MOUNT VERNON – Repairs to sunken bricks on North Gay Street turned out to be a much bigger problem than a pothole, Mayor Matt Starr said.
City crews discovered that the bricks had been sinking because the roadbed was saturated with groundwater. An under drain was installed to remedy the sinking area, Starr told the Mount Vernon News. Workers had to dig up brick and dig down in a 40-foot by 11-foot area.
“We could never really determine the source of water, but it was not chlorinated. So whether or not it was city water, we can't conclusively say without relatively digging up the entire block and beyond probably. So right now we're just going to take care of that sink area,” he said.
Rain kept the city from pouring concrete until this week, with brick replacement to follow.
Starr said, “You never know what you're going to get into particularly on these brick streets until you start digging.” And it’s never simple.
He said that the Street, Engineering, and Utilities departments worked well together at problem solving.
Parking garage remains closed
The city hopes to hire a contractor this week to install braces to help supports in the parking garage. However, Starr said, it probably will take four or five weeks for delivery of those materials.
The city’s consultant on the parking garage, American Structurepoint, had not delivered its report to the city yet, he said. But it had recommended the braces.
Employment law for supervisors
The city kicked off its next sessions of supervisory training by gathering 42 department heads, supervisors and the mayor for employment law training.
Attorney Jonathan Downes made the presentation on March 23, Starr said. Downes is an OSBA certified specialist in labor and employment law.
“He presented with practical advice for supervisors to navigate the challenging waters of employment law which include the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act), ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act),” Starr said.
When the city started its supervisory training, labor law was the first thing discussed, but that session didn’t go in depth like this latest presentation, he said.
Retiring employees
Human Resources director Maurine Perry announced that Lisa Keener, a clerk for the water billing office, will retire on March 31. She joined the city on March 20, 2000, and recently celebrated her 22nd anniversary with the city.
She is the second city employee to plan retirement, with Fire Capt. Joe Spurgeon’s last official day on April 2, after 23 years and seven months with Mount Vernon.
Financial reporting earns honors
Mount Vernon earned a Certification for Achievement of Excellence in Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association, which was the 25th consecutive award the city has received.
“This is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and finance reporting,” Starr said. “Obviously, our city auditor, Terry Scott, is at the helm of that reporting. He has done just an outstanding job.”
Parks switching to summer hours
The city parks officially switch from winter to summer hours on Monday, April 4.
“That means that we'll provide additional trash cans placed throughout the parks next week. We really encourage the citizens to help us keep the parks clean and only use the parks’ trash cans for trash generate within the parks,” Starr said. “We really don't allow any dumping or household trash.”
Bathrooms will not open at that time, but they will open as the weather allows, he said. That announcement will be made via social media.
Trail-palooza this June
Mount Vernon is working with the Knox County Parks Department, the Knox County Chamber of Commerce, Knox Mobility Management and Knox Area Transit to put together a celebration of park trails on Saturday, June 25.
The Trail-palooza will be held at the CNC Depot, which is the trailhead for both the Kokosing Gap Trail and the Heart of Ohio Trail, Starr said.
A ribbon cutting will be held that same day in Licking County, where the final piece of the Ohio to Erie Trail will come together.
