Slow down.

That’s the advice from Cindy Roberts Cotton, one of the citizens who lives along Palisades Road, as school is just about back to session. Cotton was speaking at the Mount Vernon City Council meeting Aug. 18 during the public’s opportunity to bring things not on agenda to the council.

“My front window looks onto Palisades Road, right near the south entrance to the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center,” Cotton said. “Ever since I moved to the location, I’ve thought there’s been excessive speeding on the road.”

Cotton met with Mount Vernon-Lisbon police chief Jason Blinks about the issue to see what can be done. The police department’s speed trailer will be moving to the area ahead of the start of the school year to help remind citizens of the speed limits along that road.

“I’d encourage others to be mindful of their speeds in all areas of Mount Vernon, though,” Cotton said. “Especially with schools returning to session. There are a lot of activities going on in the community, and just want to raise this to attention of everyone.”

Council approves streetlight electric panel change order

The City of Mount Vernon will be paying an additional $30,000 to add a breaker for the outlets on the streetlights at city hall.

City administrator Chris Nosbisch said that was one of the items they learned from the light poles at Heritage Days. When they trip the light or panel to reset the outlets, it requires getting to the outlet on top of the pole.

“We are wanting to make sure there is a master switch at city hall that can be used to turn panels back on if an outlet has been tripped,” Nosbisch said.

When the city had requested electrical outlets on the light poles, Alliant seemed to think it might have been for holiday lights, but the city uses those poles for connections during festivals as well, and when the circuits trip, the reset for the pole is at the top of the pole, not at ground level.

Because the city requested electrical outlets on the poles, the city will be responsible for paying for the breaker work done by Nelson Electric.