MOUNT VERNON — As the weeds and high-grass season winds down, the city’s Code Enforcement Department will turn its focus to noncompliant structures.
As of Nov. 4, the department has 543 active cases primarily involving weeds, grass, and inoperable vehicles. Those issues have slowed down.
City Inspector Scott Zimmerman said he is thankful that the community has been largely cooperative with managing inoperable vehicles. However, he said residents are a little less cooperative with structural repairs.
“I understand those are more costly, but we have garage doors that are broken and won’t close, we get homeless in there, we get vermin and raccoons and such, so it’s a necessary thing that we do,” he said.
“Like always, we’re not going to come out with guns blazing and writing tickets. This is going to be an educational thing.
We’re going to work at it. But if need be, we will enforce some penalties if we need to get some work done.”
Zimmerman encouraged residents who receive a letter about an issue to contact him or Code Enforcement Officer Brian Marvin.
Zimmerman will also focus on a vacant building registry for commercial and residential structures.
City council members created a registry for vacant commercial buildings in 2019 but do not have one for residential.
Zimmerman said owners of a long-time vacant commercial property have not maintained the structure, and the roof is starting to collapse.
“Our job as code enforcement on the property maintenance is to try to get to these places before they get to the point where they need to be demolished or torn down,” he said.
In the future, Zimmerman plans to establish a landlord property registry, enabling the city and tenants to obtain contact information for landlords.
Solid waste
Zimmerman said 11 solid waste companies do business in Mount Vernon. He plans to hold a meeting to review the ordinance, which includes semi-annual reporting of waste and tonnage of recyclables.
DKMM (Delaware-Knox-Marion-Morrow) Solid Waste District ties its funding to the reports.
The city’s recent clean-up day at Ariel-Foundation Park was a success, with 10 Dumpsters filling up quickly. However, Zimmerman said residents left trash in the parking lot.
“That needs to stop. That’s going to make it more difficult to have more events in the future,” he said. “Next year we’ll shoot to have a few extra Dumpsters so we don’t fill up so quick and we can accommodate more people.”
Zimmerman is developing a new work order system that covers solid waste, backflow, and FOG (fats, oils, and grease). It enables haulers to pay for permits, upload reports, and complete permits online.
He also hopes to simplify the inspection process. Haulers who have a state certificate will move through the process quickly.
However, he said he is “going to be more of a stickler” on covering up trailers, open trucks, tonnage reports, and offering curbside recycling..
Zimmerman and Marvin will undergo search warrant training through the Ohio State Code Enforcement Association.
He noted that when code enforcement executes a search warrant, officials are not going through personal belongings.
“We’re looking for the health and safety of the people that are in the properties. … This is not a punishment or meant to be an invasion. We’re doing this because my number one thing is the safety of the citizens of the town or the city, and I want to make sure that where they’re living is safe,” Zimmerman said.
MVPD’s new K-9 completes training
Police Chief Robert Morgan said the police department had an eventful October, with many events and more than 1,300 calls for service.
That includes 78 car crashes, 24 each theft and domestic violence calls, 16 assaults, and about 400 traffic stops.
“We also had about 200 calls that were involved with our community advocates program that has assisted somewhere along the way,” Morgan said.
Designs for the new Sychar Road station are moving forward.
Morgan said that many companies responded to the city’s Request for Qualifications for a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR). City officials interviewed four and are finalizing details with the selected company.
Legislation to contract with a CMAR should soon reach city council.
The department is down one officer and is accepting applications for lateral transfers. Anyone interested can apply on the city’s website.
ICE, the department’s new K-9, completed training and is on the road with Patrol Officer John Cox. Cox previously was a handler with the Danville Police Department.
The 2-year-old black German shepherd was named before he came to Mount Vernon. Morgan said he understands the potential name implications, but said, “It’s the name of the dog.
The department again hosted a training exercise at Heartland Commerce Park. Lt. Rex Young coordinated the exercise, which other local law enforcement agencies attended.
MVFD fills assistant fire marshal position
With 494 calls in October, the Mount Vernon Fire Department has reached 5,218 calls for the year. Fire Chief Chad Christopher anticipates meeting the target mark of approximately 6,200 for 2025.
Ross Wynn will be the new Community Risk Reduction Inspector and Educator, aka assistant fire marshal. Wynn was promoted internally and already is a fire inspector. He recently completed arson training as well.
“His main focus will be getting back into our businesses, doing our life safety inspections and making sure that our storage is staying within range and our exit lights and fire extinguishers are working,” Christopher said.
The internal promotion of Wynn creates an opening on the roster. Those interested in applying as a lateral hire can do so on the city’s website.
The post will remain for 10 days; the department will then move forward with hiring an additional firefighter, EMT, or medic.
Staff trained on a grain bin simulation rescue on Wednesday. Farmers Exchange donated the corn.
Fire training for November includes forcible entry. EMS training includes pharmacology and medication reviews.
Christopher reminded residents that burning leaves is not allowed in the city. He said he has received enough open burn calls that he will start citing people for burning leaves.
In the townships, the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. burn ban is in effect through Nov. 30.
The department will soon start its security project featuring new entry card readers and interior and exterior cameras.
The annual Toys for Tots is underway, and the fire department is again serving as a drop-off location.
Residents can drop off new unwrapped toys at 200 W. Gambier St.
Administration
Mayor Matt Starr reported that he and Safety-Service Director Tanner Salyers had a successful trip to Washington, D.C. They met with Congressman Troy Balderson’s staff to discuss a $5 million funding request for the wastewater treatment plant.
They also attended the Google Public Sector Summit, which focused on AI and how governments can utilize it to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, responsiveness, and accountability.
Starr said the administration will review its policies to make sure the city operates ethically and noted municipalities’ stories about time savings using AI.
“We’re not looking at AI to get rid of jobs,” he said. “We’re looking for people who are doing the job to use AI to be able to get better faster and make better decisions.”
Starr reviewed the list of local food pantries and noted that the annual Food for the Hungry drive will soon start.
