MOUNT VERNON – The Two Unit of the Mount Vernon Fire Department received a Lifesaver Award for their response to a residential structure fire call on Aug. 16.
The structure fire had flames and smoke showing when firefighters arrived. Shortly after their arrival, the incident commander discovered it was a multi-unit apartment building with several trapped victims, Mayor Matt Starr told the Mount Vernon News.
“We had a trapped victim located in heavy smoke conditions, and it was a rapidly declining state,” he said. “The victim was removed within 4 minutes of the crew’s arrival.”
Starr said the Two Unit’s ability to perform together as a unit under extreme conditions and pressure lead to their lifesaving performance award.
Fire Department Lt. Benjamin Harrod issued the commendation.
The Mount Vernon Police Department helped at the scene.
Stormwater, traffic lights
The Street Department finished the Sunset Street stormwater project.
Crews also began conflict monitoring testing for all traffic signals.
“All intersections are going to be tested just to make sure that we can we don't have green going at both sides of the crossing routes, so we've got to do testing of that periodically,” Starr said.
Some asphalting for some of the digs needed from utility work has been completed.
The Street Department also continues to use the arm mower to cut grass at berms, trenches and ditches.
The city should take delivery of a new street sweeper, which was budgeted last year, on Thursday.
Safer playgrounds
The Parks Department continues to transition playground areas to make them safer.
"We have removed the old railroad ties and replaced them with more and more of the plastic border rather than the railroad ties. Obviously, it's a lot safer. You don't get splinters and it doesn't decay," Starr said.
A $262,000 federal grant awarded through the Central Ohio Rural Planning Organization will be put to use on the South Sandusky Street corridor project. Survey and geotechnical work will be done first, he said. GPD Design of Cleveland will be the lead firm in the program.
Depending on the weather, the city’s contractor was to work on replacing the island at the South Main Street/Columbus Road intersection. A traffic signal post was installed at the island and it had to be excavated.
Traffic was still able to move through the intersection during the work, but motorists were expected to slow down and consider alternate ways to get to their destinations.
A contract for traffic signal work at two intersections: Mansfield Avenue at Belmont Avenue and Mansfield at Nash Street/Nuce Road.
“You can see that the current intersection, it's got the old stop hanging from wires,” Starr said.
Gravity has been pulling down and the old wooden posts have been bending. Some taller trucks going through the intersection have collided with the traffic signal.
In September, the city hopes to go pretty hard on curb and gutter work, he said. They also will start raising the manhole and water valve covers on newly paved roads. Each will have a concrete apron around them and the manhole will be flat and in line with the pavement.
“In the past, we've had our manholes completely covered and it took us a while to locate,” he said.
Bicycle trails
Starr attended a Trail Towns meeting produced by the Middle Ohio Regional Planning Commission. Four cities are working to define what a trail town is. The area has 230 miles of bike trails now, and the plan is to increase that to more than 500 miles of trails connecting the entire region.
With the completion of the Ohio to Erie Trail, some cyclists are tapping their bikes’ back tires in the Ohio River before cycling to Lake Erie. Once there they tap their bikes’ front tires into the lake.
The bike trail towns want to tap into that potential for tourism dollars spent by cyclists when they stop in town.
