MOUNT VERNON – City Councilmember Amber Keener said that Mount Vernon is looking to contract for the operations of Hiawatha Water Park and not sell the pool.
“This is not selling the pool,” she said during a city council meeting on Feb. 13. “This is simply contracting out just as we do for mowing in the city parks and that type of thing.”
Safety Services Director Rick Dzik said the city got bids from two companies that have different staff pay rates and only one plans to supply pool chemicals.
“I know we already lost one manager to the country club because of uncertainty about what the future was,” Councilmember John Francis said.
Francis said a pool manager told him that all pool personnel were let go.
“That might be a confusion because we are doing this process,” Keener said.
Water treatment plant gets automated controls installed
City engineering consultant Emily Platt said authorization was being sought for a three-year sole source contract with GrayMatter Systems to update control systems in the water treatment plant.
Platt said she spoke to water treatment plant operator Dave Hall about the work, who anticipates continued cost savings because city water plant operators will do most of the installation.
Councilmember Mike Hillier said this goes back to 1999 when the city couldn’t afford the project, so they cut plant features.
“And I knew in time that this would all come back to haunt us,” he said.
Projects will keep stormwater out of sewer lines
Richland Engineering will perform survey and design services for the Dan Emmett Neighborhood Community Development Block Grant. Platt told the city council the company’s conceptual work helped the city get the grant.
Work will be completed along Nuce Road, Marma and Northgate and Marma and Nuce on sewer and water lines, with some sidewalk, curb and gutter work planned.
The design should be completed by the end of the year with construction starting in 2024, she said.
This area qualified for CDBG funding. Platt confirmed for Hillier that the work was to alleviate stormwater runoff.
Another project is phase three of the Clintonville sanitary and storm sewer project, Platt said, which is needed to meet an Ohio EPA mandate.
“Please keep in mind that the EPA mandate to have our sanitary sewer overflow eliminated is due Sept. 1 of this year,” she said. “Almost everyone's basement floor drains are connected to the sanitary. A lot of washers are going into that and utility sinks and then the roof drains. They’re all going into sanitary.”
Citywide transportation plan required for grant applications
Glaus, Pyle, Schomer, Burns & DeHaven, Inc. was contracted to create a citywide transportation plan, taking all the ideas that have been floating around and then analyzing them based on current crash and congestion data, Platt said.
Dzik said this plan will be the bedrock for many grant applications.
Ariel Foundation Park receives Statue of Liberty replica
The Ariel Foundation donated a 9-foot-tall Statue of Liberty replica for installation at the CA&C Depot. A grant was included to cover the cost of placement and future maintenance.
“We wanted that particular green space to be the gateway to our community,” Keener said. “It is the center for walking paths and bike paths. Our viaduct goes right across there. So this will be a major focal point for that area.”
New purchase will replace 30-year-old dump truck
Council approved the purchase of a dump truck for the Water Department to replace one that is more than 30 years old, Dzik said.
The distribution collections crew checked dealerships and found a dump truck that was available because another organization canceled its order, which he said was a rarity. The city will sell the 1991 dump truck it is replacing as surplus.
City council also approved purchases for the Public Works Department that included 2.5-ton and 1-ton dump trucks with snow packages, a leaf vacuum machine, video surveillance equipment for city parks and parking garage sweeper.
.webp)
.webp)
