Editor’s Note: According to Heartland Real Estate on Jan. 29, 2025, the project has reverted to its original name, Liberty Crossing.
MOUNT VERNON — Excavators should soon be moving dirt at the Liberty Ridge, formerly called Liberty Crossing, development on Newark Road.
Two and a half years after Highland Real Estate approached city officials about developing 217 acres south of town, the city has issued stormwater permits for the development.
“Depending on the weather, they [Highland Real Estate] think they will be moving by the end of the week,” City Engineer Brian Ball said.
The development includes a mix of single- and multi-family homes, townhomes, and patio homes. The company will start on the southern two-thirds of the property, the patio and single-family homes.
The Mount Vernon Municipal Planning Commission approved Liberty Ridge’s development plan in January 2023. City council members approved it in March 2023.
HRE returned to the planning commission in October 2024 requesting changes related to the shared-use path.
The developer removed the path from the wetlands area and realigned it with Owl Creek Conservancy’s proposed path through the Blackjack Road Wetlands Preserve.
HRE knows the rough location of utilities, but the city has not issued the sanitary or water permits pending actual sizing and locating the lines.
Streets
Ball said the city has received many calls about the lights on Coshocton Avenue, specifically around Knox Community Hospital and Lowe’s.
“The side streets are having difficulty with the sensors,” he said. “If you look closely, there are extra wires being installed and radar equipment is there, but it’s not fully operational.”
The city ordered new equipment in June 2024 and “it’s starting to trickle in now.” Ball noted some of the equipment is 20 years old and some 12 years old.
“And it’s electronics, right?” he said.
Crews have completed much of the underground work on the Dan Emmett neighborhood project. Ball said work will shut down until next year when crews will lay asphalt.
The culvert project on Mansfield Avenue is also shut down until spring.
Ball said city council’s Jan. 27 agenda includes legislation on the shared use/Mansfield Avenue bike trail.
“We’re really close on getting the approval from the Ohio Department of Transportation, so we want to give council the opportunity to have three readings,” he said. “We’re close on having that project final and ready for approval for construction.”
The utilities and public works departments are working on the 2025 paving program, taking into account water line replacement and Columbia Gas’ work.
Ball anticipates bringing the list of streets to council in late February.
“Last year was pretty light for street paving, so this will be kind of a catch-up year,” he said.
Splash pad
Crews are standing up the walls on the building part of the splash pad in Riverside Park. The walls are insulated concrete foam (ICF), similar to the home Habitat for Humanity Knox County is building on Columbus Road.
ICF construction involves two sheets of insulated Styrofoam with concrete in the middle. Crews then install exterior siding and finish the interior.
The foundations for the splash pad are approved and about half of the concrete for the pad is poured.
The state approved the occupancy permit for the restroom at Harmony Playground.
“It is heated, and we’ve been closely tracking the temperature to make sure it’s heated enough to not freeze,” Ball said.
The restroom should open soon and will be open during daylight hours.
Listening tour
About 14 people attended the Jan. 18 session of the city’s listening tour for the new police station.
Held at Happy Bean on South Main Street, Ball said it was a “rich discussion” that included historic preservation, traffic, and stormwater runoff.
Ball said some residents are concerned that the city will build too small and discover in five years that it is inadequate to handle growth.
He also noted that building the police station on Sychar Road will help with stormwater issues in the area.
Much of the discussion involved the exterior design, with residents concerned about it fitting in with the neighborhood. Ball emphasized that preliminary drawings show only one exterior facade for the station. The earlier focus was on the interior.
As the design process moves forward, the city will provide different options for comment.
“The feedback is very important because different design teams have different skills, and based on the feedback, we’ll be able to find the right fit,” Ball said.
The city will not make a decision until it finishes the listening tour. The last session on the police station is Thursday at 6 p.m. in City Hall.
The city will continue taking comments 30 days after Thursday’s session. The administration will compile and publish the comments along with the city’s response.
Water and wastewater
Public Utilities Director Aaron Reinhart reported crews responded to several water line breaks last week in the area of Northgate and Emmett Drive.
Tuesday they were busy with frozen lines. Reinhart reminded residents to leave a small trickle of water running to keep lines from freezing.
“It doesn’t have to be a lot, about the size of a pencil lead. That’s all you need,” he said.
Work continues with the EPA-mandated plant design at the wastewater plant.
Jared Jeffitt joined the wastewater treatment plant on Monday as a shift operator.
Parks and recreation
Recreation Director Jeff Derr said the city is pleased to work with the Knox County Board of Disabilities on two Hiawatha Water Park improvements.
“They provided some grant funding for us to make some improvements to some equipment, and that will be installed for the 2025 season,” Derr said.
The improvements include installing an adult changing table in one of the family locker rooms and replacing the ADA seated pool chair lift in the main competition pool.
“I really appreciate their work there. That will be a good addition to Hiawatha and help out people around Mount Vernon and Knox County,” Derr said.
A December holiday sale for water park memberships garnered about six memberships for 2025.
Residents can click here for information about reserving park pavilions.
Administration
The draft version of the updated comprehensive plan, Together Knox, is available for public comment. Click here to read the plan.
Residents can make comments on each page using the form underneath the document. Comments will be included in an appendix to the plan.
“I know Brian’s team is looking through it all, and we’re particularly paying close attention to the Mount Vernon growth plan, which is Chapter 6,” Mayor Matt Starr said. “I’m very proud of the work that this team has done to get this where it is.
“It’s interesting to see some of the things that today’s stakeholders found as important very closely match, if not mirror, those values that were discovered in the early 1990s when the planning started getting more structured under the old Focus 2100 plan,” he added.
