MT. VERNON — The Mt. Vernon City Council approved the low bid from Bevis Construction for the construction of the city’s new post office at Tuesday night’s meeting.

The architect hired for the project, Brian Edmison, told the council that there was high interest in the project from contractors and six bids were submitted for the project.

Mt. Vernon mayor John Lewis says with the awarding of the contract, the city has moved one step closer to clearing an eyesore and economic hurdle in downtown Mt. Vernon.

The cost of building the post office will cost the city $895,000. Edmison told the council that the target date for completion would be mid-August. The new post office will be located at the corner of 10th and Jordan, in what is currently a city parking lot.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the city council approved spending just over $14,000 for a vehicle lift for fleet services, and just under $10,000 on a new computer server for the Aquatic Zoo. Bechtel told the council the city is updating the software at the Aquatic Zoo so the city and the pool can use the same accounting software, saving manpower and tax money.

The city council will meet again on Monday, March 2 at 7 p.m. at the Rolland Lewis Building at Veterans Park.