The Knox County Land Bank will take the lead on the $33,325 North Norton Street improvement project that will fix unstable ground to enable traffic to flow out of Heartland Commerce Park.
Safety Service Director Tanner Salyers explained the importance of defining responsibilities in the partnership:
"We try to avoid the handshake deals anymore, so we just want to make sure that we've identified what we're doing, because some of this is public property and then some of this is the private property, that's Heartland Commerce Park, that's Land Bank," Salyers said at the Mount Vernon City Council's May 26 meeting. "So we want to distinguish what we would be doing, what they would be doing, as this joint partnership moves forward."
According to City Engineer Brian Ball, after the project was bid out and awarded to Palmer & Son Excavating of Smithville, Ohio, the Knox Land Bank chose to run the improvement project. The city will provide the Land Bank with its $250,000 for the project, while the Land Bank will contribute $86,325 toward the contract cost.
According to a joint agreement attached to Mount Vernon City Council's May 26 agenda, Palmer & Son will complete aqueduct replacement within a portion of vacated North Norton Street to address unstable ground. The project includes improvements to city-owned infrastructure such as water lines, wastewater systems, and street surfaces. Part of the contract is located within Chestnut Street and falls under city responsibility. The Land Bank will cover costs for non-city-owned infrastructure, while additional costs for work on city infrastructure remain with Mount Vernon. According to council documents, the Land Bank will manage plugging four sanitary laterals under an aqueduct at the direction of the Knox County Board of Commissioners. It will coordinate utility relocations requiring permits and handle any related costs or delays within Heartland Commerce Park. The Land Bank is also responsible for providing a disposal area for excavation material and paving its own property.
The city will oversee work within its right-of-way, including design and engineering services as well as construction inspection services. Final as-built drawings for all improvements are required from Mount Vernon. Smoke testing will be performed during construction to identify leaks or defects in connections. No change orders can be made without written approval from both parties.
