GENEVA, Ohio — Geneva-on-the-Lake is dealing with erosion issues that could cause a historic museum to fall into Lake Erie in a few years. The city needs nearly $1 million to continue erosion prevention efforts.
“You don't beat Mother Nature,” said Geneva-On-The-lake resident Duane Fear. "You work with Mother Nature and adapt to Mother Nature.”
Fear was a Geneva State Park ranger and has lived on the Lake Erie shoreline for decades.
“Anything we can do to protect the shoreline is important,” Fear said.
To protect that peace, Fear and his neighbors invested $45,000 of their own money in break walls to prevent their homes from becoming one with Lake Erie.
“We've taken measures here in the last two years to put in armor stone along to create a toe along the steal wall,” Fear added.
Lake conditions have contributed to shoreline erosion over the years. Because of millions in federal funding and a taxpayer-passed levy in 2020, Phase 1 and 2 of Geneva-On-The-Lake's Erosion Protection Project are complete. However, it doesn't end there. This warmer winter accelerated the erosion due to almost no freezing along the lake.
The village has new plans to redevelop the West Side of the lake at Township Park to make it more of a destination for families, but all of that comes at a price.
“Recently we asked for $850,000, that will bring a new concept,” said Jeremy Shaffer. “It will have habitat creation, create some public space and will push out into the water a little bit a break wall to be able to protect that long term instead of just the emergency we've been able to do the last couple years.”
Despite Phase 3 awaiting funding, yet another financial challenge lies ahead. The latest spot bearing the brunt of the disappearing shoreline is the Geneva Lake Museum, which is a historical society property. The shoreline has eroded 20 feet in the last two months.
“If we don't do anything to stop erosion, it's going (to be) at the back of the house in the next couple of years,” Shaffer added.
Shaffer said the state of Ohio currently has $75,000 in the capital budget to help Geneva save the museum's shoreline but it still hasn't been approved.
As Mother Nature continues to run its course, the best solution remains is one nature can't provide.
“Without any kind of help from state and federal government, the cost is just unbearable for a little town our size,” said Shaffer.
Geneva-On-The-Lake requested the needed $850,000 worth of federal funding from Senator Sherrod Brown and Congressman Dave Joyce. News 5 reached out to both of them for a comment on where the request stands. Brown's team told us, “He is aware of the issue and is speaking regularly with local officials and working on solutions to the problem.”
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