Salt hoop to be constructed at Bryant Road site

The city approved the construction of a 40×48 foot salt storage structure on the Bryant Road site.

City administrator Chris Nosbisch said constructing the hoop will contain the entire salt supply for the city and protect the exterior of the building.

“Salt is super corrosive, and we place it in hoop structures to protect the building from it,” Nosbisch said. “This hoop building will allow us to collect our full allotment of salt for the year at once for delivery.”

Nosbisch said the city has run into instances where they can’t take the full allotment of salt in a year where they have gotten down to the dregs waiting for another delivery to arrive.

“For most communities that would be fine, but Mount Vernon with our hills and only having sand to treat the roads doesn’t do much to help,” Nosbisch said.

The $43,000 cost will last between 10 to 20 years.

Sanitary sewer improvements approved

The city also approved completing a sanitary sewer rehabilitation project for $709,464.33.

City administrator Chris Nosbisch said that this project is funded by a $1 million grant the city received from Linn County American Rescue Plan Act funds.

“We previously completed televising some of our problem areas with the sanitary sewer,” Nosbisch said. “That helped us identify projects that need to be completed for improvements.”

The rehabilitation will be completed by Municipal Pipe Tool.

Nosbisch said the city thanked Linn County for the grants for this project.

City administrator salary set

The council set city administrator Chris Nosbisch’s salary to $141,290.67 effective Aug. 1 and $149,290.67 effective July 1, 2025.

Mayor Tom Wieseler said the salary increases are to keep the city administrator salary at a comparable level to other cities the size of Mount Vernon moving forward.

Council member Craig Engel said Nosbisch is the first to step up for his employees to make sure they are compensated according to their duties as well.

Council member Paul Tuerler said he had a number of discussions during Heritage Days with current and returning citizens about the community, and that he fully supports the salary for Nosbisch when looking at all that has been accomplished.

Fourth Street improvements out for bid

The stretch of Fourth Street Northwest between Second Ave. N.W. to Fifth Avenue N.W. will be placed out for bid in early August, with bid opening slated for Aug. 5 at Mount Vernon City Hall.

City administrator Chris Nosbisch said this is one of the roughest roads in Mount Vernon at the moment that needs to be addressed. The work will include curb and gutter improvements.

Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center generator hearing Aug. 5

The city will have a new generator installed at the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center this fall. The city received a $100,000 grant for the generator.

The 150kw generator will be enough to power the lights, heat and air conditioning for the wellness center in the case of an emergency.

A public hearing will be held at the Monday, Aug. 5, meeting, with the bid being awarded on Aug. 19.

With the purchase and installation of the generator, all public buildings owned by the city could be used as shelters in cases of emergencies.

“That has us more prepared than other communities in the state,” said council member Scott Rose.