MOUNT VERNON – As April is Sexual Assault Awareness month, Mount Vernon has been working with New Directions of Knox County to help with the organization’s education and prevention campaigns.

“One in three women and nearly one in four men have experienced sexual assault in their lifetimes, usually involving physical contact,” Mayor Matt Starr said the Centers for Disease Control listed as national statistics.

The Mount Vernon Police Department tracks these types of calls for service. In the first quarter of 2022, the MVPD reported one sexual assault service call in January, two in February and one in March, he said.

“It is something that's real to the community,” Starr said. “And again, these are the only ones that we know of. These are the ones that were reported that we have received the calls for service, and that's just Mount Vernon.”

He said people wanting to learn more can visit the New Directions website at newdirectionsknox.org.

The police department will hire another officer as of May 17, which will bring the department to full staffing, he said.

“Looking at the first-quarter trends, we are seeing what we see every year once the warmer months begin to happen,” Starr said. “We see more calls for service.”

In January, there were 1,073 calls for service, followed by 1,138 in February and 1,240 in March. “That's pretty typical,” he said.

Engineering

Progress continues with the Clintonville area sewer and storm water work.

“I think we've wrapped the storm drains and are moving on to the sewer lines now,” Starr said.

Grass has been seeded and the contractor for the Oak and Catherine streets project has moved out. The contractor will return probably next month to put hot mix down on Potwin Street, and then the city will inspect the project.

The city has been meeting with contractors to put together pricing for repairs to the municipal parking garage. They hope to have those quotes this week, but they also need to get a handle on the supply chain for ordering supplies.

Work has started on the Columbus Road-South Main intersection project. Underground wiring was the first work being completed. Traffic lights, signage and a redo of pedestrian road markings will be completed as safety improvements.

After brick street repairs on North Gay Street, the street reopened to traffic, Starr said. But parking was prohibited between East Chestnut and East Sugar streets at least until the end of the day on Monday as contractors continued to work on curbs and gutters.

“I'm really thrilled with how well the Engineering Department, Utilities Department and Street Department are working together and made the very best of the situation, but it could have been potentially even far worse,” Starr said.

After pulling crews to work on the North Gay Street repairs, street cleaning fell behind. After cleaning Mulberry, North Main, Burgess, Pleasant and Lamartine streets on Monday and Tuesday, crews were shifting to Curtis and Elizabeth streets and to Mansfield Avenue and Prospect Street. Early Friday morning, downtown Mount Vernon streets were scheduled for street sweeping, he said.