MOUNT VERNON — Mayor Richard Mavis told City Council that the head of the Mount Vernon Youth Baseball Association expressed interest in developing a baseball complex on the old American National Can site. The site is a 44-acre vacant property in Clinton Township, near the city’s northwest border.
The baseball association had shown interest in developing the complex on city-owned land near the water plant, but, according to the mayor, it is leaning away from that option because of the higher cost involved.
In August, Ryan Pentz, association president, told council that the city’s Babe Ruth and Little League teams need a new complex, because the number of area youth participating on the teams has grown considerably in recent years.
Mavis said he recently spoke with Pentz, and told council that the association has major concerns about the costs involved in changing the topography at the site near the water plant. He said it was made clear to the baseball association that the city planned to build at least one building that can be used as a maintenance building by the wastewater department and the street department. This means all of the land east of an entrance road that runs into the property from Ohio 229 must be set aside for the building. This would push the baseball project farther to the west, and the building project would affect two of the proposed fields slated for the baseball complex. To make up for the affected fields, the mayor said, the association would have to move farther west on the property, which, because of the topography, would require moving large amounts of earth. This extra work would drive the cost of the project beyond an acceptable level.
“They began to get second thoughts and began to think of the American National Can site,” Mavis said. “And there are benefits.”
The former industrial site is flat, he said, and about 27 1/2 of the 44 acres could be developed. Eventually, he added, when the city moves ahead with plans to complete its river walkway along much of the dike in the west end of the city, youth could use the new walkways to get from Memorial Park to the American National Can site.
The mayor has previously expressed his intentions to acquire the American National Can site from the owner, find the funding to clean up patches of residual industrial contaminants in the soil, and redevelop it. The owner’s representative has expressed the company’s willingness to give the city the property, if the city takes responsibility for the property and any future cleanup.
On Monday, Mavis said the city has always had intentions to maintain control of the dike that runs along the Kokosing River on the western side of the site, and to maintain control of a drainage ditch that runs along the northern edge of the property. He said the drainage ditch is crucial for managing storm water, and must be regularly maintained and cleared.
Mavis said the baseball association has developed a keen interest in the property and has expressed a willingness to seek the funds to have the site cleaned up.
“They felt if they could raise the money, we could complete the deal and have the owner give us the property,” he said.
The mayor said one drawback to developing a baseball complex at the site is the roughly 34,000 square feet of concrete in the ground, the remnants of the plant that was torn down, would have to be removed, which could be costly.
Mavis said that if the city were to move ahead with its plans to obtain state funds to clean up the property, it would be in the city’s best interest to meet the standards of Ohio EPA’s voluntary action program, which would indicate that the site has been cleaned to the EPA’s standards. If the property were not cleaned up to the EPA’s standards, there would always be the tag that the property is tainted. He said he had planned to seek money from the state Clean Ohio Fund, but that money is tied to job growth and involves partnering with an industrial company to develop a manufacturing business there. He said it would cost between $200,000 to $300,000 to meet the standards of the program.
Councilman Chuck Dice said one of the big factors is the association’s willingness to assume responsibility and clean up the site. He added that even if the city acquires the property and allows the baseball complex to be built there, the city would still own the property.
In other news, the mayor said he met with representatives from ODOT on Monday and discussed an improvement project along Coshocton Avenue set to get under way in 2010 and 2011. This involves widening of Coshocton Road from Center Run bridge to Shalimar Drive, and entails creating 12-foot-wide lanes and installing sidewalks along this stretch.
In July 2007, ODOT granted the city $1,518,000 for the project through the Small City Transportation program. Mavis said ODOT may be willing to combine this project with a proposed Coshocton Avenue safety project that involves changing the ingress and egress allowed from some parking lots, such as the Kroger and Big Lot’s plaza lots. He said ODOT officials said they would be willing to pay for the design of the safety project — about $100,000 — and combine the two projects into one, if the overall project fit ODOT’s criterion. But their criterion, the mayor said, raises concerns for the administration. For instance, the traffic signal at the intersection of Highland Drive and Eastgate Drive may have to be taken out, because the traffic count does not warrant a signal.
Mavis said he thinks there is room for negotiation in some areas but not in others, adding that the administration will have city staff gather its own traffic data before committing to anything. He said he will update council on the matter in the near future.
In other business:
•The mayor said a representative from ODOT recently told him the department is ready to move ahead with a study of a stretch of Ohio 229 that runs from Eastern Star Road to Quarry Street. Data that will be used by ODOT to determine whether lowering the speed limit to 35 mph is warranted.
•Council adopted a resolution to make appropriations in the amount of $19,050 for current expenses which, due to a computer error, were left of out of the 2008 budget recently passed by council.
•Council adopted two resolutions to allow City Auditor Terry Scott to make two supplemental appropriations and to pay 2007 bills that have yet to be paid.
•Councilman Mike Hillier said there will be a spaghetti dinner held for paramedic Don Wilson at AMVETS on East Ohio Avenue on Saturday, Feb. 23, from 5 to 9 p.m. The cost of entrance is a donation, and there will be a silent auction held as well. Wilson is a 25-year-employee of the Mount Vernon Fire Department.