MOUNT VERNON — The city is gearing up for fall, according to Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis. The community pool will soon be closing its doors for the year, several events are scheduled for the near future and road projects will soon begin in the city.
Labor Day is the final day the community pool will be open this year. Mavis said there will be a meeting on Wednesday with the planning committee and pool staff to review the 2008 season, and to prepare for next year.
The First Friday event on Sept. 5 will include the city’s volunteers of the year. Mavis said the city has been recognizing those who serve on boards, committees and are involved with special projects in the city at the September First Friday event for four or five years.
The following day, Sept. 6, will be the final day for the city’s cleanup program. Items may be taken to Allied Waste/BFI Waste Systems, 107 Tilden Ave., Mount Vernon, Saturday from 8 to 11:30 a.m. and city residents will pay 50 percent and the city will pay 50 percent.
City officials will also take part in the POW/MIA program on Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m. on the square. Mavis said there will be a speaker, missing man table and patriotic music at the event, which is held annually in the city.
The middle of September will see two road projects begin in the city. The renovation of the bricks on Curtis Street will begin Sept. 15. The street between Main and North Mulberry will be closed while the project is being worked on. The preconstruction meeting for the Blackjack Road project was held recently and Mavis said he expects it to begin within the next two to three weeks.
Mavis said work and plans continue for Foundation Park. The city will be looking to establish traffic and walkway path patterns in the park prior to the building of restrooms and the bowstring truss bridge coming from Bladensburg. He said they are looking at the design of the restrooms at Memorial and Phillips parks in order to determine what will be built at Foundation Park.
The city will also be looking into an engineering study on the city parking garage and plaza building on North Gay Street. There are some cracks in the offices and floors that the engineer will look at.
“It concerns all of us. We want to make sure the building is structurally sound,” Mavis said.
