MOUNT VERNON — Vandals are once again wreaking havoc in Mount Vernon.
Public Works Director Tom Hinkle said vandals recently knocked over around 30 headstones in Mound View Cemetery.
“We do have surveillance in certain areas of the cemetery, but there are portions of it that that we don’t have under video surveillance,” he said. “We weren’t able to capture anything to help us out with the investigation who did this.
“Fortunately, none of the headstones suffered major damage; they were just knocked off the foundation.”
Some will require resealing to anchor them to their base, but none were broken.
The city plans to install more surveillance cameras, which will require the installation of utilities in additional areas.
Recurring vandalism at Dan Emmett Elementary caused Hinkle to close the restrooms.
“They have been vandalized four times in the past two weeks,” Hinkle said.
Vandalism includes breaking sinks, spray painting walls, strewn trash, and smearing animal feces on the walls.
“Really nasty stuff that they’re doing,” Hinkle said. “The crews had to clean that up three different times now, so I’ll be locking those up and only making them available to the leagues when they go over there to play games.”
Hinkle said other parks have had minor vandalism issues.
Water/wastewater
Utilities Director Aaron Reinhart reported that the EPA-mandated phosphorus reduction program design phase continues. He anticipates having a plan by August.
David Goldener achieved his Water Reclamation II certification.
The department will again partner with Knox County Ohio Means Jobs for summer projects. One crew will paint fire hydrants in the city’s south end, and another will help the street department paint curbs.
The workers start on June 16 and run for five weeks.
“That’s been a program we’ve done for three years in a row. It benefits us, and the kids get to learn skills,” Reinhart said.
Reinhart reminded residents previously enrolled in paperless billing that they must re-enroll due to a software issue. Anyone who wants to opt in for paperless billing can do so by visiting MTVernonH.gov or calling 740-393-9504.
The software issue does not affect ACH or automatic billing accounts.
Public buildings & land
Earlier this year, workers cleaned and painted the fountain and fence on Public Square. Now they are cleaning and sandblasting the concrete base. The next step is painting it and adding a stone facade.
Crews placed street flags for Memorial Day, installed new video surveillance in American Heritage Park, and renovated city offices.
The Mount Vernon Fire Department donated excess spill contaminant supplies to other city departments.
St. Vincent de Paul students placed more than 2,000 American flags on the veterans’ graves in Mount Calvary Cemetery to prepare for Memorial Day.
Parks
Staff members have undergone training for the splash pad. The city will hold a ribbon-cutting for Capt. Hunter’s Landing on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
They have also met with Columbus Pool Management to prepare for the opening of Hiawatha Water Park, which will be held on Saturday.
PAK United, in partnership with the Mount Vernon schools and the city’s recreation department, is hosting Safety Town on Aug. 3 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Streets
Crews remain busy mowing, filling potholes, and repairing catch basins for stormwater management. They also installed new “Wrong Way” signs on Gay and Mulberry streets.
More than 12 locations were damaged by the May 5 storm. Crews are clearing multiple large limbs and trees.
The garage’s concrete floor was deteriorating due to salt water puddling from the trucks. Workers ground down, repaired, and sealed the floor.
“It’s a pretty nice repair that will hopefully withstand a good deal of time with with the salt water in the future,” Hinkle said.
“It’s a radiant floor and has the water lines in the floor, so the concrete slabs are heated. I’m afraid if that floor was to really get into bad shape, that could be in jeopardy, so I wanted to get that done right away.”
Crews completed the first round of street sweeping and will haul the debris to the county landfill on Thayer Road.
Hinkle reminded residents that High Street will close on May 26 from Park Street to Edgewood Road for the Memorial Day parade. Edgewood to Catherine, including all the streets and alleys, will close earlier that day. No parking signs will be posted.
Engineering
City Engineer Brian Ball encouraged residents to complete the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Access Ohio 2050 survey.
Brennstuhl initially was the lowest bidder on the Mansfield Avenue shared-use path. However, the company’s bid was disallowed because it failed to file disadvantaged business enterprise paperwork.
The city awarded the bid to Smith Paving and plans to award an inspection contract to Road to Finish.
ODOT requires 100% full-time inspection.
Smith Paving submitted the lowest bid for the East Vine Street CDBG sidewalk project. However, the company had a math error, so the city awarded the bid to DL Smith of Norwalk.
Phase 1 of the flood plain study is the Kokosing River through the city. Phase 2 includes the Dry Creek, Delano Run, and Center Run tributaries.
The city recently received data for bridges in the tributary streams. Stantech will do hydrology modeling; the city is in the process of awarding the tributary floodplain modeling.
Once the modeling is complete, the company will help brainstorm ideas on flood reduction projects, such as raising bridges or widening openings.
The shared-use trail project will kick off on the north end with an ODOT meeting next week. The project includes $600,000 worth of stormwater work.
Ball said the schedule is driven by when catch basins and manholes are delivered. There is no construction start date yet.
Contractors will restart work on the curbs and sidewalks in the Dan Emmett project after school ends.
The city is negotiating a change order to add about $70,000 worth of work on a section of a collapsed city stormwater pipe around the Latitude and Longitude drive area on Fairgrounds Road.
Brick streets
In addition to the street department’s asphalt and concrete pothole program, the city also has a brick street pothole program.
During the 2008 recession, the city hired temporary workers to repair brick streets. However, the program has lagged since then.
Ball said the city has revived the brick street pothole program, starting with leveling defects on West Chestnut Street.
Administration
Mayor Matt Starr said presales are strong for Hiawatha Water Park.
Starr offered opposition testimony on Ohio HB 92. Starr said the bill hampers municipalities’ efforts to recover delinquent utility fees.
“The proposed law is putting in a great deal more of administrative time. It would be tying our hands, and it would not enable us to go through the landlords to recoup our money, so it’s something that obviously municipalities are are opposed to,” he said.
Elizabeth Turner started her position as human resources director May 12.