MOUNT VERNON — Mayor Matt Starr said crews used 252 tons of salt and incurred 124 hours of overtime during last weekend’s weather events.
By the numbers
•Saturday, Feb. 15: Six different drivers came in from 2 a.m. and 11 a.m. for 36.5 hours of overtime and 75 tons of salt.
•Sunday, Feb. 16: Five drivers came in from 3 a.m. to 10 a.m. for 52.5 overtime hours and 111 tons of salt.
•Monday, Feb. 17: Five drivers came in from 3 a.m. to 10 a.m. for 35 overtime hours and 66 tons of salt.
The vehicle fuel bill was $1,085.43.
Starr did a ride-along on Sunday with one of the drivers.
“It’s a different point of view when you’re up 10 feet high in the cab, looking down and you cannot see your blade on the road,” he said.
“It is an experience being up that high trying to make sure that we get the roads cleared.”
Streets, public buildings & land
The city is partnering with the Knox County Career Center building trades class to redo the steps at Chester Shock Park.
The park is located at Coshocton Avenue and East Chestnut Street.
Starr said the steps are rotting and unsafe.
“It’s always such a joy to work with that group,” he said. “They’re just so well-taught and so well-disciplined that they make the experience always rewarding, so I’m really, really happy about about working on that.”
Street crews are patching potholes, traveling to Columbus for the hot mix. Starr said the cold mix is temporary, and crews cannot do much in extreme cold.
The city has used more than 16 tons of hot mix this year.
Other activities include:
•Crews repaired the traffic light on Martinsburg Road at Pine Street, which was damaged due to an accident.
•Staff are washing and maintaining trucks.
•Park personnel are performing maintenance such as trash and snow removal.
•Staff are inspecting and replacing flags as needed.
•Repairing and replacing emergency exit lights in buildings are underway.
Engineering
The asphalt resurfacing program is up for a third reading at Mount Vernon City Council’s Feb. 24 meeting.
“We’re working on getting all those plans finished so we can turn around and put those out to bid,” City Engineer Brian Ball said, adding that he is confident the city will get better pricing by bidding the projects early in the year.
Last year, the city invested its asphalt resources in ongoing projects, such as utility and CDBG projects.
Potential streets for 2025 resurfacing program
Chestnut Street, Clearview Drive, Compass Pointe, Eastwood Drive, Fearn Avenue, Highland Drive, Latitude Drive, Longitude Drive, Northridge Drive, Oakway Drive, Upper Gilchrist Road, Venture Drive, Vernonview Drive, W. Vine Street, Yauger Road, Cemetery parking lot, Mount Vernon News parking lot, and B&O Railroad parking lot.
The list is not finalized nor prioritized.
“There wasn’t a 2024 resurfacing program. We added that money to projects that were already happening where we were destroying the streets and then rebuilding them so we could have a nice street with all the utilities under it repaired,” Ball explained.
“This year, I think we’re going to have to make some hard decisions on cutting some streets that need paved, and then maybe we can do a little bit of catch-up work in 2026, depending on the budget.”
Ball said the city has met its goal of replacing 1 mile of waterline yearly since 2017. More information on the status of the city’s strategic plan is forthcoming.
Crews are expected to return between March 3 and March 10 to replace the second culvert on Mansfield Avenue. An early finish date is around May 1.
Ball expects crews to be on Fairgrounds Road around March 10.
Work on the splash pad continues and is on schedule.
Mount Vernon City Council will hold a committee meeting and vote on the shared-use path on Mansfield Avenue at its Feb. 24 meeting.
Administration
The next session in the city’s Listening Tour is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. in City Hall. Residents will discuss the city annex.
“We haven’t seen a whole lot of people show up, but those who do have asked very good questions, and we are taking diligent notes of the public comments,” Starr said.
“When a design team is selected, they will see all of the public comments that people have had, and that will be considered in the design. So it’s very important that people take the opportunity to provide that feedback for us.”
Starr swore in Daniel Brinkman as city auditor on Feb. 14. He officially began his duties on Feb. 15 but has worked with former auditor Paul Mayville to familiarize himself with the office.
Water/wastewater
Public Utilities Director Aaron Reinhart apologized for the slow billing mailings to residents last month.
He said it was a combination of the vendor, weather, and tax season, but all residents should have received their bills.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency visited the water treatment plant last week and conducted a lab survey.
“The lab passed with flying colors. All of our operators are operationally certified now,” Reinhart said.
“That’s a very good thing out at the water treatment plant.”
The plant will take delivery of a new lime silo around the first of May. Design work continues on the wastewater treatment plant.
