Aaron Reinhart began working as Mount Vernon's interim utilities director on Dec. 19.
He replaced Tom Marshall, who resigned from the permanent position early in December.
Reinhart began working in waterworks utilities in the 1990s across north-central Ohio. He served as water treatment plant manager for the village of Crestline in Crawford County. He served as operations supervisor for Mansfield's water treatment plant from 2017 to 2019 and as a water and sewer operator in the village of Lexington.
Reinhart also holds the title of assistant director of public utilities. He is a native of Seneca and owns Aaron Reinhart and Sons Woodworking, LLC in Lexington.
Reinhart serves as the chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals in Troy Township in Richland County and is the presiding judge of the Richland County Board of Elections.
He and his wife, Alisa, have been married for 25 years and have three grown children – Darron, Devon, and Darcie.
Repair work on second clarifier continues
Work continues on getting clarifier one in operation at the treatment plant, Mayor Matt Starr said.
"Again, it's very important for us to have unnecessary redundancy out there, and it had been not functioning for two years," he said.
The city is running multiple tests to make sure it is ready to operate.
"Because after about three or four months, we want to shut down the other one – the one that's currently working – and do some maintenance work on that," he said.
They will not shut down the working clarifier until the repaired clarifier has been thoroughly tested.
This project is one of the first things that Reinhart worked on, Starr said.
Check on neighbors with freezing temperatures
The Mount Vernon Fire Department urges people to check on their neighbors – especially if they are elderly – due to freezing temperatures, Starr told Mount Vernon News.
Residents who use an alternative heating source such as an electric or kerosene heater are advised to keep combustibles at least three feet away, he said. Electric heaters should be plugged directly into a wall outlet.
"Lastly, when you use a wood burner, make sure you remove the ashes in a metal container and place the ashes of [sic] a safe place far away from any structures," he said.
Hornsby sworn in as Fire Captain
The fire department swore in Patrick Hornsby as its newest captain. He replaces Capt. Joe Jerkowitz, who retired, Starr said.
"One of the things I think was interesting to note about our three fire captains is that Josh Lester, Trevor Williams, and Patrick Hornsby all started at the same time. They were in the same recruiting class in 2007," he said.
Street resurfacing bids sought
The city is preparing for its next street resurfacing bid, which will be sent out for proposals this week.
The work will include Commerce Drive from Newark Road, all the way to the dead end; the fire station parking lot along Ohio Avenue and Sandusky Street; and Industrial Park Drive from Commerce Drive to State Route 661.
"That's going to be a complete reconstruction," Starr said about Plaza Drive from Vernon View Drive to the dead end. "It's not just a layer of asphalt that's chip and seal, but it’s going to be stormwater, it's going to be curb and gutter, it's going to [be] complete reconstruction over there."
The resurfacing also will include Progress Drive from Newark Road to Commerce Drive and Dixie Drive from Newark Road to the dead end, he said.
Parking garage inspections begin
Inspection of the parking garage's first floor was cleared.
"We're still not able to park in here because of the last bit of work to be done on the third floor," Starr said. "And we are expecting the inspector to show up next week to go through that to make sure we're ready to open it up."
Re-striping will need to wait until warmer weather, but that will just take a day or so to complete, he said.
