MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis and city officials had meetings on two important topics this week.
The first was a meeting with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to discuss the source water protection program.
When the new water treatment plant was built, the city had to determine the one-year and five-year travel time for contaminants in the aquifer to get to the plant. To protect the city’s water supply, they needed to find out how far out in the aquifer they needed to protect. The five-year projection included areas all the way to Fredericktown, while the one-year involved some areas in Clinton and Morris townships. The OEPA is willing to work with the city on its one-year plan.
Once they are able to determine the specific geographic area they need to protect, they will attempt to work with the townships and health department to look at zoning regulations or other issues that would help protect the water.
“Once we do that, we can look at the zoning requirements in the city and townships. We don’t want certain types of commercial development in those areas,” Mavis said. “Now, we can determine what restrictions we’d like to put on the area.”
