MOUNT VERNON — Public Works Superintendent Tom Hinkle is keeping an eye on the city’s road salt, especially in light of the upcoming predicted snowfall.
“We’ve responded to 16 notable snow or ice events so far this winter. That’s quite a bit compared to the last few winters we’ve had around here,” Hinkle said.
The most recent was Sunday and Monday.
Crews in five trucks arrived at 12 a.m. on Sunday and worked for 4 hours. They returned on Monday at 4 a.m. and worked for 5 hours.
“So far we’ve used approximately 1,600 tons of salt, which has obviously increased also this winter,” Hinkle said.
The city participates in the Ohio Department of Transportation’s road salt purchase program. Hinkle ordered the salt for the 2025-26 winter in March 2025.
At 1,500 tons, it was one of the city’s largest orders.
“If you’re doing the math here quickly, that means we’ve already used up just about what we had on this contract,” Hinkle said. “So we’re working on more or less the reserves that we had left over from last year.”
Another 300 tons are on the way. Hinkle said that should exceed the 110% the city can purchase on this contract under 2025-26 pricing.
While the city can purchase more salt than it ordered, it might cost more or less.
“We’re still crossing our fingers. Right now we’re sitting on about 400 tons, give or take, that we have to get us through the rest of this winter. Hopefully, Mother Nature will be a little kinder to us than she has been here recently,” Hinkle said.
Hinkle said the department has incurred weather-related overtime costs.
City uses new pre-treat system for the first time
Workers installed the city’s new pre-treat system on the trucks last Friday before the snowstorm. Workers pre-treated bridges, hills, and some of the brick streets.
“This is the first time that we’ve applied that this winter and been able to apply it. We will continue to experiment with what areas around town we feel that it’ll help and react to the freezing or the snowfall,” Hinkle said.
Related to streets, the city purchased 6 tons of hot mix to fill some of the larger potholes created by freezing and thawing.
Crews will use cold mix for the smaller potholes.
To report a pothole, call the street department at 740-393-9501.
Public buildings and lands, parks, cemetery
The city opened online reservations for city parks. There is a reservation fee; Hinkle said the majority of shelters charge $25 for a four- or six-hour time slot.
Hinkle said vandalism is an issue at the two restrooms that are open year-round: The splash pad in Riverside Park and Harmony Playground in Memorial Park.
“It’s the first time we’ve been able to keep two bathrooms open throughout the winter months. And yes, we’re getting vandalism,” he said.
“It’s really sad. We’re trying our best to provide a facility to the public year-round, and even though these bathrooms are designed to take a lot of punishment, we’ve got people that are … trying to break into them by prying on the doors. We’ve got some issues with them kicking out or trying to get into vents that are in the walls, things like that.”
Hinkle asked anyone who sees someone tampering with or vandalizing the restrooms to call the police department at 740-397-2222.
Crews in all three departments are busy with snow removal in the parks and cemetery, parking lots, and on sidewalks in front of city-owned buildings.
Workers are prepping the new municipal center on South Main Street for occupancy.
Crews repaired some minor water leaks stemming from the cold weather and handled heating issues in some buildings.
Indoor work includes equipment maintenance.
Water meter replacement underway
Public Utilities Director Aaron Reinhart said design work continues in the wastewater plant.
“We’re at 30% [complete]; we will move to 60% hopefully by April,” he said.
Reinhart said the 30% mark involves a design engineer conducting an overall review of the plant to identify areas that need upgrading to comply with EPA regulations and to select major pieces of equipment that need to be replaced.
“That’s kind of where we hung out for a while, the 30% mark. We have our equipment picked out, we know what direction we’re going,” Reinhart said.
“At the 30 to 60% mark, we take those pieces of equipment and put them in the buildings, see what modifications we have to do to existing plumbing, existing buildings, existing electric, and that type of thing.”
The director said 60% to 90% mark is the “nitty-gritty, nuts-and-bolts” phase.
“This bolt’s going to put this piece together, this electric box is going here to power this. You get down into the finer details,” he explained.
“Then 90% to 100%, you’re in the real fine details.”
Five firms replied to the city’s Request for Qualifications for design services for the water treatment plant upgrade.
Workers started the meter change-out program. Blue paint on roads or curbs, as well as blue or white flags in yards, mark the location of the meters.
Reinhart also said that with the cold weather, residents might consider leaving faucets open a little bit — about the size of a No. 2 pencil lead — to prevent pipes from freezing.
Residents who do this can apply for a freeze credit.
Bid openings for pickleball courts, brick streets
City officials will open bids for the new pickleball courts at Riverside Park and for the brick street project on Feb. 19.
Regarding the Knox Cattle Co. dam, ODNR verbally approved the two-pond design.
Mayor Matt Starr congratulated Kayla Carr, Jordan Crabtree, and Nate Hines on their fire department awards.
“All three are wonderful individuals, great professionals, and continue to make sure that we raise the bar of the quality of safety services that we provide for our citizenry,” he said.
“We really are very proud of them and just want to wish them congratulations.”
On behalf of Fire Chief Chad Christopher, Starr encouraged residents to check on their neighbors, especially if they are elderly or have special health conditions.
Regarding public safety, Starr said the city has an ordinance that structures must have house numbers.
Letters or numbers must be at least 4 inches high and 0.5 inches wide.
“We have noticed there are some structures that do not have those … but we need to be able to know whether or not we’re at the right place or the wrong place,” Starr said.
“That has to be pretty explicitly displayed on the structure so that our crews can get in there.
“Seconds equals heart muscle,” he added.
Starr also congratulated The Salvation Army and the Learning Lighthouse for their ribbon-cutting on Sunday.
“Actually, it’s a milestone, but the work has really just begun,” he said.
He noted the behind-the-scenes work, planning, and vision that made The Learning Lighthouse a reality, including the 2022 Area Development Foundation’s child care study.
Upcoming events include the Washington Forum, which starts on Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. at The Woodward Opera House.