city officials said the final cost likely will fall short of that amount.

In April, the council set aside $26.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act stimulus funds to offset four years of estimated budget revenue losses created by the COVID-19 pandemic in Saginaw City Hall services. That chunk of spending was expected to fund later proposals related to the city’s police protection, fire and emergency medical services, road repairs, public infrastructure support, administrative expenses, land use regulations and enforcement, and parks and recreation programs.

The $52 million stimulus set aside for Saginaw arrived via a $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act signed into law in March 2021. The stimulus provided $350 billion for local and state governments. Michigan municipalities received $10.9 billion from the stimulus bill.

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