MOUNT VERNON — The Yellow Jacket Drive water line is in, but hasn’t been holding the required water pressure.
Mount Vernon City Engineer Brian Ball said Friday that the line probably has an air bubble that has prevented it from maintaining pressure at 150 psi. The other cause could be a leak, but that would show an even lower psi than has been measured during tests.
According to Jason Epley, assistant city engineer, the line was at 90 psi Friday morning. The tests had tried to push the line to 170 psi.
To pass the pressure test, the line has to hold at 150 psi for two hours, Epley said.
Ball said the city will flush the line repeatedly until the air bubble is forced out. The air bubble further keeps the line from being sanitized, as chlorine in the water will not reach the inside top of the pipe.
No one is currently waiting on the water. The line will serve a new bus garage and soccer stadium which haven’t been built yet.
Paving on South Main Street is complete and the new stamped concrete surface for crosswalks at Ohio Avenue and Public Square are in. The concrete sealant was put down Friday, necessitating closure of the road until Saturday morning.
West Vine Street is scheduled to be paved Monday. Epley said the paving was held up for repairs to corroded gas lines by Columbia Gas, which had to excavate in the right-of-way to get at the lines.
Street Superintendent Tom Hinkle reported that the Mount Vernon Avenue bridge replacement project is scheduled to begin Aug. 1, with the contractor moving equipment in July 22. The project is expected to maintain one-lane traffic, but there may be brief periods when both lanes are closed.
The city has completed street pothole patching and moved onto asphalt alley patching. Most gravel alleys have been graded, Hinkle said.
The traffic lights at the intersection of Coshocton Avenue and Park and Chestnut streets has been set with a new timing plan. Hinkle said the plan seems to be working well, but may need to be adjusted for High Street traffic going onto Park Street. Frequent travelers of the streets may notice a slightly longer wait for east and west traffic.
Hinkle said a new control cabinet for the intersection has also been installed.
The city rebuilt two catch basins in the 300 block of Wooster Road. One had failed several months ago and had been covered temporarily with steel plating.
The street department’s new loader was used for an unexpected job to reset concrete barriers at the Kroger parking lot a few days after it was received. A motorist crashed through the barriers from the Kroger fuel station, went across the west entrance and hit a barrier near the entrance to Chipotle.
Utilities
Utilities Superintendent Mathias Orndorf said the new Kirk Street water line is in and is being tested. Once the line is ready, the city will run new taps to water meters and shut down the old line. There will be no need for a boil advisory, Orndorf said, but residents may need to flush out any grit by running taps inside.
Orndorf said three residents of Dixie Drive have contacted the city about tapping into a new water line going in this summer. One resident is planning to pay the connection fee up front, while the two others said they are interested in going with financing through the city.
The line is being installed to provide increased water pressure to the industrial park. It will run down Newark Road to Dixie Drive, down Dixie and then to Glen Road.
The homes on Dixie Drive are served by wells. Several homes along Newark Road will be able to tap into the line as well.
Mayor
Mayor Richard Mavis reported that Charter Communications informed the city it is closing its office to walk-in traffic “on or after” July 12. A letter from Charter said it will continue to use the office for “other departmental operations.”
The letter states that options to paying bills in person and infrequent use of the walk-in service have prompted the decision. The letter encourages customers to use its online bill payment system.
Mavis further said he met with a police chaplains’ group to discuss liability issues. The chaplains ride along in cruisers with Mount Vernon officers, Mavis said, and are exposed to the same dangers. Mavis said he learned that the chaplains must get their own insurance.
