Paul Szmal: FLX Morning continues here on this final day of 2025. It is 8.15 and we have a guest in studio. Amy Hendrix, the Geneva City Manager is here. Thank you for spending part of the final day of 2025 with us. We appreciate it.
Amie Hendrix: Thank you for having me.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. So how'd the holidays go?
Amie Hendrix: The holidays went a little snow over the holidays, which makes a nice white Christmas, makes our crews have to come out, but they handled it well and I had a nice holiday.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. I think if memory serves me correctly, the parking restrictions that had to be enforced, that's the earliest I can remember that happening.
Amie Hendrix: Yeah. Yeah. We actually in a winter season. Yeah. It is earlier in this winter season since we changed it to having that emergency alert. And I will say in my three and a half years, we haven't used it that much. So this is actually the second or third time in 2025 that we use that restriction, which has not happened in the last three and a half years.
Paul Szmal: If you were to give it a grade based on having to use it this early, how would you grade the way the response went out and the information and so on and so forth?
Amie Hendrix: Yeah, I think every time it gets better. So I would say that we're, you know, we're getting stronger, probably an A minus to B plus where before it took longer. Residents are also more used to it because when you do the April to November, everyone just gets into this pattern. It's Monday. I move here Tuesday when you're not used to it and you don't know, is the city going to enforce it or not? And it doesn't hit till 2 a.m. And so you have to kind of do some math and figure out is that today, tomorrow. But I think we're getting a lot better at it. And I know our crews did pretty well for the first snowfall of the season.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. And they got pressed into action pretty early. So that put the snowplow plan to the test.
Amie Hendrix: Absolutely. Absolutely. So they were out there and they were ready to go.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, absolutely. So how has the year been overall for the city of Geneva? I mean, there's been all sorts of stuff that we've talked about and we're kind of putting a bow on it because we've got a new mayor, new council members that are officially, you know, taking office tomorrow.
Amie Hendrix: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So the new mayor and council members will take office tomorrow. They'll take their oath of office at 1 p.m. at City Hall. And so they'll have a small event at that time. And as far as the year, I think one of the things is we're an old organization. We're over 125 years old. Every year the work continues and the work by kind of the bureaucrats and those employees carries on while council sets the direction and vision. And when they're out on the campaign trail, they hear about that direction and vision. And while we have three new council members, we have two that are returning from the election cycle. So it's going to be a change. It's also the first time that we've had staggered terms. And so for some of these folks, it'll be their third year of a four year term and others, it'll be their first of the four year term. So it's very different. And I think we'll see some new energy come in as well as some of the standard processes and operating procedures.
Paul Szmal: I have to imagine with the kind of changeover that we're having going from twenty five into twenty six, that there will be probably some lessons learned that will be able to be used when these other staggered terms expire and perhaps new people wind up coming in in their place.
Amie Hendrix: Absolutely. And I think one of the big shifts is our longest tenured council person at this point will be three years. So they'll be entering their third year where that long term stability, you know, Mayor Valentino leaving after over 20 years of service, split service in different times. But he had that long term along with council member Peeler who has left, had a little bit more long term. And so these are newer councillors that have learned a lot in the last two years, but still have a lot to learn. And I think we've learned how that changeover is going to happen. And the mayor elect and I have been working with the council and really bringing it on board. And there's more strategy sessions planned in January and we'll keep moving forward.
Paul Szmal: We're talking with Geneva City Manager Amy Hendrix here on FLX Morning. If there was one project that you could say was the greatest achievement that the city made this year, what would it be?
Amie Hendrix: Oh, a hard one, Paul. So I think one of the things that I'm proud of is we've gotten our hands around our grant programs and are receiving more grants again and kind of flowing those things back and forth. So some of those grants go directly to businesses or homes. So we had the MAP grant close up, which helps small businesses. We had a homeowner repair program that is continuing to roll out. And I think that is the functioning that people see that's more than what the city is known to do. And that's a struggle that we often have. We're a small city with a smaller budget. And it means that to maintain our services, the costs of service continue to rise, but to maintain them, you don't get a lot of new things. And so I think that I'm very proud of our grants administration team and how that's working. I'm also proud of how we've overcome a lot of challenges. Every year has new challenges and I can never predict what those challenges are going to be. But our department heads and the leadership at the fire department, police department, others really step up year in and year out.
Paul Szmal: I think there is a perception with grant programs that it's just free money that is given to you. It doesn't work that way.
Amie Hendrix: Ninety-nine percent of the time, the process is actually a complicated one.
Paul Szmal: It absolutely is. And it's not. It's writing the grant, which can take many hours just to get the grant. And then once it's in-house, there are terms, conditions, and often it's not just free money. You have to match that fund. So how we have really structured our program is if there's a strategy that we're looking at, if we're looking at, for instance, the comprehensive plan, we've been awarded some funding to do the comprehensive plan. We had already allocated funds to look at rewriting the comp plan, but there's a state funding stream. So why not use those funds and marry them together? It's not very different of what we were planning. It just enhances it and it takes that off the local taxpayer and more into a larger pool.
Amie Hendrix: Yeah. And correct me if I'm wrong. Aren't there some grants that you actually have to essentially front the money and then you're getting the money back?
Paul Szmal: A majority of those grants.
Amie Hendrix: Right. And a majority of them for our business owners. So there's great grant programs like Restore, which allows business owners to put funding into apartments and other things, but they have to front it all and then they receive the money back. So you have to have that cash flow before you can even get that grant, which is definitely a challenge.
Paul Szmal: Speaking of challenges, what's one of the first things once we get through the changeover process here, one of the first things that you and the city council and the mayor want to tackle in 2026?
Amie Hendrix: So I think with one of the opportunities is you have new council members coming on that want to understand the process and systems that have existed. That also gives us a chance as staff is to relook at some of those systems. And so I know that the mayor will be proposing some ad hoc committees to dive a little deeper. And these will be committees that have council members as well as community leaders taking a look at things that maybe they haven't had a chance to fully understand. One of the first ones out of the gate is going to be our finance ad hoc. There's been some, you know, that have talked about the crisis of the city and the debt load's too high while others are saying this is what it takes to run a small city if we want these services. This committee will allow some others to kind of dive into that and see what the staff get to see. What does our cash outlook look like? What does our debt forecast? And how does that compare with other municipalities or not? And where do we want to put some structures in place? Which then will allow council to set some priorities around what their vision is for how we manage those things.
Paul Szmal: All right. Let's take a little bit of a left turn, get away from the nuts and bolts of city government and stuff and talk about New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
Amie Hendrix: Yes. So New Year's Eve, are you eggnog and champagne both or neither?
Paul Szmal: Champagne sometimes, never eggnog.
Amie Hendrix: Never. Okay. I am right there with you, fist bump on that one, because I can't stand eggnog. Me either. I know people that absolutely love it and can't wait till it comes out on the shelves and you won't catch me anywhere near a glass of eggnog or a cup of eggnog, even with alcohol in it.
Paul Szmal: No. Sorry. Just definitely not doing that. So what's on tap for New Year's Eve celebration?
Amie Hendrix: Oh, for New Year's Eve, I am not sure. We still have so many leftovers, which is embarrassing. I talked about having, you know, there's some great restaurant deals tonight and there was a point of anything you order is probably still in our fridge. So it might be a quieter New Year's Eve. We may head downtown though a little bit. Geneva's got some celebrations happening that we'll—
Paul Szmal: Oh yeah. Well, let's talk about that.
Amie Hendrix: Yeah. Yeah. So I know the Linden is having a celebration. There's some other clubs, Esther's Kitchen, if you haven't seen it, has a ball already above there. Or Esther's Son's Kitchen has a glowing ball right on Exchange Street. So there's some celebrations around town for sure.
Paul Szmal: They have just started showing up on my social media. Are they, so forgive my ignorance, are they relatively new or?
Amie Hendrix: Yes and no. So the owner and proprietor has had a downtown presence for quite a while and he moved over to Exchange Street, a long time community representative in Geneva. So definitely up the game a little as they've developed Esther's Son's Kitchen and said goodbye to his previous restaurant.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. It kind of looks like one of those places where it's like, hmm, okay, it's worth checking out.
Amie Hendrix: Absolutely. Okay. So New Year's Day, ham or turkey?
Paul Szmal: Oh, probably neither are my favorite. I am a prime rib kind of girl, but, and seafood.
Amie Hendrix: All right. And again, back to those leftovers, there's still a lot of ham and turkey floating around for the holidays. Football on New Year's Day?
Paul Szmal: Of course.
Amie Hendrix: There you go. There you go. All right. Let me get some picks from you real quick, just off the top. For the college football playoff games, Miami or Ohio State tonight?
Paul Szmal: So my family would say Ohio State, but I'm more of a Miami gal.
Amie Hendrix: I know. You and I are on opposite sides there because I don't like Miami, so.
Paul Szmal: Okay. Orange Bowl, Texas Tech and Oregon?
Amie Hendrix: Let's go with Texas Tech.
Paul Szmal: Okay. They're the number four seed over a five seed in that game.
Amie Hendrix: Yep. Rose Bowl is top ranked Indiana versus Alabama.
Paul Szmal: I'm going to go with Alabama.
Amie Hendrix: Ooh, picking the upset.
Paul Szmal: Yep. Go for it.
Amie Hendrix: Okay. And then finally, the Sugar Bowl is number three, Georgia and number six, Ole Miss.
Paul Szmal: I'm going to go with Georgia.
Amie Hendrix: Okay. Yeah. I'm kind of leaning towards Georgia on that one too, so. Yeah. I had the pleasure of being in New Year's for the Peach Bowl one year when it was Florida State versus Florida, which was a lot of fun. A lot of New Year's Eve.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. I remember that well, actually. That was a pretty wild game, if I remember correctly.
Amie Hendrix: That's correct. Yeah. We've had some wild ones. All right. Well, happy New Year, Amy.
Paul Szmal: Thank you, Paul. And I'll check in with you, let's see, end of the month?
Amie Hendrix: Yeah. End of January. We'll see how the transition has gone and see what's cooking.
Paul Szmal: Sounds like a good plan. Thanks so much, Paul.
Amie Hendrix: All right. Geneva City Manager Amy Hendricks joining us here on FLX Morning. It's 8.27.
