Longtime Shadyside Mayor Robert Newhart, left, passes the gavel onto incoming Mayor Mike Meintel. T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA

SHADYSIDE — 2025 was not a smooth year for Shadyside Village Council.

For the better half of the year, the meetings were full of infighting which led to residents feeling like the council wasn’t being transparent with the community.

In April, former council member Nick Ferrelli was charged with menacing by stalking the village administrator Erica Tamburin. The battle between Ferrelli and Tamburin led to Ferrelli being sentenced to two years of probation, a $100 fine and court costs.

After being absent for a significant chunk of the 2025 year, Tamburin resigned from her position in October. She resigned by letter sent by her attorney Patrick Cassidy.

“My client appreciates the efforts of nearly all of Shadyside council members in working with her and attempting to provide reasonable accommodations to her schedule due to personal issues with a former council member and his allies that have become very public, notwithstanding the fact that she is not, and never considered herself to be a ‘public figure’ as a result of her employment as village administrator,” as stated in Cassidy’s letter sent to village solicitor Kelly Kotur.

The letter further stated that Tamburin does not consider her resignation to be voluntary but rather a forced resignation. It added that although she considers the resignation to be forced she does not believe it is of any fault of the village itself. She has since been hired by the city of Wellsburg as its city manager.

Ferrelli and Tamburin weren’t the only legal issues the village was plagued with.

In December of 2024, councilman Sam Carpino was the subject of a criminal investigation stemming from his purchase of a tractor owned by a public board.

The allegation of wrongdoing against Carpino originally came to light when a village employee was reviewing finance records and noticed the sale. This past July, Carpino informed council that the Ohio Auditor’s Office report cleared him of wrongdoing in a criminal investigation into his 2022 purchase of a tractor owned by a public board.

The report states that the village did not pass an ordinance authorizing the sale of the tractor, and that the tractor was not for sale through a public auction or advertised for a public bid. It also found that the transaction was arranged privately and not through a competitive process designed to yield the highest and best price. It also recommended that Shadyside develop and formally adopt a comprehensive policy for the disposal of all capital assets.

Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan said criminal charges were never filed against Carpino, but his office has not declined the possibility of filing charges once he receives the full investigation report. He added that his office asked for cooperation from an outside agency in reviewing the facts of Carpino’s investigation.

In addition to the chaos, longtime Mayor Robert Newhart decided to not seek re-election and retire in 2025.

Councilman Mike Meintel and former council member Nick Ferrelli both ran to be his replacement in the November election with Meintel winning with 676 votes to Ferrelli’s 253.

During Newhart’s final meeting on Dec. 17, Ferrelli wished Newhart a farewell and good luck to Meintel. Both he and Meintel agreed that the village needs to come together to be the best for the village.

“Thank you for your years of service to the village. It was great working with both of you and I’m glad that I got to know the two of you over the last several years and got to work with you,” Ferrelli said. “Hopefully, we did a little bit of good at some point. I know we did some bad too, but I just wanted to wish you two the best in your time once you’re gone.”

In addition to Newhart retiring, Carpino, who served for seven years, was not re-elected this past November. He was defeated by council member-elect John Longwell who will take over on council at the start of the year.