MOUNT VERNON – During a recent interview with the Mount Vernon News, Mayor Matt Starr discussed a meeting among area officials and business leaders in which the Area Development Foundation presented “Semiconductor Manufacturing 101.”
Intel’s announcement to build and move operations into neighboring Licking County has local officials wanting to understand what is involved with semiconductors, he said. They want to know what that means in terms of the supply chain, technology, “in terms of everything pretty much,” the mayor said.
Robert Davis, former director for the Ohio State University Nanotech West Lab, gave the presentation at the Knox Technical Center, telling them about the semiconductor fabrication process. He also explained what Intel will bring with it, including supporting companies.
“Pretty much Intel isn't going to care where they're going to live, if they're going to be in Franklin County, Licking County and Knox County or wherever, as long as they're going to be around here,” Starr said.
“What he said was that there's a $20 billion investment that Intel was making here. And he said 10% of that is going to be is going to go into the building itself. The rest is going to go into the tooling,” he said.
Fire Department identifies, clears hazards on Kokosing River
The city's Fire Department took a trip down the Kokosing River to make it safer for travel and to identify future access points for emergency situations
Starting at Riverside Park and ending at the Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge, fire department personnel concentrated on identifying tree hazards, Starr said.
“They did their best to clear the debris, making it safer for consumers, kayakers and tubers to enjoy the river for the upcoming hot summer months,” he said.
Another reason the fire crews traveled down the river was to learn about entry points and any other hazards in case an emergency arises.
“Not all of the hazards … were able to get cleared out,” he said. “They did their best given the constraints of the landscaping and the terrain and water.”
Paving, intersection projects resume
North Sandusky Street paving continued last week as the city completed a project that crews had waited to finish last year. Starr said crews ran out of time when hot mix asphalt plants closed before paving could be completed.
“So we knew we're going to have to come back and finish that up,” he said.
The city also has a one-block stretch of East Chestnut Street to pave behind City Hall, but that probably will not happen until July. That is not an Ohio Department of Transportation project, it’s a city project, he said. And it uses different asphalt.
Greenwich Electric, the contractor on the Columbus Road-South Main Street intersection project, spoke with the contractor that removed the fuel tank found buried under the middle of the intersection. Terracom should have gotten results from soil testing by Tuesday.
“After removing the fuel tank, we had to just make sure that the soil is not contaminated or anything like that,” Starr said.
Based on the city’s conversation with Greenwich, work should resume pouring the remaining traffic signal foundation this week, he said.
Hiawatha Water Park opens on Memorial Day weekend
Starr said he was very happy to announce that Hiawatha Waterpark passed its Knox County Health Department inspection in time for opening day last Saturday.
Swimming lessons were canceled this summer due to a shortage of lifeguards. Pool hours are from noon to 7 p.m. daily.
