2025 has been a busy year for city staff in South Haven.

City Manager Kate Hosier gave the city council a Year in Review report on Monday. She said the top priority for the year was housing development, and the city has been involved in several projects. They include developments planned at the Overton site, work with South Haven Township to encourage new housing construction, and the establishment of brownfield Tax Increment Financing for new developments.

Hosier said economic development was the second priority, with outreach focused on business retention.

Another focus has been safety as she added things are now in motion to restart the lifeguard program at city beaches.

“Priority number three was lifeguards,” Hosier said. “We’ve just recently had a staff strategic planning meeting to kind of put things in motion, if you haven’t seen, but we have posted our chief lifeguard position on our website.”

Hosier said throughout 2025, the city installed gates at the piers, handled more than 100 wheelchair rentals, and trained staff on the new EMILY water rescue robot. She also noted the city had no water rescues throughout the year.

City expenditures were up about 4.5% from the previous year, while new additions are made to the staff and improvements to service are constantly sought. And Hosier said the city is working to save residents on their electric bills.

“We see that transmission costs are continuing to go up, and that’s a cost that has to be borne by our customers. So we’re trying to figure out what else we can do to make our utilities cost effective.”

Hosier called 2025 an impressive year. She added her work is made easier by the support of a great staff.