MOUNT VERNON — The municipal news cycle typically highlights major events and happenings, many of which are discussed during council meetings.
However, the follow-up details often fade into the background after a project starts or legislation is passed. Readers frequently ask questions starting with “What’s the status of …?” or “Whatever happened to …?” or “When will …?”
In an effort to keep the community up-to-date between council meetings, Mayor Matt Starr and the city’s department heads will meet with the media on the first and third Tuesday of each month.
They will share information on new activities, changes in project timetables, and other items of interest to residents.
Knox Pages will feature these tidbits in a column titled “Municipal Minute.” Here is the first edition.
MVFD
Fire Chief Chad Christopher said the department responded to 487 runs in April, bringing the total for the year to 1,992. Responses included a building collapse on West Gambier Street in Mount Vernon and a motor vehicle fatality on South Main Street.
The assessment for an assistant fire chief is completed. Christopher anticipates filling the position in the next few weeks. Two part-time personnel joined the department.
Reminders:
•May is Motorcycle Awareness Month.
•The township burn ban — from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. —is in effect through the end of the month. Residents in the city limits are limited to 2-foot-by-3-foot cooking fires that produce very little smoke.
Engineering
City Engineer Brian Ball said the department is interviewing for summer interns. Crews anticipate laying asphalt on Grange Avenue and in the Buckeye Addition in the last two weeks of May.
Crosswalk repair will begin on May 13 on South Main Street. The intersections include both crosswalks at Vine and Gambier streets and the southern crosswalk at Ohio Avenue. South Main is closed to through traffic during construction.
Crews are still working on water lines in Heartland Commerce Park, replacing lines and applying a polywrap to protect against corrosion. They also put a trace wire on the new lines so that they can be located electronically. The city dedicated American Rescue Plan Act money toward the project.
The city is in contract for the H&H modeling of the Kokosing River between Tilden Avenue and Lower Gambier Road.
The final neighborhood meeting for the Community Development Block Grant project in the West High/Madison Street area is scheduled for May 14 at 5:30 at Riverside Park.
Ball said neighbors will prioritize the projects they want covered under the grant.
Safety-service
The citywide Cleanup Day is slated for May 25 at the Knox County Fairgrounds from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Instead of residents taking bulk trash to Republic on Tilden Avenue, the city will provide eight Dumpsters at the fairgrounds.
Residents are responsible for loading the items into the Dumpster; however, the city will have volunteers to help them unload their vehicles.
In 2023, the city spent $16,000 on Cleanup Day. Residents paid $10 a load, and the city subsidized the remaining $130 per load.
This year, residents will pay $20 a load. The city will subsidize the remaining $110.
Safety-service Director Tanner Salyers said the city plans to hold another Cleanup Day in the fall.
