Mount Vernon’s Utilities Department fixed two water line breaks last week at Tilden Avenue and Granville Road and avoided the need for boil advisories in the process.
On Feb. 8, a six-inch water line broke on Tilden Avenue, Mayor Matt Starr said. Crews were able to fix the line under pressure, which meant a boil advisory was not necessary. The next morning, a 12-inch line on Granville Road broke, and it also was repaired under pressure.
The department also emptied and cleaned the No. 2 holding tank at the wastewater treatment plant, which the mayor said was a long time coming.
Board of Property Maintenance Appeals
The City’s Board of Property Maintenance Appeals lifted the condemnation for demolition of the old school building at 301 N. Mulberry St. at its Feb. 11 meeting. This enabled the developer to move forward with plans to renovate the remaining school building for residential use.
The latest site plan presented at the meeting shows 102 residential units and 186 surface parking spaces on the 4.2-acre site. The old school would house 48 apartments, a six-unit townhouse building would be behind it along West Hamtramck Street, and two garden-unit apartment buildings with 24 units each would be built farther back on the property.
Ice rescue practice
The Mount Vernon Fire Department will work on ice rescues at Ariel-Foundation Park on Thursday from 8 a.m. to dark.
“If anybody wants to come out and take a look at that, they can just watch from a distance; but seeing these guys do ice rescue is something to behold,” Starr said.
Public Buildings and Lands
The Engineering staff has begun working the Public Buildings staff to perform thermal scans of city buildings to check for heat loss.
“We’re trying ways to improve the efficiency of some of these obvious trouble areas that we suspect,” Starr said. “We will be looking at those very closely to see what we can do to minimize our expenses.”
Streets
Consolidating departments into a Public Works Department enabled cemetery- and public-buildings employees to help with recent snow events, plowing and salting roads. They also work to clear snow in and around city buildings and the cemetery.
Starr said the additional 125.81 tons of salt won’t last too long.
“But in order to stretch the salt, we’re going to probably have to start mixing it with sand, which nobody likes,” he said. “It just creates more work in the spring when we have to clean the roads.”
Patriotic Memorial Day
The Patriotic Memorial Day committee began discussing options for this year’s festivities, which usually include a ceremony and parade. The theme is “Reflect and Remember.”
“We’re brainstorming some ideas to still make a memorable experience this Memorial Day,” Starr said.
Amber Keener was selected as chairperson for the committee.
New business
The city joined in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Extension CoWorking at 23 N. Main St. The new downtown business provides workspace for people working remotely.
Zoning podcast
Starr recorded and posted a podcast with Development Services Manager Lacey Blankenhorn. The 30-minute conversation covers all things on zoning and permits. The podcast can be found on Spotify and through the City’s website and social media accounts.
