To: Mount Vernon City Administration and City Council
Date: March 3, 2024
Re: Resolution 2024-23
Again, I am writing on behalf of several citizens of Mount Vernon and the Edgewood Road/Marita Drive neighborhoods. Resolution 2024-23 is before the City Council to authorize the City Administration to proceed to procure funding for "The Rehabilitation and Improvement of Edgewood Road and Declaring an Emergency" (aka-The Edgewood Road Project).
Further, the City has scheduled a meeting on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 in Council Chambers for the limited purpose of discussing Resolution No. 2024-23 and the proposed improvements of the Edgewood Road Project. The meeting will be open to the public and attendees will be invited to speak on the legislation.
However, The City has done very little to provide the public with adequate project documentation and preliminary engineering drawings that would allow the public enough information and project detail to make a meaningful review of this project. The two documents that were posted by the City on its Website for the public are inadequate. The City has been discussing and planning the Edgewood Rd Project for
over a decade and preliminary drawings have surfaced before. It makes no sense for City Council to authorize funding for a project of this magnitude ($Millions) and city impact without a written proposal that clearly defines and details the City Administration's overall plan; a proposal that would include the scope of work, all preliminary engineering drawings, preliminary budget estimates, breakdown of the
schedule, manpower and subcontractor requirements, etc. What the City has provided is an inadequate overview which is going to raise more questions instead of answering or defining them.
I strongly request the City Council to suspend Resolution 2024-23 until the City Administration submits a proper proposal to support their request for authorization to seek funding for the Edgewood Road Project from the Ohio DOT.
Gary Koester
Mount Vernon, Ohio 43050