MOUNT VERNON – Public Works Director Tom Hinkle said the Parks Department made significant repairs to restrooms at Hiawatha, Phillips and Dan Emmett parks, which were vandalized.
Two sinks and one of the few remaining porcelain toilets were busted at Dan Emmett Park. He said they ripped the sinks right out of the wall. The restroom had to be shut for about 24 hours for repairs, but it’s fixed and has reopened.
“Somebody went into our Phillips bathrooms and removed water lines and left the water running,” Hinkle said. This vandalism required tools, he said.
He said the Mount Vernon Police Department is helping patrol in the evenings at the parks, which are open until 11 p.m. at this time of year. The city also wants to reach out to the community to get people to keep their eyes open and report anything suspicious they might see at city park restrooms or playgrounds or if they want to help at the parks.
Mayor Matt Starr said charges were made against three juveniles for vandalism at the Hiawatha pool house. In that case, he is preparing a victim’s statement on behalf of the city.
The Parks Department has completed improvements to the Babe Ruth field and other ballfield fences throughout city parks. Those fences had come loose from posts, as had backstop netting.
Hinkle said the old Hiawatha Park swing had been removed. The new playground equipment was incorporated into the border and mulch area around the only playground equipment left, the merry-go-round. However, the mount for it broke on Tuesday, so it is being repaired and will be reset after the welding is finished.
Old swings from Memorial Park were removed. New swings were already installed.
At Riverside Park, a crew was installing border and rubber mulch around the tall slide, which he said didn’t have anything around it before.
Now that the city has had rain, it is back on schedule with mowing.
The sinkhole and storm sewers fixed
Repairs were made where a sinkhole at Crestview and Northridge formed that was caused by a broken stormwater tile. They also fixed a storm sewer in front of the Agora Water Plant and cleaned the detention pond.
A tree that fell and blocked traffic at Clinton and Pearl was cleaned up, requiring overtime because of the need to reopen the road.
Mount Vernon is a Bee City, and now Bee City USA signs have been installed around the city to call attention to that designation.
Youth and families invited to Ohio Scenic Rivers programs
Mount Vernon will again participate in the Ohio Scenic Rivers program with three scheduled Kokosing River events starting today at 2 p.m. at Knox Park District’s Lower Gambier Road River Access.
City Engineer Brian Ball said the youth-oriented event would educate children and families about the importance of the river. They will explore the types of fish, macroinvertebrates and wildlife in the river. It will cover how to tell whether it is a good or low-quality river.
Other local events in the program include a session at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 22, at Riverside Park and a 6:30 p.m. event on Aug. 18 at the Brown Family Environmental Center at 9781 Laymon Road in Gambier.
The City Council appropriated $130,500 in funds donated for a handicap-accessible family restroom at Memorial Park. City Engineer Brian Ball said the project was combined in a bid request for the city’s stormwater improvement project because both have concrete as the primary material. Bids were opened in April for the projects. The $833,704 contract will be awarded to Smith Paving & Excavating of Norwalk, Ohio.
Ball said donations for the restroom exceeded expectations, with perhaps 50% of donations and the other half funded by the city.
The Engineering Department also is working on plans to improve the Center and High streets intersection, which is brick and concrete. “It’s pretty rough on your car traveling north to south,” he said.
An EPA mandate that followed lead poisoning problems in Flint, Michigan, is being felt in Mount Vernon. The EPA requires that the city census all water meters in the city, the pipes leading to them from the city and the customers’ lines from the meters to their houses.
“It is not a small task,” Ball said.
Utilities Department fixing equipment in house
Starr said Utilities Director Aaron Rinehart and staff have met with a consultant to create a modeling plan for phosphorous removal at the sewer plant.
Wastewater Superintendent Sherry Fair has been streamlining the lab operations and training staff on its procedures. She also is digging into the fats, oil and grease program with the Health Department.
A major milestone was regaining the use of half of the re-carbonation basin. This will allow the installation of CO2 panels at the water plant. Assistant Utilities Director Joshua Beltz and his crews have significantly advanced work needed at the water plant, Starr said. His team dug up stuck valves at the basin and rebuilt the gearboxes so the valves could open and close and the panel could be used.
“We’re really happy with how our Utilities departments are all starting to gel and like all pistons are firing right now,” he said.
Ball said it’s been a milestone with Safety-Service Director Rick Dzik, Starr and Hinkle working on the new union contract that enables city employees to make these repairs and upgrades rather than having an outside company contracted to do it.
Starr said more employees are earning new certifications and licenses to advance their skills.
Ball said that at times in the past, employees were called to work when sick because no one else could handle an emergency.
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