MOUNT VERNON — The pools are full. The staff is ready. And the concession stands are stocked. The city’s water park is set to open next weekend and Mayor Richard Mavis is hoping for a big turnout.
“It will help if we have some warm days,” he said. “The pool will be heated as it was last year.”
The mayor said on the busiest days last year, the first year the new Hiawatha Water Park/Pool was open, there were as many as 1,400 people. He said the pools were filled up last week and staff has had a job removing all of the Maple helicopter seeds from the water.
This year there will be some changes, such as organized activities like water basketball. Mavis said the city’s engineering department is laying out the plan for a nine-hole Frisbee golf course on the field just east of the water park for which there will be leagues and scorecards. He added that these games will not interfere with sporting events in the evenings.
Mavis said the city administration has hired about 90 seasonal employees and is working on schedules at the moment. Many of these employees are lifeguards, cashiers and maintenance workers. He added that some improvements to the water park have been made for the upcoming season: three new large umbrellas have been added, additional chairs and concrete patches have been put in to make it easier for parents and grandchildren to sit while youngsters play in the water. The mayor said there is now a designated smoking area well away from the water park entrance, near to Sychar Road, adding that there were many who smoked near the entrance last season. There have also been improvements made to Hiawatha Park itself — upgrades to playground equipment, the restroom and the picnic pavilion.
Mavis reminded parents that children under 12 cannot enter the water park by themselves unless they will turn 12 by the end of the season in September. Younger children must be accompanied by someone who is at least 15 or who will turn 15 before the end of the season.
The water park will be open from noon to 7:45 p.m. every day and will stay open through Labor Day weekend. He said memberships can be purchased at the gate or at the city auditor’s office in City Hall.
More information on membership rates, as well as swim lessons, can be accessed on the city’s Web site, www.mountvernonohio.org.
In other city news, Mavis said:
•The city’s next Spring Clean Up Day is Saturday, June 7, from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Items should be taken to Allied Waste/BFI Waste Systems at 107 Tilden Ave. and the city will pay half the disposal cost. No hazardous waste, roofing materials or concrete will be accepted. The subsequent Spring Clean Up Day will take place July 5. Only city residents can participate; identification is required.
•The administration is likely to award the Blackjack-Newark Road traffic signal project to Law General, a contractor out of St. Louisville. This company had the lowest of three bids — $229,919 — opened on Thursday. The mayor said the administration would like to see the project begin as soon as possible and expects construction to be complete well before August. The actual traffic signal portion is $75,223. The rest includes roadway work, drainage, maintenances of traffic and related expenses.
•The city’s Patriotic Memorial Committee Ed and Fran Ayers of Mount Vernon will be the parade marshal for the city’s Memorial Day parade. Ed is a World War II veteran who has worked closely with the veterans service office. Mavis said committee members felt Ed and Fran were good choices to be the parade marshals. He added that there are 80 parade units signed up for Monday’s parade so far, though there are generally a few that come in late.
•Richland Engineering, a design firm out of Mansfield, has done some traffic counts and study at the Beech Street and Sychar Road intersection. This summer, the street department will repaint the stop bar so it is easier to see south of Sychar Road and make the intersection less awkward and potentially dangerous for motorists.
