Furture Spirit of '76 Park renovation costlier than originally thought

Mt. Vernon to get new digital ticketing software Digiticket, save on lawer fees for information redaction

At the Mt. Vernon Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday, June 27, the board discussed the Spirit of '76 Park expansion, new ticketing software for members of the MVPD, and a quick update on the pool in the absence of board members Logan Phillips, Lowell Phillips and Sherie Thrasher.

New park renovations
The board discussed how it would raise money for the new Spirit of '76 park renovations after their bid came in higher than expected. Originally it was expected that the park upgrades would cost around $2 million, but recent bids place the cost for construction at anywhere from $3.9 million at the minimum to about $5.3 million at the high end.
The city only has about $3 million left in their coffers from the tax that was passed in 2021 that was meant to provide funding for both the pool and park projects. The board discussed scaling back some of the renovations but most of the projects remain on the table as they look for alternative sources of funding.

New ticketing software
Mt. Vernon Chief of Police Dave Hubert submitted a request to the board that they purchase a digital ticketing software called Digiticket. The ticketing software costs about $1,250 according to Hubert, but should end up saving the department money overall. This new change comes because of the recent passing of a bill in the state legislature. According to Hubert, the new law requires the department to disclose personal information, such as social security number when writing a ticket. It is the job of the city attorney's office to redact such personal information from the public. This new software would do all of this work for them.
"By the time we pay [city attorney] staff to redact that, $1,250 is cheap, it's a one time fee," said Hubert
The motion passed unanimously

Pool attendance up
Director of Public Works Dustin Davis shared an update on the status of the pool. Though it has added many play features like a climbing wall and a basketball court, the pool is still awaiting the arrival of the zipline. Davis also provided some information on the status of pool attendance in which he stated that the pool is welcoming an overage of more than 200 guests a day on weekdays and more than 220 on weekends since opening for business this summer.

Phillips working on state fire certification
At the end of the meeting, a letter, which was written by board member Logan Phillips and read by board member Craig Nelson, outlined the reason for the recent absences of Phillips. Phillips stated in the letter that some individuals were concerned about his absence from meetings recently. He went on to say that in January, after already having his name on the ballot, Phillips was requested to get state certification as a member of the fire department. The training takes place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Phillips is expected to graduate on July 29, and assured everyone that his commitment to the board has not faltered.