ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Some potential improvements may be in the cards for St. Clairsville.

On Monday, Mayor Kathryn Thalman spoke to council and reported meeting with Japanese Consul General Yusuke Shindo and his wife for dinner at Belmont Hills Country Club on Wednesday to discuss potential business opportunities in St. Clairsville. Members of the Belmont County Board of Commissioners also attended. Thalman said the international guests seemed interested in the area.

“Hopefully we will have the opportunity to speak to them again and have them come in to look at bringing potential business to town,” Thalman said. “He is the consul general representative to all businesses in Japan that may wish to be located in the United States. … Business in Japan might be interested in coming to our area.”

In addition, Thalman updated council on efforts to ensure a dog owner follows through with agreed-upon precautions of fencing his property and taking out liability insurance on his dog, following the death of a beagle that had wandered into the other dog’s yard and was attacked in late 2021. City laws state that if a dog is classified as vicious, owners are required to build a physical fence and carry $100,000 liability insurance.

“I told them I was very upset with the way this has gone on,” Thalman said, noting there have been delays. “They have a two-week grace period to get started on the fence, and for every week it is not put up, there’s a $100 fine. … Otherwise I said, we’ll talk about having the dog surrendered.”

Afterward, Police Chief Matt Arbenz said there have been no incidents since the attack.

Recreation Director Eric Gay announced Rocco Balog, a graduate of St. Clairsville High School, started working for the city Monday.

“He’s going to be a huge asset to us, he’s very excited about the job, he’s going to be overseeing a lot of the programs and really helping build upon the stuff we already have,” Gay said, adding Balog recently graduated from Ohio Dominican University. “His biggest background is baseball, which is something we want to help our junior sports with.”

Also, Utility Director Don Smithberger reported on a power outage this past Thursday that left large portions of the city without power.

“(American Electic Power’s) 69 line was down, they had troubles and a section of town was out, Reservoir Road in that area,” he said. The recreation center had power and was open in the event people needed to stop in and recharge devices or otherwise use facilities.

Councilman Mark Thomas again brought up $500 million available funding through the Ohio BUILDS program and the opportunity to plan for improvements.

“Think about it and what we can do – sooner rather than later – to get ready,” he said, adding that many cities across the state are planning downtown revitalization. “There’s money out there to do that. … The city of St. Clairsville’s probably approaching 30 years since the downtown streetscape was originally done.”

Smithberger said it has been 32 years.

Thomas said improvements to the bike trail would be another likely project.

“Those opportunities are here, and we need to take advantage of them,” Thomas said. “The money is there, we just need to do the work, and I’m happy to help.”

Condolensces also went to Councilman Mike Smith on the death of his father, Joe Smith, last week.

The All-Night Catfish Tournament will be held from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Aug. 12 at the reservoirs people can register at the recreation center at 740-695-2037. Cost is $20. The last live concert at the bike trail gazebo will also be held from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. that day, featuring Logan Wojcik will perform.

The city’s Fall Festival will be held Sept. 10 at the amphitheatre