Mount Vernon has always been very supportive of the program.

We hope that within 10 months we will be able to get this project going.

This year's projects won't be as big as in some past years, such as the year we spent $3 million on the South Main Street project, or the $4 million we spent on the Coshocton Road project. It's going to be an active year with smaller projects spread around town.

Even without specific numbers in front of me, we have to be spending more money because it costs more at the pump. One of the things we talked about is the money we saved from the mild winter being absorbed by gas prices.

This is a 50-year investment.

That's why I appreciate small business so much. It's people putting in a lot of hours and making the downtown a viable place to do business.

The good news is the break up of driving surface of asphalt (across the city) is less severe than in previous winters.

It's bad enough when you have a lot of driveways created along a stretch of highway. It's worse to have driveways created at an intersection where it is known that traffic is on the increase. It's not good business.