Mount Vernon approves mapping of cemetery
The City of Mount Vernon approved a $12,500 contract to GIS map the Mount Vernon Cemetery from WHKS.
While WHKS will map each grave with the proper GIS coordinates, the Mount Vernon Cemetery Commission will be responsible for putting in which grave is which with the project.
“That amounted to a huge amount of savings for us as a city, as we had a commission willing to propagate that data,” said city administrator Chris Nosbisch.
Once the cemetery has been mapped, it will be easy for the city to keep up with the additional plots sold at the cemetery each year. Nosbisch said that amounts to roughly 12 plots a year.
Council member Mark Andreasen asked if there would be any ongoing fees for the project moving forward. Nosbisch said they would be very minimal. The city had anticipated a much higher bid for the project.
New street signs for uptown Mount Vernon
The City of Mount Vernon has approved a design from Liberty Iron Works for new sign posts for the uptown Mount Vernon for $16,000.
The new sign posts will house the signs pertaining to parking and snow ordinances that were housed on the old light poles in uptown Mount Vernon.
Dale Merrill with Liberty Iron Works designed poles that look similar to the new sign posts to maintain the aesthetics in the uptown.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch recommended the higher bid for the sign posts, noting that the street scape project coming in the next couple years will impact uptown and these, like the light poles, will remain in uptown as that project completes.
Council member Paul Tuerler concurred that the new street poles have a more robust design and fit in with the streetlights.
Mount Vernon discusses CIP needs
The City of Mount Vernon will be preparing a new Capital Improvement Plan for the city, looking for a request for proposals sometime this winter from an outside agency to help plan the goals for the city.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch said that a majority of the community’s 10 year goals from the last CIP have been completed. He wants an outside firm to help with the project to help the city not be as myopic or tunnel visioned and actually really look at the needs of the community.
“When you live in a community for a decade or more, it’s very easy to develop tunnel vision,” Nosbisch said.
Nosbisch said that the RFP would amount to roughly a $7,500 to $8,500 expense to conduct.
Council member Stephanie West said that she has referred to the city’s past CIP for guidance on a number of projects.
Council member Paul Tuerler agreed and noted the importance of having outside viewpoints to help the community develop visions of what’s next.
“If we weren’t making long-term decisions, we’d get stuck in a tunnel vision for the community,” Tuerler said.
A RFP will go out in the January or February timeline.