Mt. Vernon Board of Aldermen OK’s contract to potentially sell 600 N. Main

Possible buyer has 90 days to complete due diligence, decide on purchase of 100-plus acre historic campus

The Mt. Vernon Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance during their meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 24 which authorizes the city to enter into a contract with Timothy S. Hogan for the potential sale of the city’s property at 600 North Main Street, the former Missouri Rehabilitation Center.
The property has been vacant since the Veterans Administration left Mt. Vernon in April.
According to the contract, the price of the property, if purchased, will be $575,000; Hogan would be required to pay a down payment of $50,000 within five business days of the contract’s effective date. However, Hogan has 90 days after the contract’s effective date to inspect the property. During this time, if Hogan chooses to terminate the contract, the down payment would be refunded to him. The remainder of the sell price would be due at the closing of the transaction.
No word yet on what Hogan intends to do with the property, but he is reportedly a developer.
Other news
Earlier in the meeting, the board passed an ordinance rezoning the former Pamida building from a B-3 General Commercial District to an M-2 Heavy Industrial District, which will allow the building to become a medical marijuana growing facility, if the owner gets a license from the state to operate one. During the Citizen Participation portion of the meeting, Dallas Gramm, a member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Committee, urged the board not to allow the facility to come to Mt. Vernon, calling it a “moral decay on our society.”
The board also passed a resolution in support of reducing the city’s feral cat population through “legitimate trap, spay, neuter, treat, adopt or return practices.” During the Citizen Participation portion of the meeting, Samantha Reid, of Stray Animals Matter, urged the board to support trap, neuter and return (TNR) as a method to control feral cat populations, stating it had been shown to be a more effective means of controlling feral cat populations than catch and kill methods.
John Hull, owner of Screen Masters, returned to speak about single-source residential trash services. He asked the board to rethink allowing business owners who use commercial trash services for their residential trash to opt out of using Doty’s residential trash service at the start of the next year.
Later in the meeting, City Administrator Max Springer asked the board if there was anything specific the board would want to see concerning the single source residential trash contract with Doty. A discussion began about Hull’s request at this point. A board member pointed out that when the city went out for bids, the companies that made bids did so based on the number of water meters in the city, indicating the number of customers they would serve. If the city were to start exempting residents who own a business in town, they would be changing the terms under which the contract was originally bid on. After further discussion, Mayor David Eden told Springer the board had “nothing further to add” regarding the contract with Doty.
In other business, the board approved a $2,500 payment towards having an engineering design for the skatepark at Gibbs Park. The payment is half of the cost for the engineering design; the Skate Park Committee will pay the other half.
The board also authorized a $10,000 payment for the hauling of 250 cubic yards, or 40 truckloads, of contaminated soil to the Springfield Sanitary Landfill. Springer told the board the total cost would be $20,000 or $30,000. Insurance, he said, would pay for the cost of the transport, but the city’s deductible is $10,000.