MOUNT VERNON – Volunteers are needed for the Mount Vernon Music & Arts Festival, which will be held Aug. 13–15 in downtown Mount Vernon.
Sign-ups for the Festival Force can be made online at mvmaf.org/volunteers. The festival seeks volunteers to serve as real-life mannequins, puppet operators, singers for a flash mob choir and actors. Backstage jobs include serving as hosts, cleanup, setup and hosts for activities such as the Right Brain and Kids Zone tents.
Downtown
Bikes and scooters are not allowed on the narrow sidewalks in the downtown central business district on South Main Street and a short section of North Main, Safety-Service Director Rick Dzik told the Mount Vernon News.
Police Department
DJ, a Mount Vernon Police Department K-9, continues his recovery from hemorrhagic gastroenteritis at home with Ofc. Matt Jones, Dzik said. A full recovery is expected.
Some fundraisers and other contributions from residents and the local VFW Post have helped fund DJ’s care at Complete Care Animal Hospital. Dr. Amanda Rogers said 24-hour care and blood transfusions were not inexpensive even with Complete Care donating a large portion of the care.
“DJ is a very dedicated member of our police force and regularly helps apprehend criminals and works tirelessly to keep drugs off of our streets,” she posted on Facebook.
Call 740-397-7146 to make a donation for DJ.
Engineering
The City is preparing for the Ohio Department of Transportation’s paving of State Route 3 — which is North Main Street — by changing out all the manholes in the area.
Single-lane traffic with flaggers can be expected.
Developer Joel Mazza continues work on the old middle school project on Mulberry Street, with all the brick on-site being ground into aggregates.
“The one thing that we have asked him ... to do is for the remaining structure — until they start working on it — we want to make sure that that structure is fenced out,” Dzik said.
Parks
The play structure at Hiawatha Water Park was repainted, and now new nets have been installed.
The Riverside Park fountain is back up and running after some repairs were made.
A backorder for a part has delayed mowing the terraces at Ariel-Foundation Park.
Weedeating has begun along the riverbank at the new viaduct underpass.
Streets
The pedestrian crossing lights at High and Gay and Chestnut and Gay Streets were replaced with LED lights.
The Streets Department does a lot of stormwater work in-house, including the installation of a new catch basin at Miller Avenue that should be completed this week, Dzik said. Weather last week delayed the work.
Beginning this week, Division and Pleasant streets’ traffic signal will be inoperable so that they can rewire the intersection, Public Works Director Tom Hinkle said. It has been in seasonal flashing mode since school let out.
The Streets Department also has assisted Mount Vernon’s communications vendor on maintenance of tornado sirens, he said. The City is responsible for maintaining the tornado sirens, so residents can report issues with them to City Hall.