MOUNT VERNON — Water and sewer infrastructure legislation highlighted the Aug. 12 legislative session of Mount Vernon City Council.
Council members waived the third reading and authorized contracting with Civil and Environmental Consultants Inc. to design a west-end sanitary sewer replacement project.
The primary areas are Beech Alley, North Adams Street, and Buckeye Alley to Lewis.
However, the project design includes three runs south of High Street that City Engineer Brian Ball said must be fixed before any work north of High Street can proceed.
Ball estimates design costs between $75,000 and $100,000; the utility budget will cover the cost.
When it is time for construction, Ball said the project will be completed in phases over several years.
“We could have some potential construction in 2025,” he said.
Fairgrounds Road
Council members waived the three readings and authorized the safety-service director to bid and contract for the Fairgrounds Road utility and resurfacing project.
The project includes running a water transmission main from the east gate of the fairgrounds to Mansfield Avenue and extending sewer from the racehorse barn to the top of the hill.
By classifying it as a transmission main, residents are not required to pay the service accessibility fee.
Extending the sanitary sewer is necessary if the city needs to install a new pump station in the Clintonville neighborhood (Fern/Grange/Pearl avenues) or Latitude/Longitude drives in the future to account for growth.
If that happens, the city can pump the sewage eastward rather than the Clinton Road pump station.
The project is a joint project with the county commissioners and county engineer. The county will provide about $150,000 for stormwater repair and resurfacing on the fairgrounds.
Additionally, the commissioners kicked in $750,000 in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money.
The city will use an Ohio Public Works Commission grant and surcharge fees collected through a city-county contract to supply services to township residents.
Water utility funds will be used to repay an OPWC $260,000 zero-interest loan.
“At the end of the day, it’s about a little over $2.2 million project but it’s coming out of a market basket of funds,” Ball said.
Norton Street
Council members also waived the three readings and authorized the administration to bid and contract for the Norton Street water line extension project from Burgess Street to Pleasant Street.
When completed, a 12-inch water line will run from High Street to Pleasant Street.
The city committed ARPA funds to replace the water system to Heartland Commerce Park. In 2016, Siemens Energy requested the city to shut down part of the city. However, the city could not do that until this spring.
“At the end of this project, each building will have its own water meter, will have its own sewer and water accounts, and we’ll have everything separated,” Ball explained.
“What’s left to do is about $300,000 worth of work. About $100,000 of that is outside of the gate.”
He said the hope was that HCP’s development company would complete the entire line.
However, the company does not want to go outside of HCP’s footprint.
Other legislative action
Following an executive session to discuss land acquisition, council members added a resolution to the agenda authorizing the purchase of a property on Beech Street.
Law Director Rob Broeren said the city agreed to the appraised price but declined to state the amount as the city had not finalized the contract.
The reason for purchasing the 6.27-acre parcel 66-09399.000 is flood mitigation from Center Run.
If the purchase goes through, the city plans to remove dirt and flatten out the ground, creating a place for the water to dissipate vs. running down a channel.
Council members took the following additional actions:
•Gave a second reading to establishing a credit card policy
•Waived the three readings and appointed Paul Mayville to a six-year term on the Civil Service Commission
•Approved of disposing of vehicles in the water/wastewater and police departments after waiving the three readings
•Authorized donating the police department’s old portable radios as backups to smaller departments and probation officers
•Gave a first reading to an ordinance establishing benefits for police and fire supervisory personnel
