MOUNT VERNON — A public meeting held Monday evening to discuss Gilchrist Estates, a proposed 73-acre planned neighborhood development (PND) on Upper Gilchrist Road, drew six residents to City Hall and two responses. Residents could also participate via Zoom.
Realtor John Yoder said the Knox County Realtors Association strongly supports the PND because the Realtors deal on a daily basis with individuals looking for homes and lots.
“Anything we can do to add inventory is going to be helpful,” he told Mount Vernon council members.
Area Development Foundation President Jeff Gottke also supports the PND. He said that when recruiting businesses to the county, they frequently ask “where can I find my workers?” Noting the current housing shortage, he said, “Housing problems are economic problems for us.”
Chad VanSickle of Diversified Engineering opened the meeting with a review of the 109-lot proposed development. Schlabach Builders will build the houses and condominiums in seven phases. Phase 1 consists of 22 lots.
If council approves the development, the next step is to finalize and get city and EPA approval for stormwater plans. VanSickle said construction can begin as soon as Schlabach Builders receives the permits.
“Within six to eight weeks we’d like to be starting,” he said, adding that the first homeowner could move in by Christmas.
Schlabach Builders has asked the city to maintain the stormwater system. Property owners will pay the same stormwater utility fee that residents throughout the city pay. They will also pay a surcharge to cover the cost of maintenance. The surcharge will go into an account designated solely for the PND’s stormwater maintenance.
City Engineer Brian Ball said that each year, the city will evaluate the money in the account and the maintenance needs and adjust the surcharge up or down accordingly. The engineering department and perhaps the utility commission will do the evaluation.
Council gave a second reading to the legislation approving the development plan.
In an Employee and Community Relations Committee meeting, the topic was wages for the part-time firefighters the city will hire in order to cover College Township.
Fire Chief Chad Christopher said basic EMTs, advanced EMTs, and paramedics will get $13, $14, and $15 per hour, respectively. Those rates are about $1 higher compared to other departments in the area.
The city started covering College Township on June 1. Christopher said that while the contract calls for personnel being in the former College Township station in Gambier by Dec. 31, his goal is to have it staffed by the end of August. Modern Builders will renovate the station to include sleeping quarters.
Christopher said he would like to hire18 part-time personnel who would work a 24-hour shift every six days, plus have an on-call list. It is possible to hire only 12 with an on-call list.
“We’ll just have to see how those numbers turn out,” he said.
Personnel can be EMTs, EMTAs, or paramedics. Christopher has received a few applications and hopes to have the first round hired in by the end of July.
In response to a question about whether or how much overtime the city will see if the additional personnel are not hired, Christopher said, “We’ll have to see what Plan B and C looks like.”
Council waived the three readings and adopted the pay scale for the part-time personnel as an emergency.
In other business, council:
–Authorized the safety-service director to bid and contract for the South Main/Columbus Road intersection improvements
–Authorized the sale of a 1999 dump truck no longer needed by the water/wastewater department
–Approved supplemental appropriations, including the first payment from the Knox County Foundation for the recently created community advocate position in the police department, $5,000 from the Kathryn Campbell Trust as a bequest for the K9 program, and $122,000 from Ariel Foundation for the summer watering and tree planting/care programs
–Adopted an ordinance amending the duties of the Shade Tree and Beautification Commission
–Updated a section of city code to reflect new rates for towing and storing vehicles council adopted in January
–Gave a second reading to legislation changing the voting order in council meetings
Safety-service Director Richard Dzik apologized to council for changing the voting order during council’s May 10 meeting. He served a two-week suspension without pay for the infraction.
In his apology, Dzik said that it was not his place to make the change and that he understands it is his responsibility to rebuild trust with council. He also apologized to the clerk of council for putting her in an uncomfortable position between council and administration.
