MOUNT VERNON — In its Monday night session, City Council members gave a second reading to legislation authorizing the city to lease land to Verizon for construction of a new cell tower. Stipulations for final approval include a more favorable rental payment and the assurance the city does not have to go through a bidding process.
Verizon is asking for a 100-foot-by-100-foot area at the water/wastewater treatment plant on Old Delaware Road. Verizon proposes a five-year lease of $10,800 a year with four automatic five-year renewals. Rent will increase 2 percent with each five-year renewal.
Councilman Sam Barone said the compensation terms strike him as “kind of puny” and that he would prefer to see an increase every year vs every five years.
Auditor Terry Scott pointed out that the proposed tower site cuts the 33-acre vacant land parcel in half, which limits future possibilities. He agreed the opening price was way below what it should be, especially considering the economic impact of losing the land for future use.
Rodney Lafferty of SBA Communications, who does site acquisition for Verizon, said the city can negotiate the lease with Verizon.
There is also language in the Ohio Revised Code that Mayor Richard Mavis said indicates the city has to go through a bid process before leasing the land to Verizon. Lafferty said he has never encountered such a conflict with other municipalities. Law Director Rob Broeren will research that before the next council meeting.
Council also gave Police Chief Roger Monroe the authority to sign Memorandums of Understanding with other law enforcement agencies as long as the MOU does not involve financial arrangements.
“The MOU is something we’ve done since the beginning of time, but as we checked further, it brought up the point that Joel [Daniels, safety-service director] and the mayor are the only ones who can sign off on checks and the paying,” explained Monroe. “There are a lot of MOUs out there that are non-dollar based that I sign off on all of the time.”
Examples of non-funded MOUs include with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and METRICH for mutual aid, the Knox County Health Department and children’s services.
Broeren said the Ohio Revised Code requires council to give Monroe the authority to sign off on these non-funded MOUs. Previously, the city has not been compliant with the ORC.
In other business, council:
- Approved compensation rates for non-bargaining unit city employees, property maintenance enforcement officer, and supervisory personnel. All personnel received an increase of around 2 percent, consistent with the bargaining unit raises.
- Pulled an ordinance setting pay rates for the police chief, police captain, and fire chief from the agenda pending further personnel discussions
- Authorized Scott to pay bills, make appropriations, and transfer funds. Appropriations include $147,486.94 from the Ariel Foundation for tree removal and planting and $180,000 from the Ohio Department of Transportation for safety improvements on North Sandusky Street.
- Approved participation in ODOT’s cooperative purchasing program
- Approved the sale of a 1995 Ford Econoline ambulance no longer needed
- Gave a second reading to legislation authorizing bidding and contracting for the South Main Street/Parrott Street improvement project
- Postponed indefinitely the sale of the fire department’s ladder truck because of parameters connected with the FEMA grant used to buy the truck. Postponement effectively kills the legislation; new legislation can be introduced once those parameters have been researched.
Tanner Salyers spoke to council about two groups: Knox County Youth Works and Millenial Mount Vernon. He requested the city to partner with KCYW for seasonal summer help at no charge to the city. Youth are paid through Knox County Job & Family Services. Council members expressed interest in using the youths for summer help.
Millenial Mount Vernon, a young professionals group, is interested in creating an exchange zone for people buying and selling items through social media and Craigslist. The group is seeking a downtown location that is well lit and has camera surveillance to provide safety to buyers and sellers.
