Mount Vernon awarded $200,000 grant from Muskingum Watershed

Mount Vernon will receive a $200,000 grant from the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) for infrastructure improvements.

“We've never received a grant from them before,” Mayor Matt Starr said. “We've never asked them for a grant before and so this is big news for Mount Vernon. We've been paying into that watershed district for many, many years; and now we have a chance to get some infrastructure projects and stormwater infrastructure projects.”

This particular project will fund the Kokosing Riverbank Restoration in Mount Vernon, a project worth more than $1 million, according to a press release from MWCD.

The MWCD was created to develop and implement a plan to reduce the effects of flooding and conserve water for beneficial public uses in the watershed, which covers 20% of the state.

Public utilities

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) were not found in samples collected from the city’s public water system; the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a “no-detect” letter sent to Mathias Orndorf, the city’s public utilities director. Orndorf stated that other water systems in Knox County also received “no-detect” letters from water samples taken on Oct. 7.

PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals applied to many consumer goods to make them waterproof, stain resistant or nonstick, the Ohio EPA said on its website (https://epa.ohio.gov/pfas).

Engineering

To give the public a break from construction during the holidays, the city rescheduled the North Sandusky Street water line project to start on Jan. 4.

“We decided to wait until we get through the holidays, to not cause any calamity during the holiday season,” Starr said.

A sanitary sewer extension project will soon begin on North McKinley Street, going under the Curtis Run tributary. Now is the time for anyone in the area interested in connecting to the city water and wastewater system to contact the Engineering Office at 704-393-9528.

Once this project is completed, crews from Palmer & Son will move over to Marion and Madison streets where galvanized water lines will be replaced. The neighborhood will be contacted about any water shutdowns or boil advisories.

Streets

Leaf collection has ended, and now those same trucks are in winter-plowing-season mode, Starr said. In the first snow event from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, crews used approximately 111 tons of salt and worked 37.5 overtime hours.

The department performed annual preventive maintenance on vehicles and equipment that are not in use.