Mount Vernon’s code enforcement ‘hits the ground running’

MOUNT VERNON — City Inspector Scott Zimmerman said the Mount Vernon’s code enforcement department has “hit the ground running” in 2026.

“Right now, we still have 650 violation letters out, but I would say Mr. [Brian] Marvin reported to me that probably 80% of those have already been resolved,” Zimmerman said.

He encouraged residents who receive a violation letter to call him or Marvin at 740-393-9577.

“We’re more than happy to work with people, and we’re not here to beat people up or be unreasonable. But people need to realize we also are not creating new laws. We’re enforcing things that have been on the books for a minimum since 2014,” Zimmerman said.

Referencing community comments that the city is “out patrolling,” Zimmerman acknowledged he and Marvin do see things as they follow up on calls.

“Quite honestly, we don’t need to go and look for things, because people are reporting things, and they’re wanting stuff done,” he said.

“We’ll give you extra time if you need it, but that doesn’t mean also that you’re going to have another year to continue to have the issues you have.”

Vacant building registry

Zimmerman is working on the city’s vacant building registry. The current one is for commercial properties. Zimmerman said he wants to add residential properties as well.

“We’re going to try to clean that up a little bit, and we want to add residential properties on that registry because we have a lot of vacant properties in the city,” the inspector said.

“It helps the police department. It helps the fire department; if they know no one’s in there, you’re not going to risk an officer or a fireman running blindly into an empty building.”

The department is training on a new software system, OpenGov. Zimmerman said it is user-friendly to the public and will enable the city to track costs, number of properties, and letters.

“It’s going to be a good way to be able to track the department’s activities throughout the year,” he said.

Zimmerman is also working to set up yard sale permits on OpenGov. Permits are free, but registering online allows the city to link addresses to events such as the Yard Sale Trail.

“It’s not anything to penalize you with money, it’s to hopefully help out,” he said.

The city will also post yard sale guidelines because some people are having year-long flea markets.

“You don’t do that in residential areas,” Zimmerman said. “You can have a yard sale, but a yard sale is like a three-day event. It’s not a year-long event.”

New police station ’90 days out’

Chief Robert Morgan said the department is about 90 days out from starting construction on the new police department on Sychar Road.

“We’re on track. We’ve handled a bunch of the big things, now it’s a lot of little things that are getting done in regard to getting the construction started,” he said.

“All the police officers are excited about that. Hopefully, the citizens are excited about having a new police department where we can serve the community very well for the next generation or two.

“We’re building a facility that’s going to be a long-term facility.

We’re not just building what we need now, we’re building what Mount Vernon’s going to need in the future,” he said.

“And with the growth of Mount Vernon that we’ve seen in the last few years and the growth we anticipate in the next few years, it’s going to be very important to have that.”

MVPD has busy year

The MVPD responded to 16,879 calls for service in 2025.

“That’s up a little bit from last year, and is about 40-plus calls a day,” Morgan said.

“It’s been a busy year for the Mount Vernon Police Department. When you think about 40-something calls, that’s almost two calls an hour we average, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

Morgan said the MVPD had a record number of OVIs in 2025. Officers filed more than 185, significantly higher than in past years.

“Our guys are out working hard, keeping the impaired drivers off the streets,” he said.

Officer Andrew Cotter is now a certified Drug Recognition Expert.

Morgan said certification allows Cotter to testify as an expert in identifying drugs, drug patterns, and controlled substances and prosecuting the same.

“That helps us with our ongoing project to eliminate drugs as much as we can in the city of Mount Vernon,” he said. “Our folks have been very active in that this year, and they’ve done a good job.”

Organizers for PAK United, Safety Town, and the Mount Vernon Association for Police Chaplains are planning 2026 activities.

Mount Vernon Fire Department

The MVFD ended the year with 522 runs in December, for a total of 6,204 runs. That is similar to 2024.

Chief Chad Christopher said the department has had a busy fire winter thus far, both in the city and the county.

“It’s just kind of a reminder for people who use wood burners that if we ever get a break in the weather, and it’s safe to get up on your roof, check your chimney throughout the year,” he said.

“A lot of people want to keep them going once they’re lit, but if there’s a time where you can actually reinspect and take a look throughout the winter, do so because not everybody burns that good seasoned firewood, and they still can get clogged up throughout the year.”

Firefighter/paramedic Charlie Atkinson joined the department this week. He has five years of full-time experience with another department.

“Bigger, stronger, faster.”

MVFD’s approach to training and development in 2026

Ross Wynn moved into his new 40-hour role as assistant fire marshal (formally known as Community Risk Reduction Inspector) on Jan. 5.

“We’re stepping back up our fire safety inspection within our businesses this year,” Christopher said. “That’s really his main goal.”

Christopher said Wynn will not disrupt the flow of business. Instead, the goal is to make the building safe for employees, business owners, and patrons.

The chief thanked the community for supporting MVFD’s annual Toys for Tots drive.

“Once again, our community is amazing,” he said. “We were just a drop-off location … but still, it’s amazing the support that this community has when it comes to the Toys for Tots program.”

Miscellaneous activities include a new medic arriving in early February, planning for a new east-side fire station, and painting and installing flooring in the Gambier Street station.

Pool opening

Mayor Matt Starr said the city is rethinking when Hiawatha Water Park will open this year.

“Looking at years of statistics, we’re going to think hard before we say we’re going to open up the weekend of Memorial Day, because stats historically have been down, temperatures have been down,” he said.

“Hardly anybody shows up. The splash pad will open that weekend though, regardless.”

Starr noted that onboarding for new council members Taylor Jacklin and Dale Miller is going well.

The duo has visited various departments and utility facilities to acclimate and completed an orientation with Council President Bruce Hawkins.