MOUNT VERNON — West-end residents have a chance to tell city officials how to spend neighborhood revitalization money.
The City of Mount Vernon plans to apply for a $750,000 Neighborhood Revitalization Grant for the target area bounded by Greenwood Avenue, North Sandusky Street, West High Street, and Dike Road.
It also includes residents on Marion Street from Tilden Ave. south to North Sandusky.
City officials are asking residents in the target area to identify their concerns, needs, and desires through a series of community meetings.
As they work through the process, residents will help prioritize the projects the city will include in the grant application.
“This is a neighborhood project,” City Engineer Brian Ball said. “We’ll start with big, blank pieces of paper and ask what are the problems in the neighborhood.”
The grant money can fund sidewalks, storm or sanitary sewers, street lighting, crosswalks, street improvements, and a variety of other projects.
However, the final projects must represent five different categories from an approved list of improvements.
For example, the Dan Emmett neighborhood revitalization project included storm water, storm drains, water lines, sanitary sewer, and city park/playground improvements.
“That’s why it’s really important for people to attend the first two meetings,” Ball said. “At the first two meetings, they have a chance to say, ‘Here’s my issue.’
“After the first two meetings, we’ll start to draw out what the solution is.”
The first meeting is set for Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 5:30 p.m. at the B&O Depot, 507 W. High St. Subsequent meetings are scheduled for:
•Tuesday, Feb. 20
•Tuesday, March 19
•Tuesday, April 16
The grant is through the Community Development Block Grant program. The application deadline is in June.
If the city receives the grant, work will be done in 2025-26.
