Capital Improvement Plan and Asset Management

The City of Saline is home to many large assets such as our Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants, Sanitary Collection System, water distribution system, the dam, roads, bridges, sidewalks and more.

Each year, the city initiates capital projects to maintain and upgrade the assets we already have so they will last us many more years. A Capital Improvement Plan is a tool that is used to prioritize projects. As the capital needs of the city far out weight the available funds, goals and objectives are established annually to assist in the prioritization of capital projects. The engineering department assists in the development and implementation of the City's 5-year capital improvement plan. The current capital improvement plan can be found on ClearGov.

Asset Management
The Engineering and DPW departments are working together to take a proactive approach to managing our public infrastructure by integrating asset management into our capital improvement planning process. The first step is a strong commitment to create an accurate electronic inventory of all assets the city owns.

DPW Director Sirls and Engineer Humphriss hosted a Town Hall Meeting 9/14/2023 to discuss upcoming infrastructure projects. Below you can download a copy of the presentation and handout from the meeting

Presentation

Handout

Below is a table of infrastructure the city owns and their current state.

Infrastructure	Current State
Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP)	Under Administrative Consent Order with the State of Michigan. Large improvements scheduled to address growth and operational improvements. More information about the Wastewater Treatment Plant can be found here. For updates on the WWTP rehabilitation project, please visit ClearGov.
Sanitary Collection System - Manholes, Gravity Pipe, Force Main	The sanitary system collects wastewater (such as from the bathroom, laundry facilities or kitchen sink) and transports it to the City of Saline Wastewater Treatment Plant. As is common with older systems, reduction of inflow and infiltration (I&I) needs to occur. I&I is ground water and surface water that gets into the sanitary system due to age and condition of pipes and structures. Left unaddressed, this takes up capacity in both the collection system and plant. The current fiscal year (starting July 1, 2023) includes investment in elimination of I&I for inspection and rehabilitation.
Storm Collection System	The City's storm water collection system is separate from the sanitary sewer system and is constructed primarily under city streets, with some areas in the city utilizing ditches and streams for water runoff. Storm sewer regulations continue to increase without a funding source and the pipes require just as much maintenance as our sanitary collection system.
Sanitary Collection - Pump Stations	The City owns 7 sanitary sewer pump stations that convey wastewater to the WWTP. Each station contains mechanical, electrical and other complex components. Current improvements are ongoing, visit ClearGov: Pump Station Modernization.
SCADA - IT	Supervisory control and data acquisition, or SCADA, will allow us to monitor DPW, water and wastewater treatment plant functions while not in the building.
Water Distribution System - Pipe, Valves, Hydrants	Unfortunately, production Well #4 went down last spring. This well provided a majority of our source water and has not been restored yet. Routine maintenance hydrant flushings were postponed due to the loss of Well #4 as the other operational wells cannot keep up with the demand of flushing. As messaged on in the water clarity summary in October 2023, restoration of this well and system wide flushing is part of the solution to our water clarity issues.
Water Distribution - Towers	An additional tower is needed on the west side of the water distribution system.
Water Treatment Plant and Wells	Our plant is 20 years old and is now in need of some upgrades. It is planned to give the plant SCADA upgrades as well as some additional pumping capacity for growth. The project to replace failed Well #4 is scheduled to be completed by end of year 2023. Additional production wells are needed for existing and future demand conditions.
Dam	Our dam is in need of upgrades due to changing regulations. Due to the liability of the age of the Saline River Dam, the city will be evaluating improvements in place vs removal of the dam.
Bridges	The City owns 3 bridge structures regulated by DOT. Preventative maintenance and inspections are performed on a biannual basis to preserve.
Roads	2022 PASER rating Major Roads: 6 2022 PASER rating Local Roads: 4.68 The millage was renewed in the November 2022 election. The existing millage only generates approximately $575,000 annually, which greatly exceeds our annual road needs. To use data driven decisions to improve the conditions of the paved surface and to implement the right fix and the right time, the City is switching to an asset management based capital improvement plan. We have completed the first step and created a Transportation Asset Management Plan which was presented at the City Council Work meeting December 4, 2023.
Traffic Signs and Signals	Currently there is no asset inventory system and projects, in general, are reactive. Creating a system of keeping track of the age and locations of all our assets will allow us to retire old signals and signs when their allotted time is up.
Sidewalks	The current city sidewalk program is being modified and will be adopted in 2024. A large project to create a sidewalk on the west side of US-12 has been scheduled but postponed due to understaffing.
Pavement Markings	We are working with county road commission to efficiently keep our lanes and special markings fresh.
Pathways/Parks	The current projects include: Saline River Valley Trail