MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon City Council approved applying for three Community Development Block Grants at its meeting Monday night. The city is looking to use the $1.65 million to redo brick streets, revitalize a north-end neighborhood, and install a sidewalk on North Sandusky Street.
A $750,000 neighborhood revitalization grant will help redevelop the north side neighborhood bounded by Dan Emmett Elementary School on the south, Mansfield Avenue on the west, Northgate Drive on the north, and Marcia Drive on the east.
City Engineer Brian Ball said the area has experienced a lot of problems with water/wastewater backups. The project includes replacing water and stormwater lines; relocating sanitary sewer lines; and adding sidewalks and pedestrian signals.
Plans specific to Dan Emmett Elementary School include replacing playground equipment, reconfiguring parking and the bus drop-off, adding detention and retention ponds, and sidewalks. Plans also call for a heavy-duty guardrail or concrete barrier along Nuce Road by the ball field.
“This school has the most amount of students who walk and the least amount of sidewalk,” Ball said.
Two projects already in the works will add $2.5 million in leverage to the grant application: the ODOT-approved shared-use trail heading north on Mansfield Avenue, and the traffic signal replacement at Belmont Avenue and Mansfield Avenue.
Project cost is estimated at $4.35 million. The grant is $750,000. Remaining funding will come through the city’s stormwater, water/wastewater, parks and recreation, and roads and bridges funds.
Additionally, Ball said the city will seek funding from various philanthropic and nonprofit organizations.
The city held two public meetings on Monday afternoon to inform residents and seek public comment. The city will take those comments, prioritize the items, and pare down the cost estimate to around $2 million.
A $750,000 critical infrastructure grant will be used to rebuild three blocks on Catherine Street from Vine to Coshocton Avenue. The project scope includes removing the bricks, replacing sanitary sewer and stormwater lines, adding water lines, redoing curbs and gutters, and replacing the bricks.
Design work is completed, but the cost estimates need to be updated. Funding will come from the roads and bridges, stormwater, wastewater, and water funds.
The third grant is a $150,000 allocation grant to install a sidewalk on the west side of North Sandusky Street. The sidewalk will run from Norton Street to Franklin Street.
The deadline for submitting all three grants is June 15. The city will know in September whether the grants are approved.
If the grants are approved, the city can bid the Catherine and North Sandusky projects in January 2023. Construction is slated for 2023.
Under the neighborhood revitalization grant, the city will bid the project in summer 2023. There is a two-year window to complete construction.
