MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis said the administration has two candidates in mind for the vacant position of city engineer and wants to take the steps to hire someone soon.
The mayor said the administration wants to give the city’s personnel committee the chance to interview the two potential candidates. If one of the two is acceptable, the position could be filled within about six weeks. If not, he added, then the search will continue.
“What we’re trying to do is find someone who can do that job, who is qualified, and, with the help of council, someone who fits,” he said.
Mavis said it is critical to hire an engineer for several reasons. For one thing, a number of long-standing employees in the city’s engineering department are nearing retirement and the new engineer will be responsible for putting together a strong department for the future.
“As the city grows, it will be important to get qualified people,” he said.
Mavis said the engineering department has information on all of the city’s infrastructure — water, wastewater and roadways. When a wastewater line breaks, for instance, the engineering department is responsible for identifying the location of the break and what areas would be impacted. The department is also charged with addressing inquiries about developments and subdivisions.
The hiring of a full-time, city engineer will eliminate the administration’s need to bring in a contract engineer from Richland Engineering of Mansfield, as has been the practice for the past year. Harry Winfrey, an engineer with the firm, has come to the city once a week to fulfill various engineering needs of the city.
Council set aside a salary of $65,000 a year of the engineer’s position, Mavis said, which has been vacant for about three years.
In other news, the mayor said he, street department superintendent David Carpenter and police chief Mike Merrilees will meet next week to discuss ways to improve getting street department vehicles out clearing streets when winter storms hit. He said, on weekends and evenings, it can take street department employees anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to get on the streets, because of the time it takes for them to get ready and get to the street department building.
The police department determines whether the streets have become slippery and dangerous because of snow or ice and makes the decision when to contact the street department.
The mayor said he thinks the street department staff deserves praise for the good job they did in clearing roadways last weekend, but, he thinks there is always room for improvement.
“We’ve had good success,” Mavis said. “I just think it’s something we need to improve upon. We evaluate ourselves continuously.”
The mayor discussed a number of other city matters:
•The administration wants to move ahead with plans to build a restroom for Foundation Park and intends to make use of the plans used to build the new restroom at Memorial Park. These plans may be used in putting together a bid package for the project. Council has been adamant about its desire to have a restroom built at Foundation Park, he added, and members set aside $75,000 for the project.
•Mavis said he is still hoping to have a bowstring truss bridge moved from Mill Road, just south of Bladensburg, to Foundation Park by the end of the month, but added that it may take a bit longer. The historic bridge will be used to span a section of the middle lake at Foundation Park and incorporated into the trail system. The mayor plans to meet with an engineer who was responsible for moving a similar bridge in Licking County that was incorporated into the bike path at the Ohio State University campus in Newark. He also said he spoke with John Ellis of United Precast Inc. Ellis told him he could supply a crane and truck to haul the bridge.
•City Hall will be closed on Presidents Day. The police and fire department will be operating during the holiday.
