MOUNT VERNON – A development proposal for 110 lots on approximately 72 acres along Upper Gilchrist Road was approved by the Mount Vernon City Council at its Monday meeting.
Schlabach Builders of Millbersburg plans to start with 22 homes. The city is expected to manage the stormwater system, including detention areas. Homeowners will have payments tied to deeds for their lots to make sure the city gets its required fees, Law Director Rob Broeren said.
“While there hasn't been a lot of housing development in Mount Vernon, in Knox County lately, developers are watching what happens here,” Jeffrey Gottke, president of the Knox County Area Development Foundation, told the council.
Other developers will come as the concept is proven if the city providers a smooth, orderly and transparent process, he said.
Lifeguards get pay raise
Mount Vernon has struggled to get enough lifeguards to work at Hiawatha Water Park, Recreation Board Director Jerry Clinger told the council. When the city started actively recruiting lifeguards to work this season, their “worst nightmare unfolded,” he said. Only 13 veteran lifeguards returned.
Since then, his wife, Joy Clinger, manager of Hiawatha Park/Pool, has brought the total up to 45.
Some former lifeguards said other jobs pay more without having to pay $100 for training.
The council approved a 50 cents per hour pay increase to all lifeguards.
Pay will range from $9.45 for the least experienced lifeguards to $10.95 an hour for head lifeguards.
Council OKs federal grant application
The city council approved the application for up to $750,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds in the Residential Public Infrastructure Grant Program (RPIG). The Ohio Development Services Agency administers funds in the RPIG program only to projects that provide safe and reliable drinking water and proper disposal of sanitary waste primarily for residential users.
The city plans to use the funds in the Northview area and a section of North Sandusky Street, City Engineer Brian Ball said. The city provides water and sewer services to 39 homes in Clinton Township, 19 of which are not connected to sewer.
“If you are driving on Sandusky Street and you see water running down the road, that is sewage. There are three houses currently discharging sewage directly into the ditch,” Ball said.
He said many of these properties are too small to install a full service septic tank. Of the 19 homes that need to connect to the city’s sewer lines, 13 qualified for funding through the grant. The other homes would need to pay the city’s $1,010 fee. Ball said that charge is cheaper than repairing a septic system.
The city already has a water line project to replace failing and inadequate lines. Ball said the city intends to use the work on this project as the match for funds to get the CDBG grant.
The council approved submitting the application for the grant funds. If the application is approved, Ball will again appear before the council, which will then decide if it wants to accept the grant.
