MOUNT VERNON — North-end residents will be happy to hear the target completion date on Fairgrounds Road has been moved up.
“The weather’s been in our favor, and contractors have been working hard, so we’re ahead of schedule again. Our new completion date is July 3,” City Engineer Brian Ball said.
The city previously targeted July 17. However, crews laid asphalt, and the stormwater work went better than expected.
The county completed stormwater work from the top of the hill eastward. The city added about $70,000 of stormwater work to fix failed pipes on Longitude and Latitude drives.
The pipes date back to 1999.
“You’ve got a brand new water line; you’ve got a brand new storm line, and you’ve got a brand new sanitary line and a brand new road on top of it,” Ball said of the project.
“There is some asphalt down, but there’s more asphalt to go.”
Dan Emmett neighborhood
In the Dan Emmett neighborhood, contractor crews are back in town and focusing on Marma Drive.
Crews installed the foundation for a concrete retainer wall on Nuce Road to protect the Little League dugouts.
Sidewalk, paving, and top asphalt remain to be done, as well as fixing a dip on Mulberry Street. Crews will also replace driveway aprons where sidewalks are installed.
Ball said that while Rumpke was picking up recycling, trash companies were not picking up trash. The contractor will guide the trash truck through the job site.
Additionally, City Inspector Scott Zimmerman will follow up with companies to ensure they pick up trash.
Multi-use path on Mansfield Avenue
The city still plans to start construction on the multi-use path on Mansfield Avenue in August. The project includes a significant amount of stormwater work.
Ball credits awareness of the basement, sanitary, and stormwater backups to former councilman Mike Hillier.
“All of these things [in the project scope] should help reduce basement flooding either from sanitary or storm going into sanitary,” Ball said.
“There are still people having basement problems, but overall it is a significantly better quality of life for folks on the north end of town.”
Lead pipes
The city recently sent out EPA-required notices about lead service lines.
“We have been opening water meters, testing, inspecting, and surveying. We have not found any lead pipes, but we have not opened every water meter, so there is a large number of folks who got a letter,” Ball said.
Homeowners should direct questions to Assistant City Engineer Quentin Platt at 740-393-9528.
Ball said home inspectors have noted that some houses in the older parts of town have lead pipes inside the house.
Lead can enter drinking water when plumbing materials containing lead corrode.
“The way that Aaron [Reinhart] and his staff treats the water, the water is not corrosive, and his team works 24 hours a day to make sure our water is not corrosive,” Ball said.
Public Utilities Director Aaron Reinhart said the city has never had a detectable level of lead when conducting residential sampling.
Ball noted that residents should let the water run before drinking water from a modern faucet, as even modern faucets contain some lead.
In other engineering news:
•The city is interviewing for a new engineering tech position.
•Mayor Matt Starr signed a contract with Chicago-based BKV Group for design services for the new police station on Sychar Road. The city will work primarily with BKV’s Columbus and Cleveland partners.
•The city awarded the contract for the East Vine Street sidewalk project. A start date is not set.
Administration
Starr said he is spending a lot of time dealing with the legislation coming out of the statehouse, including House Bill 96, the operating budget.
Another piece of legislation is House Bill 92, which Starr said would “radically impede the way we are able to go after utility liens.”
“It would put undue stress, wear and tear, and resources on the city’s part to eventually get paid for utilities that have been used,” he said.
House Bill 113 deals with annexation and managing growth.
“Essentially, it would take the cities out of the equation and allow veto power to the townships,” Starr said.
The mayor said that under the bill, if a company wants to locate just outside the city limits but needs city water and other services, it comes down to whether the township and the county think it will be worth it.
“There are a lot of problems with HB 113 that I have and so I’ve provided opponent testimony on that one as well,” Starr said.
“It really would cut us off from development and generating new revenues to offset the cost and the burden to the current tax base and utility customers.”
Short-term rentals
Senate Bill 104 is about short-term rentals.
“That is something that really does threaten home rule. It basically takes away our control to manage places that offer opportunities for Airbnb and VRBO,” Starr said.
He acknowledged he favors and has taken advantage of short-term rentals.
“The thing that we want to be careful of is that some neighborhoods may not want to necessarily have them, and we want to be able to make sure that we can apply local zoning,” he said.
“The other thing about this is that anytime we have a single-family home that is constantly having new people come in, that’s one less home for a family to put down roots in Mount Vernon, which we desperately need. It can drive up the cost of homes as well.”
Starr also cited HB 335, which eliminates inside millage. Inside millage is millage on property that residents do not have to vote on.
The city has 3.2 mills: 0.3 each for police and fire pensions, and 2.6 for the general fund.
“If this inside millage goes away, we have to find that money anyway to pay [pensions] because it’s a required employer contribution,” Starr said.
Wastewater and water
Utilities director Reinhart said the wastewater treatment plant continues designing its EPA-mandated phosphorus response.
Jordan Parker joined the water treatment plant as a shift operator. The utilities and streets departments partnered with Ohio Means Jobs Knox for summer help.
Starting next week, OMJK participants will paint fire hydrants and curbs.
Public works
Crews are busy mowing in the streets, parks, and cemetery departments.
Street department workers hauled about 205 tons of street sweepings to the compost facility on Thayer Road.
Staff members are busy blocking off roads for the city’s summer events, installing or replacing banners on Main and High streets, and hanging flower baskets.
Weed spraying is underway, and in the next two weeks, crews will start spraying in the brick streets.
Street potholes are mostly done; workers will now concentrate on repairing areas around utility digs or stormwater projects.
Half of the public works staff attained ACRT Arborist certification and are now certified to trim trees within a certain distance of power, cable, and phone lines.
The splash pad is operational. Public Works Superintendent Tom Hinkle reminded the public that it is unattended, “so parents have to be parents.”
“Parents are going to have to watch and make sure that everybody’s being respectful over there to each other,” he said.
Hinkle noted the splash pad pavilion is not available to rent.
Cemetery and public lands
Work has started on additional video surveillance at Mound View Cemetery.
“It’s a little tricky out there because it’s such a vast area with no electric, so we’re looking at utilizing some battery-powered stuff,” Hinkle said. “We will also put in a few electric lines where we can get to it easily to mount the cameras.”
Hinkle is also getting estimates on cemetery expansion. Survey work is completed and workers are locating utility lines.
The next step is to get an excavator to level out and prepare new sections of the cemetery.
Additionally, workers are working on interior chapel repairs, including replacing the tile floor.
Workers completed gutter and downspout work at the CA&C depot and planted shrubbery around the Statue of Liberty in Liberty Plaza.
“We do have cameras surveillance, so if you mess with the statue, you are on camera,” Hinkle cautioned.
Crews should finish the repairs to Cooper’s Fountain on Public Square by the end of the week.
Charles Cooper donated the fountain to the city in 1883. Charles and Elias Cooper founded the Cooper Ironworks, which became the precursor to a variety of Cooper companies through the years.
Staff are replacing old wooden doors throughout the buildings with new glass doors and installing an access control system.
Other projects include roof repairs, interior bathroom remodeling, and hot water tank installation at the police impound lot.
