STEUBENVILLE — In less than three weeks, Steubenville will have a new fire chief.

Carlo Capaldi, who’s held the job since 2012, will retire effective July 17.

After Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Capaldi said he’ll administer the chief’s oath to his successor, Assistant Chief Robert Ribar, the day before his retirement — July 16 — along with Capt. Seve Schaefer, who will move up to assistant chief and Firefighter Robert Gaffney, who will take over as fire captain.

All three appointments will take effect July 18.

Capaldi, who joined the fire department in August 1992, said he has absolutely no regrets about devoting 33 working years to public safety.

“We have had our share of challenges, good times and bad,” he said after the meeting. “But it was worth it in the end. I would do it all (33 years) over again if given the chance.”

Capaldi said he’s “worked with great people throughout my career.”

“(And) I received a lot of help along the way,” he added. “It was an honor and privilege to serve with all of the members of the Steubenville Fire Department, past and present.”

Capaldi was asked by council to meet Tuesday with them behind closed doors following the public portion of the meeting to discuss his successor. The succession order for fire chief, however, is dictated by city charter, which mandates that any candidate for the chief’s position have either a bachelor’s degree in public administration or fire/rescue-related field plus five years of experience in a supervisory role (assistant chief or captain) or an associate degree in public safety administration or a fire/rescue-related field plus 10 years of experience in a supervisory role (assistant chief or captain). Chiefs also must be fully licensed for fire fighting in Ohio.

Council, meanwhile, grumbled that only two of 10 water features at their splash pad in Jim Wood Park are “kind of working,” doubly troubling since the pool at Belleview Park is undergoing major repairs and upgrades and may only open for two weeks at the end of the season.

State inspectors signed off on the work done thus far at the pool Monday, City Manager Jim Mavromatis said. All new concrete will be poured July 10, then they’ll have to wait 28 days for it to cure.

Council members were upset that they learned of the malfunctioning splash pad through social media, not a departmental report.

“I don’t know what the issue is, why some of those (malfunctioning features) weren’t fixed or have not been fixed, being as it’s the only water, public water, thing we have going on in the city right now,” First Ward Councilman Dave Albaugh said, adding he’d like Parks & Recreation Supervisor Lori Fetherolf to “try to explain a little bit more about why the splash pads are in such bad disrepair.”

Third Ward Councilwoman Heather Hoover and Councilman at large Joel Walker also weighed in, with Hoover saying they know Fetherolf “is doing the best that (she) can, but our parks are a constant issue, especially in the summertime.” Fetherolf, though, has long voiced frustration that her capital budget for the year is just $100,000, and while she does her best to stretch it “it doesn’t go far.”

“It’s unfortunate it’s sweltering outside, and our kids have nowhere to go because our pool is down and that’s no one’s fault, except for the crew in 1989 that ‘fixed’ that deck in 1989,” Hoover said. “But you know, we should be managing our parks a little bit better so that our residents and our children have somewhere nice to go and play during the summer months.”

Walker said people have told him the splash pad “hasn’t worked properly since last year, and if that’s an issue … it’s never been brought to our attention that it needs fixed or any

Fourth Ward Councilman Royal Mayo said while they have no supervisor authority, “we can get the funds allocated so it can be repaired. Maintenance needs to be done on it.”

Mavromatis said since council has indicated a willingness to pay for the repairs, he will bring them price quotes next week for the water feature repairs as well as to put a concrete apron around it, which would reduce problems with mud clogging the splash pad.

“I’ll bring you the bill that it’s going to take to fix it,” he said. “Apparently there’s a board, a computer board, that controls the way those things (raise up),” he said. “The other thing is, you need to have a concrete area (to) keep the mud from being put in

Mavromatis said Steubenville’s park board is planning to ask council to put a recreation levy on the ballot.