By Cheryl Splain, KnoxPages.com Reporter
MOUNT VERNON — In preparation for the county to sell bonds for upcoming capital improvement projects, county officials will meet next week with Moody’s, one of three major bond rating agencies in the country.
“The Children’s Resource Center is expanding, and we have capital projects we’d like to get started right away,” said Knox County Commissioner Teresa Bemiller. “The building automation systems are extremely old here [at 117 E. High St.] and at the sheriff’s office, so those will be two major things that will be done next year, as well as our fire system.”
Parking lots at the service center and Knox County Jail are also on the list of improvement projects.
Public parking across from the service center on East Chestnut Street will be expanded to include the two lots where houses were previously demolished. “We’ll redo the entrances and build in some green space,” said Bemiller. The project will also include improving drainage so the alley does not flood from runoff.
Drainage is also an issue at the jail, as well as the lot itself. A security issue in light of recent national incidents is that the driveway is a straight line to the entrance of the building. Jason Booth, county administrator, said plans call for an island or some other configuration that reroutes vehicles approaching the building.
The numbers are still preliminary, but the commissioners estimate around $2.5 million is needed for the CRC expansion and $1 million for the paving and concrete work at the service center and jail. Some of the bonds will mature in 15 years, some in 20 years.