MOUNT VERNON — City Council settled some unfinished business on Monday, passing legislation adopting a $34.7 million budget for fiscal year 2008.
Last Tuesday, council gathered to work on the budget and reached a general consensus on spending. Before voting on Monday, council had to make a few additional decisions. Members discussed funding to help implement a 2-1-1 phone service in Knox County, which can link individuals in need of human services such as child care or behavioral health care with the appropriate organization.
In December, the executive director of Pathways, a nonprofit mental health organization based in Licking County, asked council to give $10,000 annually to help establish the service in Knox County; the remaining $15,000 is to come from other local sources.
Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis said he thinks implementation of the 2-1-1 service would be delayed if council chose not to make a financial commitment, but doubts that such a decision would destroy efforts to establish service in Knox County. He said the Pathways already receives a substantial amount of funding from the Health and Recovery Board of Licking and Knox Counties.
Councilman Bruce Hawkins said The Community Foundation of Mount Vernon and Knox County is considering committing funds for the service, but is not likely to make a decision until February.
Councilman Mike Hillier, a member of the mental health board, said he thinks 2-1-1 service would be something that would help individuals in the community.
Councilman Burt Hanson said he thinks council should match the $6,000 the commissioners recently agreed to commit to the service. In a straw vote, council agreed to match the commissioners’ contribution.
Councilman Chuck Dice argued in favor of using about $75,000 left over in the capital improvement budget to put in a permanent rest room in Foundation Park. At last week’s budget session, there was some discussion about what this money should be used for, and members agreed at that point to set the money aside for the rest room, at least temporarily.
Dice said there have been no facilities added to Foundation Park since the city acquired it.
“If we are going to make Foundation Park a unique and almost unheard of park, we have to have people coming back,” he said.
Dice said many people dislike the portable toilet currently at the park, and want a permanent rest room. He said he doesn’t want the money whittled away, because it might not be available in the future.
Mavis spoke about obtaining grant money for improvements to the trail system at Foundation Park, and building concrete walkways along the dike the runs along the Kokosing River in the city’s west end. If granted, the money would not be available for three to four years. He said such grant money is not likely to be granted for a rest room in the park.
Council also discussed the request of Mount Vernon Fire Chief Shawn Christy for a new four-wheel drive vehicle to replace an existing vehicle. Mavis said Christy gave examples in which such a vehicle was needed, including an example on Thayer Road where a farmer had suffered a heart attack in the field and had to be rescued. The mayor said the chief told him the frequency of events requiring a solid, 4-wheel drive vehicle occur about once every three weeks.
Council discussed the request and the suggestion to purchase a used truck instead, to cut down on the cost. Council agreed to let fire officials decide, and approved the purchase of a vehicle with the stipulation the administration use some of $80,000 set aside in the budget for fire department equipment to make the purchase.
Council heard a presentation from Steven Oster, superintendent of the Knox County Board of MR/DD, who spoke to council about a levy that will come before voters on March 4. He said the new levy will cost the homeowner of a $100,000 home an extra 26 cents a day, and 9 cents a day for those 65 and older.
Oster said the Knox County Board of MR/DD has been around for 50 years providing services to individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities and now serves over 350 people in the county. He added that there are at least 100 more who need the service but are not receiving it and, without the financial support from the new levy, employees would have to be laid off and services cut.
Penny and her son Joshua, also spoke to council about the services Joshua has received through MRDD. Penny said Joshua had been in an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded but quickly outgrew the services the facility was able to provide. The benefits provided by a waiver program have changed both their lives, she said, and allowed her son to go from a more rural area with limited resources [from a rural area, but to where?]. Joshua said he’s been through personal hardships recently. He said the waiver has changed his life and allows him to do what he wants, and many things he couldn’t do before.
In other business, council:
•Adopted a resolution increasing the authorized amount to be paid to Richland Engineering of Mansfield from $45,000 to $60,000 for the current contract period.
•Adopted a resolution authorizing the City Auditor Terry Scott to pay bills from 2007, including $690 to Ohio Utilities Protection Services and $275 to Wiford Rental & Sales.
•Adopted a resolution authorizing Safety-Service Director Dave Glass to pay Carolyn Sue Faith $312 for 20 hours of work in the Mount Vernon Police Department.