MOUNT VERNON – Mayor Matt Starr said Mount Vernon is working with Food For The Hungry of Knox County on its annual drive on Friday, Dec. 9.
The food and funds collected by Food For The Hungry are distributed to local agencies that work firsthand with those needing food in the community, according to its organizers. The goal is $250,000, and as much food as can be collected.
Collection points on Friday will include the Knox Memorial Building from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Starr said that while the street will remain open, parking spaces will be occupied in front of it.
Other Mount Vernon collection points will operate from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., including Walmart, Aldi, Lowes, Bakers IGA, Lanning’s and Ohio Eastern Star/Gallagher Center.
The Village Market in Gambier, Red Rover Marathon in Howard/Apple Valley, BellStore in Fredericktown, and Hometown Markets in Danville and Centerburg will receive donations from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday.
Community members also can watch the live broadcast for Food For The Hungry online on MVNU.TV from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday or listen live on 1300WMVO and 100.9FM.
Inflation costs increasing Mount Vernon’s maintenance, fuel budgets
Rising fuel costs will require Mount Vernon’s administration to ask for more funds for vehicle maintenance.
The city’s utilities also have supply chain issues, with a 70-week waiting period for ductile iron waterline, Starr told the Mount Vernon News. These kinks in the supply chain have created issues with planning projects to enable utility crews to handle emergency water line breaks.
“We’ve got clamps, but you can only clamp a pipe so long before you have to cut out a section of the line and put it in and replace it,” he said.
The breaks seem to happen on the coldest days of the year or on a weekend or holiday when everybody is off work, he said.
“Like par for the course, so we can almost count on that,” he said.
The city is not expecting prices to go down and reduce its costs.
“We'll continue to look for ways to save and try to get things in bulk as much as possible and do whatever we can procurement-wise to stretch those precious tax dollars and those utility dollars as far as we can,” Starr said.
Engineering Department collects data for rerouting project
The Engineering Department is collecting geotechnical samples in preparation for the state Route 13 rerouting project. Samples were collected on Thursday and Friday on Phillips Drive, South Main Street and Sandusky Street, Starr said.
Design engineers will examine the information gained from the geotechnical samples to plan the project, he said.
Contractors also have been working in the Clintonville area to correct some issues found by using camera footage in the pipes and other means.
The Engineering Department also has been working with other departments on budgeting engineering work for its projects.
Manholes made safe for snowplows
The contractor also will return to finish up work on manholes and water valve adjustments as part of the citywide paving project, Starr said. A concrete apron will be installed around the manhole covers, so they don’t get covered by pavement and to make it safe for snowplows.
As of Friday, the Street Department had collected 214 loads of leads. The crews were cleaning out the trucks in the shop. They also were making the trucks ready for the snow season.
Some of the vehicles will not be in operation this week after leaf collections, so they will be taken apart and serviced, getting an oil change, filters and maintenance. Crews will be busy in the garage when they're not out for snow removal or doing street maintenance.
November fire, police calls
The Mount Vernon Fire Department answered 547 calls for service during November for all coverage areas, including the city, townships and village, plus Kenyon College. Starr said 86% of the calls were for emergency medical service and 14% for fire.
Calls to the Police Department were down in November compared to previous months, with 1,179 total calls. In October, there were 1,331 calls, September recorded 1,336 calls and August had 1,369 calls. June was the highest month for calls, with 1,436.
From the November calls, 42 arrests were made and 136 traffic citations were issued during 321 traffic stops. Starr said 220 calls were handled by the Police Department’s community advocate, including those for disturbances, domestic violence and drugs.
