T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Shadyside resident Joseph Chacko, standing, complains about the state of Salva Drive on Monday, asking that council consider paving it.

SHADYSIDE — Village Council heard from several residents Monday who brought up concerns about paving, parking and village codes.

Council heard from Joseph Chacko, who presented a petition signed by 14 people asking the village to pave Salva Drive, which he said is in poor condition.

“The last time this street was paved was in the summer of 1988,” he said. “If you would go up there and see it, especially on a rainy day like this … it would look like World War II fighter planes came down with rockets and 20 mm cannons and 50-caliber machine guns and shot the whole street up.”

Councilman Nick Ferrelli said the normal procedure would be for residents to pay for any work done by an outside paving firm by having the cost placed on their property taxes.

“If you guys … pay to have it paved, we’re not going to patch it. That needs to be decided first,” Ferrelli said.

“I’d prefer one where I don’t have to pay anything, since I’m retired,” Chacko said, adding he often deals with medical issues.

Street Commissioner Mike DiFabrizio said the road could be included among the village’s upcoming paving projects rather than having it professionally paved. DiFabrizio said the village would have to wait until Wilson Blacktop in Martins Ferry begins making paving material. He would not speculate when the work might begin and end or about the potential cost.

Afterward, he said costs likely will be increased due to rising fuel prices.

“Our intention is to drop and spread asphalt,” DiFabrizio said. “We’re not a paving company.”

Also, Dan Janovich of Hill View Drive again brought up two signs at the New Life Fellowship Church, which he said exceed the maximum allowed size of 12 square feet. He said he measured one of the signs at 60 square feet.

“There are some mistakes made and how to rectify them?” Janovich said.

“There’s nothing to rectify. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not an issue,” Ferrelli said.

There was discussion regarding whether a variance had been granted and if both signs were covered by the application for the building permit.

Councilwoman Melanie Haswell said the two signs have been in place since 2001. Mayor Bob Newhart afterward said the church replaced the signs this past fall. Council noted the old signs had been in poor condition.

“If they’re replacing a sign, a sign would have already been approved previous to that, for that sign to be there,” Village Attorney Tom Ryncarz said, adding a variance might have been granted earlier. “You can’t replace something that wasn’t approved previously.”

There was some discussion about whether the new signs were smaller than the prior ones. Ferrelli said the pastor told him one of the new signs was smaller. Janovich said he does not believe this to be the case and said it seems the application was for one sign replacement, not two.

“Let me ask you this, would you like a small billboard in front of your house across the street?” Janovich asked. “Do two wrongs make a right?”

Ferrelli said this was a non-issue and a waste of time.

“It’s not a problem, it’s a fabricated problem and we do that all the time in this town. We fabricate ridiculous problems for no reason so that we can solve them and make ourselves look like geniuses,” Ferrelli said. “Why did it just become a problem after 21 years?”

“‘Cause the signs are a lot bigger now, and there’s two of them,” Janovich said.

Council members commented that it might be necessary to look into prior permits to see if a variance had been granted.

Meanwhile, Principal Cynthia Caldwell of Jefferson Elementary School also spoke about the issue of traffic around the school and asked if lines could be painted for parking spaces around the school to better regulate parking. She also said parents have been parking around the school for excessive lengths of time. Council will monitor the situation.