Geneva City Council introduced to new K9

GENEVA – It’s been said that every dog has his day, but on Monday, Oct. 26, Geneva’s new K9 officer, Riot, had his night.
The two-year-old German Shepherd was introduced at the Geneva City Council meeting by Geneva Police Chief John Camper and the dog’s handler, Officer Mike Smith.
Camper said that Riot has had 19 deployments, and has been a great asset to the community.
During the public comment period, council heard from a citizen, Gary Lehr, commander of VFW Post 6846, who spoke about the Depot Street stormwater improvement project and its impact on the business at the VFW.
“It’s a place for veterans to come together with their families, socialize, and, yes, they can drink,” he said. “But we’ve been losing a lot of revenue due to the parking, or lack of it, from the employees. They’re doing the work on the parking lot, [and] they’re taking up what few parking spots we have.”
Lehr said there was also a water break for four days that impacted the VFW.
He noted all the good works the VFW does in the community.
City Manager Joseph Varckette told him, “On behalf of the city, I just want you to know that we are sincerely sorry that the VFW has lost business during this process.” He said the VFW has been a tremendous partner to the city for many, many years.
Varckette, however, said the project was now in its final week. Providing some background, he added that the contractor received the notice to proceed on May 14, but the project didn’t begin for more than three months “for a number of reasons, all beyond our control.” Back in July, Varckette had said the contractor was having issues with the supplier on concrete structures, specifically tied to the storm water improvement portion of the project.
“Our hope is that you’re going to be able to bring a lot more people there over the next several weeks to hopefully make up for what you did lose,” Varckette told Lehr. He thought it was shaping up to be an amazing project and was hopeful it would alleviate the stormwater issues.
“I do want to thank you for the job done,” Lehr added.
In other business, council heard a presentation from Noell Sivertsen from the zoning department, who said she was extremely busy this summer with the downtown façade improvement program through the Appalachian Community Grant Program (ACGP) and helping to keep it moving forward.
“I wanted to let you know how much money we’ve actually spent on our downtown to date for the facades,” she said.
“With the owner’s contribution, we’ve spent over a half a million dollars – $564,811.18.” There was applause.
“Our property owners really stepped up and helped with our downtown,” she said. “The grant has so far paid $332,834, which we are very grateful for receiving. But the owners did really have to carry a lot of this, and they went above and beyond…” She said there were three more projects left to do, which she said should be done by the end of the week.
Varckette said he hopes to have a ribbon cutting for all the work performed through the ACGP in the next weeks to a month. “The conclusion of all the work completed under this approximately $2.6 million grant is a great accomplishment for the city and worthy of a celebration,” he wrote in his report to council.
Council also:
– Learned from Varckette that the paving in the 2026 road improvement paving program is done with line striping and restoration to take place this week.
– Gave a first reading to a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with the Ashtabula County Commissioners for non-emergency and emergency shared services.
– Was told by Varckette that due to tight contractor scheduling and facility priority, the fire department roof work will take place first, before the Memorial Field Fieldhouse roof replacement.