MOUNT VERNON — Safety-Service Director Tanner Salyers said he wants to beef up, not short-change, Mount Vernon’s partnership with Knox Public Health.
“From my point of view, with code enforcement, probation, the police department, we’ve been tackling some inter-agency, multi-jurisdictional things recently that have required us to really communicate and beef up that cooperation,” Salyers said during a Finance Committee meeting on Monday.
The city and county health departments merged in the early 1980s. The contract to extend that merger expires on Dec. 31.
Council members gave a first reading to legislation extending the contract another three years.
Under the existing contract, the city pays the health district around $67,000 a year. The new contract increases that to $93,000 for 2026.
It calls for the city to pay $95,790 and $98,663.70 in 2028 and 2029, respectively.
Health Commissioner Zach Green said that covers compensation and benefits for one full-time environmental health specialist.
The base pay is $26.25 per hour. With PERS, Medicare, workers’ compensation, and health insurance, the rate is $44.87 per hour.
It does not factor in administrative, nursing, infectious disease, epidemiology, or outreach costs.
“We really need to get to the point with this contract that it’s covering for one of these employees who are out, I would argue daily, within the jurisdiction of the city,” Green said.
“I think it’s very conservative when you look at what we’re providing for the price.”
Public health partnership brings value to city departments
Green said the decision to merge health departments was a smart move, as it reduces duplication and enhances efficiency.
For the city to have its own health district, the Ohio Revised Code requires a minimum of three positions: a health commissioner, an environmental health director, and a director of nursing.
“Obviously, you’re not going to do a whole lot with just three positions,” Green said. “But $93,000 vs. what it would cost to on-board those individuals where you’re not going to get hardly any programming, return on investment for our taxpayers or community, is without a doubt a good partnership.”
Salyers said the city does not want to shortchange a partner agency and that KPH brings value to departments other than those that fall under safety-service. Utility projects are one example.
“When we are executing things that both the public and our boards expect us to execute, we’re showing that partnership and showing that the dollars we’re investing are going where they expect us to put them,” he said.
“I think they have been, and this continued investment will only improve that.”
Councilman James Mahan said the contract sounds fair to the administration.
“I appreciate the win-win and working with the partners. I think that’s something we really need to be focusing on as a city,” he said.
Council considers elected officials’ compensation
An ordinance setting compensation for the council president and council members received a second reading. Proposed rates for 2026-29 are:
•2026: $9,710
•2027: $9,880
•2028: $10,053
•2029: $10,229
Council’s current compensation is $9,543. The new rates reflect a 1.75% increase. That is enough to keep up with Ohio’s Public Employees Retirement System credits.
An ordinance setting the city treasurer’s pay at $15,000 for 2026 received a first reading. The current salary is $9,543.
Annual 1.75% increases raise the salary to $15,801.36 in 2029.
The city’s Compensation Review Commission, created in 2023 at the suggestion of resident Joshua Morrison, recommended the increase after comparing salaries and responsibilities of “peer communities.”
Communities included Athens, Lancaster, and Chillicothe.
SSD Salyers said the increase is warranted because City Treasurer David Stuller has been actively involved in investments and other financial activities on behalf of the citizens.
Council members also gave a first reading to an ordinance amending the collective bargaining agreement with the Mount Vernon Firefighters and Paramedics Union, IAFF Local 3712.
The amendment incorporates the newly created position of Community Risk Reduction Inspector and Educator, aka assistant fire marshal. Council members created the position in July.
Fire Chief Chad Christopher said the position will oversee annual fire inspections of businesses, conduct fire extinguisher classes, and coordinate other educational activities.
The Civil Service Commission approved the job description, and the union agreed to the amendment. Christopher anticipates opening the position to internal applications by mid-October.
Other legislative action
The council took the following additional legislative actions:
•Approved on third reading applying for an Ohio Public Works Commission for extending a water main to Crystal Avenue in partnership with Clinton Township
•Gave a second reading to legislation applying for OPWC money for Phase 1 of a sanitary sewer improvement project in the west end
•Discussed on its second reading a proposed cyber security policy
•Gave first readings to legislation extending the IT contract with the county, paying bills, reappointing Councilwoman LeNan Hager to the Shade Tree and Beautification Commission, eliminating parking on a section of Mallard Point, and contracting with Road to Finish for construction inspection services
•Discussed two pieces of legislation relating to electric aggregation
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Mayor Matt Starr read a proclamation recognizing September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in the city.
The proclamation states childhood cancer is the No. 1 disease-related killer of kids in the United States, with one in five children being terminal at diagnosis.
Additionally, three in five suffer life-altering impacts of treatment that significantly affect their quality of life, and one in 285 is diagnosed with cancer before age 20.
Starr encouraged residents to support nonprofit organizations, including the Friends of Faith Prudent Foundation, that support children and their families coping with cancer.
He presented the proclamation to 17-year-old Camden Curphey and his family. Camden was diagnosed at age 16 with osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer in his pelvis.
