Mayor Matt Starr and Assistant City Engineer Quentin Platt participated in a workshop on sustainable community development hosted by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) at Buckeye Lake State Park on Tuesday.
Starr said an interesting aspect of the workshop was that they heard from the Village of Buckeye Lake about a project that affected three counties – Licking, Perry and Fairfield.
Major repairs were started on the dam in 2016.
“They spent two and a half years repairing the immediate needs, and it has resulted in a lot of development and a lot of investment in the area as well,” Starr said.
He said they’ve experienced a lot of growth and have begun even more strategic planning.
Starr said he and Platt heard from MORPC representatives, including Executive Director William Murdock, Kerstin Carr, the chief regional strategy officer and senior director of planning,
During the session, which covered population growth and innovation, Starr and Platt were told that, by 2050, the central Ohio region is expected to grow by more than 700,000 people.
“That’s a significant growth pattern, but look at our history. We’ve done it before,” Starr said.
Things must be done differently, including making Mount Vernon’s zoning code more relevant. Starr said the city and region also must discuss the importance of having different types of housing.
“Really, what was very important to me that I wrote down is, housing diversity is not only diverse types of housing but also income types of housing as well,” he said.
The discussion will be about workforce housing, because so much is being invested in commercial and industrial development.
“We are going to need the workforce. And people are wanting to come here, and we need to have places for them to live," Starr said. "For me it again, it reinforces the notion that we need to be thinking regionally, not just in our neck of the woods."
Hydrant painting begins
Residents in the south side of town should already see fire hydrants being painted in the Ohio Means Jobs programs for younger adults.
“They work with a supervisor, and then also with supervisors from our Water Department, and they're canvassing the city,” Fire Chief Chad Christopher said. “They’re making sure our fire hydrants are looking nice and pretty and have a pretty red painting to them.”
Residents passing the fire station may notice the upper white portion of the brick has been painted. Christopher said that probably hadn’t been done since the fire station was constructed in 2000.
Firefighters complete probationary period
All of the firefighters hired through the SAFER grant have completed their training and initial probationary period, moving them to count toward manpower in the Fire Department, he said.
Two full-time personnel just started medic school, which will be completed around June 2024.
Heat increases need for fans
The Fire Department still needs donations of fans so seniors and other families suffering from the heat can get some relief, Christopher said. So far 13 fans have been donated, “which, the last couple of weeks, I am sure have come in very handy to quite a few families,” he said.
Stop skateboarding on Public Square
Police Chief Robert Morgan said his department has been getting many complaints about skateboarding and bike riding that have made things unsafe around the Public Square. Young people also have been skateboarding in the parking garage, and an increase in vandalism has occurred there.
“We need to let everybody know that skateboarding and rollerblading and that type of stuff is not allowed on the Public Square and around the city parking garage,” Morgan said.
Vandalism has dropped off a little bit in city parks, but Morgan still asked for residents to report anything they’ve seen.
“We have done some investigation and we have got some people charged with vandalizing our parks, and if they get caught they’re going to get charged,” he said.
Two different cases are going to court, Starr said. One involves three people and the other an individual. The city is preparing a victim’s impact statement for both cases so it can recoup some of the costs stemming from the vandalism.
PAK United goes metal (detecting)
The PAK United program will hold a metal-detecting event on Aug. 3. A local metal detectors club will take kids out to see what they can find, Morgan said.
The Police Department is gearing up for the school year, with school starting on Aug. 16 at the career center and the next day for regular school. Traffic enforcement officers will be in school safety zones as buses run and kids are walking to school, he said.
