Will look into helping out in the future
By Barb Pert Templeton
The lack of a policy related to making donations to groups in the community and a very limited budget just now prompted the Marine City Commission to set aside a request for a donation from The Council on Aging, Inc. serving St. Clair County.
At a May 1 commission meeting City Manager Michael Reaves said the city had received a letter requesting funds to support the organization.
The letter, dated April 8, 2025, was signed by The Washington Life Center Advisory Committee President, Barbara Walker and stated the organization represents seniors from many downriver communities. The list included Clay, Ira, Columbus, Casco, China, East China and Cottrellville townships, plus the cities of Algonac and Marine City.
Membership for seniors at the Washington Life Center in Marine City continues to soar and they currently offer over 20 recreational, fitness and social activities on a daily basis, according to the letter.
Referencing a Michigan Statute, the one-page note said, “A county or township may make an appropriation from general funds to private non-profit corporations or organizations which undertake the provision of senior citizens activities or services and where a contract is entered providing the terms of the appropriate statute are met.”
“We ask you to consider an appropriation to help us defray our expenses,” Walker wrote in the letter.
At the commission meeting Reaves said it’s not unusual for a municipality to get approached for funding but it does present a number of different issues.
“We are under some significant budgetary constraints going forward here and this is not something we planned for,” Reaves said.
He also said the city doesn’t have a policy on what groups they would support or won’t support or how that’s determined. The city also doesn’t know who the groups represent, is it all residents or does it include support to those outside the city too.
Reaves suggested the commission give him permission to respond to the request noting the city’s lack of funding for a donation at this time but that they will look at it in the future.
Marine City Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Hendrick said the city used to be able to make a monetary donation to local senior groups but that fell by the wayside due to city budget constraints.
“They can make application at another time and over the next year we have an opportunity to delve into that and set up some type of policy or program,” Reaves said.
“Do you have a sense of what kind of appropriations we would be giving – amounts or ballpark?” Commissioner Sean O’Brien asked
Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Hendrick replied that in the past the city would have groups approach them asking for donations of $500. She said also, years ago, when the original Guy Center closed the city gave money to that senior group to rent another place for socializing.
“All that fell apart eventually and again due to budget constraints all of it got dropped, but it was usually just small amounts,” Hendrick said.
O’Brien then asked if the city could make the new Guy Community Center at the former Lions Hall available for the seniors’ use?
Marine City Commissioner Sean O’Brien wondered what dollar amount the city might be willing to donate to a local non-profit.
Reaves replied that the group currently has the use of the Washington Elementary School so they have a space.
“Obviously we’d work with any group that wanted to present something for our seniors or our citizens but they have more space than we do, candidly,” Reaves said.
The city manager said he’s open to discussing the matter with the group and he suggested just looking into it for now.
“At this point in time here I did not plan for that type of appropriation going forward either for one group or for many groups,” Reaves said. “I’ve found it’s like field of dreams, give to one, the others will come.”
“Our budget is tight, it’s incredibly tight right now,” O’Brien agreed. “But it’s really hard to wrap my head around this without any sort of figure. Like $500 is maybe a conversation I could see us having but $10,000 we couldn’t.”
“No, it was always very small amounts,” Hendrick replied.
O’Brien said he’d certainly be interested in hearing more on the topic which could also drive a new policy to address the topic.
The commission then voted to direct the city manager to respond to the issue and report back in the future.
