MOUNT VERNON – The city will spend an estimated $600,000 to install structural steel shoring in the municipal parking garage to make it safe for local residents and city employees.
City Engineer Brian Ball told the Mount Vernon City Council at its Monday meeting that a structural inspection found significant safety deficiencies as several beams no longer were properly attached, according to a city consultant’s report.
“We felt it was an immediate … necessity to stop all public parking and all private vehicle parking in the garage for several weeks," he said.
An emergency contract was approved by City Council with Custom Cutters to make the repairs.
Since that time, Ball said Assistant City Engineer Quentin Platt led the charge in consulting with the city’s structural engineers and vendors on options. A temporary jack solution was discarded because the jacks would have to be rented and aren’t readily available. And they are difficult to get them attached and keep them in place if they are bumped.
By installing structural steel shoring, “we will be basically converting this concrete structure into a steel structure,” Ball said. “So we would be putting up the channel around the beams that we're concerned about bolted and welded in place so they couldn't be easily removed.”
A significant number of beams has started to fail. They only work if the steel tensioners installed with them are engaged, and he said engineers feel some of them are starting to release.
“This will give us assurances of safety. We're not going to just put one here and there. We're looking at a systematic approach to every spot where we have a concern,” he said.
This steel shoring will return more parking than the temporary jack solution would. The jack system would eliminate all parking on the bottom level.
This solution also adds life to the structure. Depending on which structural engineers are consulted, the city could gain 10, 15 or maybe even 20 years of life for the parking garage.
A financial study previously done by Auditor Terry Scott showed the city can’t afford to build a courthouse, parking garage and a police station all at the same time, Ball said. So the parking garage needs to be kept functional.
“We're looking at over 50 tons of steel. ... Approximately three-quarters of a mile of steel beams will be delivered and installed,” he said.
If the parking garage is torn down in the future, those steel beams can be unbolted and repurposed or sold, Ball said.
Scott said funding for the structural work will come from $450,000 initially designated for a salt barn and $170,000 in unappropriated funds.
City applying for $1.4 million in grants
The council approved an application for a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Neighborhood Revitalization Grant for a portion of the city’s 4th Ward, bounded by Belmont Avenue, James Street, Marcia Drive and Mansfield Avenue.
The grant will undertake playground improvements, park improvements, water lines, stormwater lines, sanitary sewer sidewalks and paving, Ball said. The city would need to match the grant by at least one to one, he said.
An application for the 2022 CDBG Critical Infrastructure Grant Program seeks up to $500,000 in funding to continue the work done at Catherine and Oak streets. It would pick up at Pine and continue up Catherine Street to Coshocton Avenue (U.S. 36), or three blocks.
“This project would include removing the brick street, replacing the road, replacing water, stormwater and sanitary sewer, new curb and gutter, a new sidewalk to our standards and hopefully buy us a really long life for the street,” he said.
The third application approved was for the 2022 CDBG Allocation Grant Program. In this project, the city would shift from the east side of Sandusky Street where it has completed work to the west side. It would be from Franklin Street to Norton Street. The city is eligible for up to $150,000 in funds in this program.
Courthouse property purchases continue
Law Director Rob Broeren updated City Council on the progress in the purchase of four parcels in downtown Mount Vernon on the northeast corner of Public Square for a future municipal courthouse and police headquarters.
He said the city purchased the building at 3 East Main St., closing on May 3, as reported in Wednesday’s Mount Vernon News.
That parcel, plus the parcel where the city’s Income Tax office and water billing office are located, will likely be where the city’s municipal courthouse will be built, Broeren said. Ball has begun preliminary discussions on the city’s needs and the building’s appearance with the architect that conducted the city’s needs analysis.
“It's going to be a new building. But it's likely to retain sort of historic facade, looking like what's there right now,” he said.
An agreement was signed with Joshua Strauss, who owns two parcels on East Chestnut that wraparound on North High Street, with the price locked in. Strauss wants to find new rental property first and use the proceeds from this purchase to roll it over with no tax consequences.
The final parcel of property that the council authorized the city to purchase was owned by Stephen and Carol Carpenter, which is home to a clock shop. They reached an agreement in principle, and the city sent the purchase agreement to the Carpenters.
These sales will close in no more than 120 days, Broeren said.
