MOUNT VERNON – Mayor Matt Starr and other Mount Vernon officials joined the Knox County Chamber of Commerce in welcoming Fashion & Home by FC to Knox Village Square on July 22.
The clothing and home decor store’s grand opening was at 1548 Coshocton Ave.
“They've got clothing on one side, and they've got home decor on the other side. Really, really cool spot,” Starr told the Mount Vernon News.
Parks Department cleans up tree, trash
The Parks Department spent a night cleaning up after the most recent storm.
“We got rain dumped on it, really, really quite a bit, and we only had one tree that was down and that was on South Main Street,” Starr said.
A crew was brought in around 10:30 p.m. to remove the tree from the road. Some other branches were down, but damage was minor compared to the last storm, he said.
“We dug out and removed the old wooden mulch in a playground area at Riverside Park and put in the new rubber mulch,” he said. “Obviously safer, there are no splinters that kids can get from them.”
The city plans to replace the wooden mulch in all park play areas with rubber mulch.
An unknown person evidently tried to help the city clean up an area where canoes launch at Riverside Park. A trash can at the site was overflowing with trash, but it did not belong to the city or the county.
“Somebody else had put this trash can there, and no one knew to dump this or to empty it. So we removed that,” Starr said.
The city replaced the trash can with its own, and the Parks Department will empty it twice a week.
The Parks Department has 110 trash barrels emptied twice a week, every Monday and Friday, he said.
Utilities Department deals with lime, phosphorous
The city should wrap up lime removal in the coming weeks. Any farmers still interested in receiving free lime should call the city’s Utility Office.
Progress continues at the wastewater treatment plant to remove phosphorus from the city's wastewater.
“We're looking into some steps to take care of the long term, we're looking at our process,” Starr said.
Mount Vernon is working with its engineering partners to develop a plan that both saves the city money while also protecting the Kokosing River for many years to come, he said.
Strategic Planning receives funding
The Ariel Foundation provided funds for the second stage of Mount Vernon’s strategic planning, Starr said.
“We want to make sure to thank the Ariel Foundation for their support in keeping the city moving forward and … moving in the direction that we all need to move,” he said.
During Phase 1 of strategic planning, the city defined its mission, vision, values and guiding principles. Now, Phase 2 involves goal setting, the mayor said, which will help the city prioritize projects favored by community stakeholders. It won’t just be a project checklist.
Fire, police and EMS protection and response are among the key priorities. Others include utility infrastructure and transportation infrastructure (roads, sidewalks, multi-use paths and bike paths). Economic development rounds out the list.
“Looking also at our mission and looking at our guiding principles, what does it mean to the utilities department in terms of what projects are going to move the dial to make sure that we're going to be planning for the future?” Starr said.
Parking garage steel galvanized
The city is taking an extra step with the steel being used to shore up the parking garage. The steel will be galvanized, offering rust and corrosion prevention. The installation should begin this week.
Summer paving starts in school zone
Summer paving will begin soon, though it might not be this week, Starr said. The next streets on the list will be Pleasant and McKinley streets.
“Obviously we want to do that first because it's in the school zone and we want to make sure we're well out of the way by the time school comes around,” he said.
