MOUNT VERNON — The city is wrapping up the stormwater section of the Mansfield Avenue shared-use path project.
“We’re getting very close to being done with that,” Assistant City Engineer Quentin Plat said. “We have to do some final inspections, and then we’ll be good to start actually installing the shared-use path.”
Starr said it is critical to ensure the infrastructure under the path accepts rainwater and distributes it slowly and predictably to avoid problems in the tributary leading to the Kokosing River.
“When you look at the lines that were there, there’s no wonder that people’s basements were being flooded. The lines were just plugged up with dirt and debris, several feet and yards at a time where there’s no way it could have moved through,” he said.
“So you know that’s been happening for a long time.”
The city will seed and restore the area after it completes the path.
Starr said when Mount Vernon finishes its north-end work at the end of this year, the city will have invested at least $30 million in infrastructure on the north end over the last five and a half years.
“That whole neighborhood should see major improvements. Hopefully we’ll see people invest in their own properties, too, when they see the government investing in infrastructure,” he said.
Starr acknowledged it has “been a long haul” for north-end residents, but said the city is “in the red zone” and getting close to completing the projects.
“The plan is once we’re done with this up on the north end, we will start spreading our resources over onto the west end. We’re making plans for that, which you’ll see some things coming out in the next year’s budget,” he said.
Engineering
Platt reported the department received schematic designs for the new police station on Sychar Road.
“We’re currently reviewing those across the city [departments], so that would be engineering, the police department, and public buildings and lands because it is a public building, so Tom [Hinkle’s] group will have to maintain that to some extent,” he said.
Engineering is heavily involved in municipal building meetings.
“That’s why we don’t have so many projects going on where we’re actually moving the earth and doing all that sort of stuff. We’re doing our homework,” Platt said.
“We’re meeting with architects, and we’re meeting with people with COTC, with the people over at the court and the police department, and even in the fire station.”
Engineering is also working on the State Route 13 realignment project. Other projects include curb and gutter work on West Sugar Street and minor sidewalk repair at the intersection of West Sugar and North Mulberry Street.
Public works
Public works employees received certification in line clearance training. The training enables them to use chainsaws in utility rights-of-way.
Reporting street light outages
Report street light outages directly to AEP at their website aepohio.com. Type in your zip code, select the outages tab, and from the drop-down menu, select the “street light” option.
Complete the information requested. Information needed includes pole number (a tag on the pole) or the nearest address to the pole.
“I’m glad to say all of the public works staff has been trained and certified in that area,” Public Works Director Tom Hinkle said.
Hinkle reminded residents that American Electric Power handles street light replacement, not the city.
He advised residents to go to AEP’s website and report outages directly.
“That’s how we would like the public to handle it, but if you are unable to utilize that, you can contact us at the street department (740-393-9501) and we’ll help you through the process or put in the work order in ourselves,” Hinkle said.
Street crews are finishing the last round of arm mowing despite some repair issues.
They also hauled away approximately 300 tons of street sweeping collected in 2024-25 in preparation for fitting the trucks with leaf collection equipment.
Crews are continuing their alley work, laying gravel and grading.
Parks
Work in the parks includes mowing, trash removal, and maintenance. Crews are winterizing Captain Hunter’s Landing splash pad and Hiwatha pool.
Hinkle said plans call for extensive repairs on the water park’s pumps and motors.
“It’s about six years since we’ve gone through the motors and pumps, so we’re planning on going through each one of those, have them looked at, rebuilt, and things redone before the start of next season,” he said.
Repairs to the bubble flex in several areas are also on tap.
Hinkle noted the tennis court lights in Memorial Park are installed and functioning. They are on an automatic timer set for 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Each court has a separate switch.
“We’ll adjust these times as far as how early they come on … as it gets darker earlier, but also we’ll adjust the other end because we don’t open the park as long in the winter hours,” Hinkle said.
Cemetery
The cemetery department is preparing for its fall cleanup, which starts Oct. 1. Families are asked to remove worn-out or seasonal markers or decorations.
Hinkle reminded residents to follow the rules if they want to add additional or new items to the grave sites.
Public buildings and lands
Sidewalk repairs on Public Square continue.
“Last year we did several of the worst spots that needed to be taken care of right away, and the project that’s going on now is completing the whole inner square to connect to those places,” Hinkle explained.
Workers should finish before the weekend.
Crews also completed painting the exterior and window trim at City Hall. Hinkle said these areas had started to weather; the work was done to prevent rot.
Public utilities
Public Utilities Director Aaron Reinhart reported the city continues to flush hydrants in the northern part of the city.
Workers are finishing up the Norton Street waterline project.
“We should have water lines done, so there should be no more water interruptions or anything like that,” Reinhart said.
“That went good. It went very, very quick, so everything turned out good.”
The city issued a Request for Proposals for the meters in Project H2 Overhaul. The proposals are due Sept. 22; the city will select the vendor on Sept. 24 and award a notice to proceed on Sept. 26.
Reinhart anticipates completing the meter installation in April 2026.
Administration
Administration officials are engaged in budget talks.
According to Mayor Matt Starr, City Treasurer David Stuller projects good revenue streams in 2025.
“We’ll see what kind of grants become available as well,” Mayor Matt Starr said.
Starr met in the council chambers with Twin Oak Elementary School third-graders.
“We had a really good, long talk about our storm water that is very important here, and the children were very engaged with this,” he said.
“They understood the importance of trees, they understood the importance of making sure that we protect our river and our streams and our tributaries.
“We make sure that it’s not only for the recreation that they like to engage in on the Kokosing River but also for the wildlife and for our flood control plan.”
