MOUNT VERNON—Residents have many questions about the city’s electric aggregation program after receiving a letter from AEP.
Mayor Matt Starr said the letter informed residents that Dynegy bought Energy Harbor, the previous supplier. However, nothing else has changed.
“The same rate will apply, and it will be the same contract period,” Starr said. “If people are participating in this program, they need to do nothing.
“If people want to opt out, they can call and opt out, but I will say this is a rather substantial savings for our customers,” he added.
The city will negotiate a new contract rate when the current contract expires in December 2025.
Residents who have questions can call Starr’s office at 740-393-9517.
Engineering
City Engineer Brian Ball said the city hopes to release a Request for Qualifications soon for design services for the Knox Cattle Company dam in partnership with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
The city is also preparing to advertise for a construction contract to implement the interim risk reduction measures on the dam.
City officials completed the planning process for the new police station and municipal courthouse. The planning stage focused on functionality, such as building flow, the number of offices, and the number of restrooms needed.
City council members authorized the design phase last month. Ball said many firms responded to the city’s Request for Qualifications. The administration will review them this week and create a review panel for each project.
The city will involve the public in the design process, including the buildings’ look and feel.
The City Hall annex is nearing the end of the planning phase. The next step is to meet with various departments and decide whether they will be in the annex or City Hall.
Other news:
• On Thursday at 2 p.m., the city will dedicate the year-round heated family restroom at Harmony Playground in Memorial Park.
•Crews are installing underground components for the splash pad. The project includes insulated concrete forms for the three bathrooms and pump house.
•Crews on Mansfield Road should set the first culvert this week for the Mansfield Avenue stormwater section. The northern section will reopen, and crews will move to the southern culvert, closing the road south of the veterinary clinic.
Public utilities
Public Utilities Director Aaron Reinhart said the city reached a milestone in the plant. Officials completed 30% of the design phase for the Ohio EPA-mandated phosphorus reduction in the outflow.
“Which is a big accomplishment and will get us moving forward on everything else,” he said.
The city built much of the plant in the 1950s, upgraded it in the early 1970s, and again around 2003.
“I think people forget this runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year,” Ball said. “So there’s the phosphorus [reduction] part, and then there are things that have just reached the end of life and need substantial replacement.”
Ball said the city also tasked its designers to consider growth.
Reinhart and his team toured half a dozen plants, called others, and looked at equipment. They will also consider the construction manager-at-risk approach to managing the project.
The construction manager partners with the city and buys, installs, and tests equipment and components.
“The construction manager is going to have experience installing the piece of equipment, and then they’re going to own it for the warranty period,” Ball said. “The construction manager is not going to offer us a piece of equipment that they’ve seen fail during a warranty period, and they have to go back and fix it at their cost, right?
“So, this is a partnership that gives us what we feel is a lot higher product.”
Ball said designers like the construction-manager-at-risk method because it reduces the likelihood of lawsuits and increases meaningful conversations.
Water plant
Crews finished painting the clarifier, which is ready to return online. Reinhart said the city will rotate between the two clarifiers around the first of the year.
Workers continue assisting with the Dan Emmett and Mansfield Avenue projects and preparing for winter. A winter project for distribution and collection crews is replacing meters.
Regarding the billing office, Reinhart said that payments must be made by 3 p.m. on Monday before the Tuesday shut-off day to avoid a shut-off. The city will not turn the water back on until Wednesday, and households will be turned on in the order that the bills are paid.
Public buildings & lands
Crews are converting a room in the Plaza Building at 5 N. Gay St. into an office and preparing the auditor’s office in City Hall for a remodel. Activities include painting, moving furniture, removing wall coverings, and patching holes.
The city plans to budget for a complete remodel of the auditor’s office in 2025. The work includes new flooring, painting, and furniture.
Crews removed flags installed for Veterans Day in the cemetery. Cemetery staff will help families replace their flags if needed.
Workers are draining and prepping hydrants for winter and handling leaves.
Other news:
•Crews cleaned up graffiti in Lambton Square after vandals spray-painted last week.
•Workers replaced two sections of sidewalk on Public Square where tree roots pushed up the sidewalk and cracks developed. The project replaced more than 1,260 square feet of sidewalk and 252 linear feet of curve.
•The boiler system in City Hall had problems with flow sensors and controls, so workers repaired and adjusted controls.
Streets & parks
Crews will close down the bathrooms and drinking fountains in all city parks by the end of the week for winter. Port-a-johns remain at Riverside, Memorial, and Ariel-Foundation parks.
The parks and street departments are cleaning up and mulching leaves.
“It’s important that the public knows this year we were unable to get leaf rakers to help us move some of these leaf piles away from either mailboxes, parked cars, or signposts in front of everybody’s house, so it’s important that residents help us out this year,” Superintendent Tom Hinkle said.
“Remember when you’re bringing your leaves to the curb to keep a distance from any kind of obstacle that our machine can’t get up close enough to pick up the leaves.”
He noted that with bad weather approaching, city crews might have to remove the leaf equipment and install snow equipment. However, he said that once the weather clears, crews will return to pick up the remaining leaves.
