MOUNT VERNON – The Knox Area Development Foundation returns $183 for every dollar it spends on development, generating a large financial impact for the community, Mayor Matt Starr said.
The foundation recently held its annual dinner for investors, according to the mayor, a member its board of directors.
“A lot of that has to do with sites, getting sites ready, site improvements and so forth,” Starr told the Mount Vernon News. “So that's good news for our community.”
Cooper Progress Park is the city’s ground zero for economic development, he said. The Area Development Foundation, through the Land Bank, is waiting on deeds from Schlumberger to continue sales.
“We're still waiting on that but we have assurances from them that we will get it,” he said.
Schlumberger planned more environmental study to assure the site did not need additional remediation.
The Land Bank also has a strong return on investment, with $26 returned for every dollar invested, Starr said.
People buy homes from the Land Bank and renovate them as their home or flip them as an investment, he said.
“Neighbors are investing in our homes also. As such, property values are going up and so that's resulting in higher property taxes to the tax allocations to the county so that's good,” Starr said.
Knox County’s unemployment rate falls below both the state and the nation. At 2.9% the county jobless rate is less than Ohio’s 4.5% rate and even below the U.S. rate of 3.9%.
“We do have 62% of the citizens working in Knox County,” he said, slightly above the national average.
Weather slows work
The Clintonville storm water and wastewater project along Grange, Fern and Pearl streets has been held up by the weather, Starr said. Once it’s possible to start digging, the project will resume.
“This is a project that can be done in the winter, though, so we don't need hot mix asphalt to do anything with this. We just still get in and dig with machines,” he said.
Online water bill payments
Mount Vernon’s water billing office was scheduled to begin using its new software, enabling utility customers to do more online transactions.
“We anticipate the rolling out of the new public portal for payment on Feb. 22,” Starr said.
He said the administration appreciates City Council’s approval of the expenditures for the software that furthers the city’s e-government capabilities.
Training on ice
Firefighters took part in an in-house ice training session at Ariel-Foundation Park, Mount Vernon Fire Chief Chad Christopher said.
Starr said the department trains on the ice every year.
“It lets us know how good our equipment is, and it lets us know if there are any leaks in our suits,” he said.
