MOUNT VERNON – City council will consider rehabilitating its east water treatment clarifier now that its west clarifier has been rehabilitated.
City Engineer Brian Ball told city council that the city shouldn’t plan to build two new clarifiers that would cost between $5 million and $10 million and take up to seven years to complete. Rehabilitation of this clarifier was budgeted at $325,000.
“We feel confident that if we rehabilitate the clarifier we have, hopefully, that gets us 10 to 15 years. Give us a little breathing room, helps us not jump into very high rate increases,” he said.
Putting this out to bid during this time of year with cold temperatures should bring lower bids, Ball said.
“We need to keep these things alive for a while. So, if we wait until they’re in catastrophic failure like the west clarifier was, then we’re putting ourselves in a tight spot,” he said.
Ball said Interim Utilities Director Aaron Reinhart has been working on the clarifiers and agrees with the plan.
The legislation was given its first of three readings.
Council President Bruce Hawkins asked the city administration to inform council committee chairs about the topic when a committee meeting is scheduled in their name.
Civil service administrator’s salary increased
The salary for Mount Vernon’s civil service administrator was increased to $16,000 annually for the part-time position.
Mount Vernon City Council voted to increase the pay for the position, which is held by Tony DeIuliis, because of his hard work and additional duties he is being asked to do.
“We’ve asked him to start getting constant lists together so that as soon as the vacancy is created, there’s already a list there to hire from and he has been very open to doing that,” Safety-Service Director Rick Dzik told council during its meeting on Tuesday. “I do think that's going to consume more of his time, he's going to be running a test at least every three months probably.”
Councilmember John Francis supported the legislation.
“Tony has got a huge dedication to what he does, and the compassion he has to do what he does. You can't pay enough money for that,” he said.
Councilmember Mike Hillier asked if the city was still looking to have the human resources director – a role now held by Denise Johnson – take over some of the civil service administrator’s duties.
Dzik said it’s hard to find HR administrators who have civil service experience, which is pretty unique to municipalities. Even county HR directors have never dealt with civil service, he said.
“A lot of what Denise is doing is learning Tony’s role. If Tony were to retire or leave one day, we will petition to civil service if what they want is to assign those duties to our HR director,” he said.
Councilmember Amber Keener asked to clarify that the person in this position gives tests for firefighters and police officers. Dzik said the position also covers utility and public works employees and promotional exams.
“So these are all positions that we’ve struggled to fill and the wage increase that we’re talking about for this position would put this individual between $15 and $16 an hour, working that 20 hours a week,” Keener said.
A 16-year-old working at Marshall’s can earn those same wages, she said.
Mayor Matthew Starr said the salary was determined through comparison to other municipalities in the city’s wage analysis assessment.
Accessible Harmony Playground restroom put out for bids
City council approved advertising for bids and entering into a contract for a handicap-accessible restroom at Harmony Playground, which itself is handicap accessible.
City Engineer Brian Ball said the building would include two family bathrooms and be heated for year-round use. It would be insulated. A computer-controlled locking system would assure that when the parks are closed, the doors would lock – reducing the chance of vandalism.
A $22,500 donation has been received for the restroom, he said. The city also has approximately $90,000 in its Community Foundation fund. The project will cost an estimated $180,000, including running water lines, sewer lines and electrical, and pouring a foundation.
City extends agreement with Knox Public Health
The city council authorized an extension of the city’s agreement with Knox Public Health to provide public health services for the city. The first contract was approved in March 1983 and the last was renewed on Jan. 1, 2020.
The city will contribute $61,900 in 2023 to the county, rising to $64,100 in 2024. In the third year, the city’s contribution will increase to $66,660.
.webp)
.webp)
