Hiawatha Water Park will close for the season after Wednesday, Aug. 17, and won’t reopen until May 2023.
“It's been a very good season and so we will hear from the waterpark personnel later on this summer on how it went with statistics and everything,” Mayor Matt Starr told the Mount Vernon News.
City officials meet with Ohio EPA
City Engineer Brian Ball and Public Utilities Director Tom Marshall met with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 11 about the city’s lime sludge project in what Starr said was a productive meeting.
“They’re going to continue to monitor the situation, and we will comply with whatever they want,” he said. “But right now, everything is going very well.”
Numerous farmers have signed up to receive the lime for fertilizer, he said, and many have begun collecting it, with one farmer having taken 500 tons so far.
“Then there will continue to be others who will come and get it as long as it’s there,” Starr said.
The city’s beneficial use permit only allows for agronomic, or farming, use. So the city is asking the Ohio EPA what permit is necessary so that the Ariel-Foundation Park can accept truckloads of the lime for use in the park, he said.
Street paving work done before school year
Street paving continued to progress on schedule. Pleasant Street was completed, along with West Gambier Street. The area of Marion Avenue where water digs were made also has been completed. On Friday, crews were on Pearl Street finishing paving in Clintonville, where the sewer and stormwater work was completed.
“So that I'm sure that that will help reduce the amount of dust that’s been in that neighborhood. It's been quite a bit,” Starr said.
Right-of-way moving continues throughout the city. The recent stormwater project involved getting curbs and gutters installed. And the intersection of Gilchrist Road and Yaga Road was painted.
Motorists probably noticed school zone flashers were turned on Friday.
“Even though people are not in school, we want motorists to get used to them being on,” Starr said.
