Festival-goers wrap ribbon around a maypole at lats year's Saline Celtic Festival in Mill Pond Park.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com file

The 16th annual Celtic Festival will take place this July in Mill Pond Park, despite several Saline City Council members' concerns about the event's financial viability.

However, the event faces an uncertain future even after the council voted 4-3 Monday to approve the July 8-9 event, while waiving about $5,500 in city fees for police and public works services.

The festival suffered from bad weather for several years in a row and showed an approximately $15,800 loss in 2007 and an estimated $18,000 loss in 2008 before turning a $19,700 profit in 2009, and a $3,600 profit in 2010, according to a four-year history of the event.

“For 11 of 15 years, it’s been profitable,” said Pam Grosshans, treasurer for the festival.

She said more than 300 volunteers put on the event, and the committee reduced its “expenses tremendously last year."

"The goal is to pay for ourselves,” she said.

In fact, last year the committee lowered ticket prices to try to encourage more family participation. Children under 12 were admitted free, while children 13-17 years paid $5. Adult advanced tickets were $10, while adult tickets purchased at the gate remained $15. Seniors paid $10.

“As always,” a festival report states, “those who cannot afford a ticket can volunteer a few hours of their time for a free entry into the festival.”

The Celtic Festival celebrates Saline’s sister city relationship with Brecon, Wales, and showcases Celtic music, dancing and athletics.

Councilman Dean Girbach was the first of several council members to express his concerns about the city’s monetary and manpower contributions to the event.

He said the city had contributed about $125,000 to the event during the last five years, about $25,000 each year.

He would like to see the city phase out its contributions to the event. “I’ll support it for this year,” said Councilmen David Rhoads. “But unless something drastic happens, I’d be hard-pressed to support it in the future.”

Councilman Pat Ivey, like several other council members, said he was concerned about the festival’s leadership and wondered why it took the executive committee eight months to bring its final report from last year’s event to the City Council.

“I’m troubled and appalled the 2010 annual report was just given to us,” said Councilman Brian Marl. “I think we deserve better than that. I think it’s time for a change, a new direction.”

Marl said he didn’t think it was the role of the government to organize and underwrite the event. The council met with members of the festival’s executive committee in a work session prior to Monday night’s regular meeting to discuss the committee’s report.

“I think from talking to constituents that this event has run its course and I won’t be supporting it,” Ivey said before the vote.

Councilwoman Linda Terhaar and Councilman Pat Ivey listen to the Celtic Festival committee report from the 2010 event during a Saline City Council work session and meeting Monday. Terhaar voted to continue the event, and Ivey voted against it.

Lisa Allmendinger | AnnArbor.com

Resident Mary Hess said she’d twice asked the City Council about a final report on the festival and asked the elected officials to reject the committee’s request to continue the event.

Committee members reminded the City Council of the positive effect the Celtic Festival has on the community and on its youth, who work on the event. In addition, the City Council was assured that the projected $9,000 budget for donations would be exceeded.

The 2011 budget shows an estimated $81,176 in revenues and about $77,570 in expenses.

Councilwoman Linda Terhaar said, “For this year, I recognize the time and investment the committee has put in the community and I’ll support it.”

“The financial situation is not as dire as it once was,” said Mayor Gretchen Driskell, who also sits on the event committee. “There was a large fund balance in previous years. There are a lot of volunteers and residents who are vested in this, and a lot of recognition goes to the city.”

She said, “I think it does bring a big benefit to our community.”

Driskell suggested that the committee get together with the City Council in October when the final numbers are in to discuss the event’s future.

Councilman Glenn Law said he understood the council’s concerns but added, “You cannot deny the volunteerism.”

He said the festival “puts Saline on the map,” and the financial issues could be discussed in the future. But for 2011, he said, the festival should continue.

The festival is put on by a seven-member executive committee, 31 chairpersons and more than 300 volunteers, with support from city staff including the police department and the Department of Public Works, according to the report.

Traditionally, the Friday evening of the festival is Pub in the Park, while the festival itself takes place all day Saturday. Included in the list of events are the opening parade, living history enactments, competitions and performances that show aspects of Celtic history.

Ivy, Marl and Girbach voted against approval of the event, while Terhaar, Law, Rhoads and Driskell voted in favor of it.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter with AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Saline stories, visit our Saline page.