MOUNT VERNON — High winds on June 6 caused damage across the north and west sides of Mount Vernon, downing trees and power lines and stripping flags from downtown fixtures.
“It wasn’t as bad as what we had to deal with back in March, but still there was some significant damage done,” Public Works Director Tom Hinkle said.
Crews worked through the night of June 6 to open blocked streets. The last closures, including a portion of West High Street where downed power lines posed hazards, were cleared the following day.
Riverside Park lost four trees, and Moundview Cemetery sustained heavy damage to several large, older trees. However, Hinkle said only a few markers or headstones were harmed.
A citywide brush pickup is scheduled from June 22 to 26. Crews will follow the established leaf-collection route.
Crews will pick up sticks, limbs, small branches, and twigs under 4 inches in diameter.
“We will not accept bagged leaves, grass clippings, tree stumps, root balls, lumber or construction materials, trash, furniture, or fencing,” Hinkle said. “These are some things that ended up in these piles the first time we made this trip around.”
Heritage Park Bell Circle installation set for June 23
A large rock has been placed at Heritage Park as the anchor for a new bell circle feature. The bell circle itself is scheduled for installation on June 23. Visitors will be able to use hand-held “gongs” — rods tipped with a golf ball — to ring the chimes around the circle.
Commemorative plaques will be mounted on the central rock. City officials are still finalizing a storage solution for the gongs to prevent theft. Two plaques will be mounted on the centerpiece rock.
North Mulberry & Sugar Street signal to get pedestrian upgrades
The traffic signal at the intersection of North Mulberry and Sugar streets is undergoing a complete equipment replacement. Crews are installing new wiring, a new cabinet, updated controllers, and new signal heads.
The intersection will also receive pedestrian signals meeting current Accessible Pedestrian Signal (APS) standards, including audible push buttons that announce the location and indicate when it is safe to cross.
“Right now we’ve got that intersection as a three-way stop. We hope to have it up into at least a flash mode, hopefully by the end of this week. It could be functioning by early next week,” Hinkle said.
Street and Stormwater projects underway across the city
Interim City Engineer Quentin Platt said reconstruction of West Burgess and West Hamtramck streets is progressing with few complications. He expects utility work along both corridors to be substantially complete by the end of July.
Stormwater repair projects are active at Vernedale-Coshocton Avenue and on North Mulberry Street, where workers are installing new pipe and catch basins.
The Norton Street stormwater project, a joint effort with the Knox County Land Bank, is also underway.
On the grant front, the city submitted its neighborhood revitalization and Community Development Block Grant applications and is preparing a residential public infrastructure preapplication due July 1.
If awarded, the public infrastructure funds would complement an Ohio Public Works Commission grant for a Crystal Avenue water line extension connecting Harcourt Road to Columbus Road, an area where three wells have already tested positive for E. coli.
The Mansfield Avenue bike and pedestrian path project is essentially complete, pending only final paperwork. Platt said it is seeing heavy use. The contractor still needs to replace a section that has deer hoof prints.
The contractor also repaired grass damage on a neighboring property that was inadvertently affected during the project.
Platt said the paving is done; however, a few areas still need to be striped.
Wastewater treatment plant advances; FOG and backflow programs launching
Aaron Reinhart, director of public utilities, reported that the wastewater treatment plant upgrade has reached the 60 percent design milestone. The city has submitted a Permit to Install to the Ohio EPA for review.
“They’ll start reviewing our plans and make any changes, or if they have any questions, they’ll submit them to Arcadis, our engineering firm,” Reinhart said. “In the meantime, we moved from the 60 to the 90 percent mark, so we’re working on that right now.”
The department is relaunching two compliance programs with an online portal system.
The Fats, Oil, and Grease (FOG) program requires commercial establishments with grease traps to register through the city’s website. Letters will go out to all affected businesses within the next one to two weeks.
A similar process will govern the backflow prevention program for commercial properties with backflow devices. Letters will direct account holders to the portal to upload inspection documentation.
At the water treatment plant, workers have begun evaluating the transition from chlorine dioxide to sodium hypochlorite disinfection. Rinehart expects results in about six months.
In distribution and collection, workers have replaced more than 2,663 of the approximately 3,500 residential meters as part of Project H2O.
They will soon begin commercial meter replacement.
Utility customers should also be aware that rates increased in April. Water rates rose 7 percent and wastewater rates 11 percent. Additional increases are scheduled for April 2026 and April 2027.
