SHADYSIDE — A familiar face rejoined Shadyside Village Council on Monday, following the sudden resignation of longtime councilman Tim Merryman during a special meeting last week.

During last week’s meeting, council members responded to a challenge from Litman Excavating & Construction and reversed its previous decision to award a bid for a major water upgrade to Ohio-West Virginia Excavating.

Sam Carpina, who had completed a term on council at the end of 2021, was nominated and sworn in to fill out the remainder of Merryman’s term. Carpina had been off of council for about five months. Merryman had just been re-elected, and his term ends in 2025.

After the meeting, Carpina said his prior four-year term had been his first venture into politics. He said he could not run last year due to issues with turning in his paperwork to the Belmont County Board of Elections.

“I care about the village,” he said, adding he wants to “give back to the community.”

He will serve on the finance committee, which Merryman had served on, and look into others.

“I’m getting my foot back in and wet again,” he said.

Carpina said there are many important projects to be addressed in the near future, with the water upgrades now awarded to Litman leading the way. Other priorities include obtaining funds for vehicles, equipment and road maintenance.

“Everything’s a challenge anymore with money,” he said.

Carpina comes from a career as a construction worker.

“I like to build stuff and make stuff,” he said.

Mayor Robert Newhart said council has tha authority to appoint replacement members and was not required to advertise the position.

“Mr. Carpina went off of council last fall and expressed an interest to come back on,” he said. Newhart said Merryman had not given him a reason for his decision to resign, and he had been on council for more than 10 years.

“If there’s one lesson we can learn about Tim leaving, it’s that we’ve got to stop dragging our feet. I guess that’s part of the reason that I was quick to make a nomination to fill the seat,” Councilman Nick Ferrelli said during the meeting.

The water upgrade project is an extensive one, including 76 new valves to isolate different areas of the village in order to shut off water service in a particular area in the event of a line break. In addition, a 12-inch line will be run from wells on the opposite side of the railroad tracks to replace one dating from 1965.

Shadyside dealt with depressurization issues in 2018, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency mandated an upgrade. The village has received several extensions on the OEPA order, including one this year.

Village Solicitor Thomas Ryncarz said council was accepting Litman’s bid of $973,434, with an increase of $40,000 over the original bid. The bids had expired after 60 days, and the increase reflects higher costs due to inflation and supply chain problems.

“The ordinance was for the original bid, and they’ll be a changeover for the increase in cost,” he said.

In other matters, Councilman Mike Meintel and Councilwoman Melanie Haswell said they were close to forming a grant writing committee along with Ranae Teasdale, assistant water and sewer superintendent, to look into potential projects to take advantage of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s plan to invest $500 million in 32 Appalachian counties, including Belmont County.

“We’re waiting to find out where the money is going to be allocated, where it’s going to go,” Haswell said afterward. “A grant committee takes time. There’s a lot of other things that have to be invested into it. We want to make use of money that’s out there, because there is a lot out there. … We’re not letting any money go that could come to our town.”

Also, fire hydrants will be flushed during the first two weeks of June.