STEUBENVILLE — The search for Steubenville’s next city manager is continuing, with nine more candidates scheduled to interview over the next week.

City Manager Jim Mavromatis planned to retire in March after 10 years on the job, but his departure was delayed after the city struck out with its initial crop of applicants.

Councilman at large Joel Walker said Tuesday that this time around there were 18 applicants — nearly twice the number of qualified candidates who’d even expressed interest when the position was first advertised in September. Two candidates were invited for in-person interviews in January, but council was forced to start over after both withdrew their names from consideration.

Walker said one of the current applicants was a no-show for his in-person interview, reducing the overall field to 17.

“We’ve done two days of interviews, and we have two more days to do,” he said. “We will be done on the 9th with all of the interviews and will be moving on to Round 2 the following week.

“So far this group has had some promising candidates,” Walker added.

The nine remaining applicants will be interviewed either Feb. 5 or Feb. 9 beginning at 6 p.m. in the Pugliese Room.

Council members heard a presentation from Jason Hannan, an Ohio-based economic development and real estate consultant with about 20 years of experience in economic development and site selection prior to the start of their business meeting. Committee Chair Tracy McManamon had proposed bringing Hannan on board as a subcontractor.

Hannan told council economic development “is the long game. You’ve got to focus on building assets, infrastructure, investing in your community, quality of place, amenities.”

“You have to cast a wide net,” he added “And in order to create sustainable, beneficial economic development, you need to bring money in to your community.”

McManamon said he, Mavromatis and former Mayor Jerry Barilla had traveled to Columbus in 2025 to meet with state officials and “let people know Steubenville is more than a campaign stop.” He said everyone they spoke with told them working with a development specialist is the single-most important thing they can do and pointed them to Hannan.

“I think it’s important that we take a very hard look” at the idea, McManamon said.

Walker, however, said from his perspective they need to find Mavromatis’s replacement first.

“I think we need to wait and see who the new city manager is and what he brings to the table,” he said after the meeting.

Council also discussed snow removal concerns, questioning why more than a week after Mother Nature dumped upwards of 10 inches of snow on the city sidewalks were still impassable, and some streets were still snow covered.

Councilman Royal Mayo said plows pushed snow onto sidewalks and now it’s hardened, making it impossible for homeowners to shovel even if they’re physically able. He said he’s seen kids “walking on Sunset Boulevard” on their way home from Harding Middle School and is concerned someone’s going to get hurt.

He said his constituents had also complained that downtown streets “had snow on them for a long time,” though Walker and other council members said residents in their wards shared similar concerns.

Mayo requested they be given a list explaining what routes top of the priority list.

In other matters, council:

• Proclaimed February to be Career Technical Education Month in Steubenville.

• Adopted legislation rezoning 10 parcels owned by Franciscan University of Steubenville from I-1 (General Commercial and Industrial) to P (Public and Semi-Public). An FUS representatives said they’re hoping “to get it under construction sometime this year.”

• Also passing their third and final reading were ordinances authorizing Mavromatis to seek bids and proceed with the 2026 Community Development Block Grant Street Improvement Program as well as Phase 10 of the city’s street sign replacement program.

• Introduced legislation that would authorize city officials to readvertise for companies interested in leasing the city’s mineral rights, declaring it an emergency.

• Also introduced was a resolution that would designate February as Black History Month.

• Scheduled a public utility committee meeting for 6 p.m. March 3 to review a recent rate analysis to so they can better assess the potential impact of reducing or eliminating the $1 monthly infrastructure fee on water bills or the annual 3 percent rate hike.

The infrastructure fee helps fund system improvements, many of them required in order to satisfy environmental regulations and settlements, while the 3 percent increase is to cover cost of operating the system.

“From everything I’ve seen from that rate analysis that was done a few months ago, the rates are still needed,” Finance Director Dave Lewis said. “If you would delay the (improvement) projects you’d have some issues … you should probably check with your environmental attorneys because there are deadlines (to comply) involved.”