Mar. 29—Mentor City Manager Ken Filipiak closed his 2023 State of the City speech with a quote from William Jennings Bryant.

"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."

Filipiak is certainly optimistic about Mentor and its destiny as well as its most recent achievements.

In front of a large crowd at the March 28 State of the City luncheon presented by the Mentor Chamber of Commerce and hosted at Paradigm on the Mentor High campus, he touched on several areas of success in 2022 and upcoming plans for this year.

With the city celebrating its 60th birthday, one theme for Filipiak was not being content with past successes and striving for constant improvements to keep Mentor as a top destination for residents and businesses.

He began his presentation with his appreciation for the work of the fire and police departments. He pointed out that the city handled 100,000 calls in 2022, 14,000 of which were 911 calls. He added that while the national standard is that 90 percent of 911 calls are handled in under 15 seconds, Mentor handled 100 percent of its calls in fewer than 7 seconds.

"When you look at how we invest in our future, a big thing starts with having the best safety people," Filipiak said.

He pointed out successful community programs such as Stop the Bleed teaching life-saving skills to teachers and an active shooter exercise at the high school for training purposes as well as last year both fire and police departments held open houses for the first time to interact with the community.

Filipiak said there are plans to replace 10 crucial emergency response vehicles at an investment of $5 million and that Mentor's oldest firehouse, Station 3 on Mentor Avenue, will be replaced.

"That building was built in 1965 and now it is just too small and obsolete for some of the needs of the community," he said.

Filipiak pointed out the continued increase in the use of technology by the police, including body cams and drones and doubling the number of Flock cameras which identify license plates. He also added that an area of focus this year will be speed control in residential neighborhoods.

Aided by a video showing construction progression and an accompanying interview, he discussed the Cleveland Clinic Mentor Hospital scheduled to open in the summer and all the benefits it brings to the city, not only for residents in need of care, but as a source of revenue.

Filipiak spoke about continued growth in business and industry with 60 new businesses opening in 2022. As for upcoming businesses opening this year, they include Popeye's, Jet's Pizza, Another Broken Egg and several large industrial additions.

He added that he was pleased that a large company like Avery Dennison has announced their new corporate headquarters will be at their Mentor location.

He also said redevelopment of property such as the Macy's and Sears spaces at the Great Lakes Mall is important. Filipiak said there are ongoing discussions for the Sears property that are "looking promising."

He transitioned to projects either underway or planned at the Mentor Marsh and Mentor Lagoons, including the 515-foot boardwalk and a 90-foot observation deck that is planned among several other investments in those areas.

Filipiak told the crowd that 2022 was a record-breaking year for income tax in Mentor with collections up 3.8 percent.

He added there are plans for about a $6 million investment to upgrade 27 streets in the city and touched on major projects such as the Center Street bridge deck replacement.

Filipiak announced the new Mentor Recreation Center on Heisley Road is scheduled to open July 1 and memberships will go on sale June 1. In addition plans to upgrade facilities at Wildwood Cultural Center, improvements at Black Brook Golf Course and a new sound system for the ampitheater are on the docket.

He closed the presentation speaking of the city's excitement once again for the Mentor Rocks program and CityFest later in the summer.