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Council authorizes easements for AEP pole work at 18 East Vine and Sandusky parking lot
Summary
Mount Vernon council approved Resolution 2025-19 to grant two easements to American Electric Power to place service poles at 18 East Vine Street and a corner of a city-owned parking lot at Ohio and South Sandusky Streets; officials said the work will not remove parking and is needed to address local power capacity.
Mount Vernon City Council on Jan. 27 authorized two easements to American Electric Power to add service poles at 18 East Vine Street and on city-owned property at Ohio and South Sandusky Street.
City officials said the easements—labeled “a” and “b” in committee materials—cover the former news building at 18 East Vine and a small, irregular corner of a municipal parking lot near Columbia Gas staging and the traffic signal company’s staging area. “There are 2 easements, a and b. Everything's attached. Everything should be attached. We double checked,” the city said during the Streets and Public Buildings committee meeting.
The council heard that the work will place a line of service poles “down the middle of the parking lot” but that the project “won't take away any parking.” Staff described the poles as neighborhood service poles, distinct from earlier high-voltage transmission easements done for the Route 13 project.
Council members said the measure needed to be acted on promptly because the former news building has insufficient remaining service capacity on the Blackberry Alley line. Staff said the building’s different tenants would be powered from separate alleys unless AEP performs the pole replacements and service changes.
Council adopted Resolution 2025-19 in the legislative session after a committee discussion. The resolution authorizes the safety service director to grant the easements to Ohio Power Company, DBA American Electric Power.
The approval was presented as necessary to allow AEP to proceed with pole placement and related local grid upgrades; AEP will carry out additional pole replacements in coming years as part of broader work to “bolster the local grid,” staff said. No additional details about construction staging or exact pole locations beyond the easement descriptions were specified at the meeting.
Council President called the Streets and Public Buildings committee at the start of the meeting, and city staff and Council members reviewed the two easements before bringing the resolution forward for adoption in the legislative portion of the meeting.
Votes at a glance: Resolution 2025-19 — Adopted. The motion to adopt was moved and seconded in the legislative session; roll-call voting recorded all present members voting yes.
