SHADYSIDE — Mike Meintel, now at the helm of Shadyside village leadership, presided over his first meeting as mayor on Wednesday as council met for the first time in 2026. His message was direct — a turbulent 2025 plagued by infighting, internal issues and scandal is in the past and village leaders are looking to a brighter future.

“Today is a new day in Shadyside. I want to make that perfectly clear,” Meintel said. “In the last three years, we haven’t done anything for citizens in this town, me included. But we are moving forward. That is all behind us. We are moving forward and we are going to make Shadyside a better community and give the citizens and taxpayers what they want.”

In the spirit of moving forward, council voted unanimously to eliminate the position of village manager and implement a Board of Public Affairs (BPA) instead. Council held a brief discussion before the vote, with all members agreeing that — while there are benefits to having a village manager — replacing village administrator Erica Tamburin, who resigned in October, is simply not in the budget. Meintel cited the failure of the replacement levy in November and the subsequent loss of $94,000 from the operating budget as one of the main reasons to shift to a BPA.

“We lost the levy of 1.35 mill and it put us pretty thin with the budget. We got to watch what we are hiring. We are very cognizant of the budget,” Meintel said. “I like having a village administrator but it’s just not feasible right now.”

Council passed the abolition ordinance as an emergency, requiring no second or third reading. Councilwoman Melanie Haswell said the levy is being placed back on the May ballot and is hopeful the village administrator position can be reinstated if it passes.

The three-member BPA — Dan Janovich, Greg Brooks and Clyde Yates Jr. — was appointed by Meintel and approved by the council.

“These three individuals I believe are highly qualified. They have experience,” Meintel said. “And I think they all are three hardworkers.”

In the spirit of improving the village, Meintel and council also announced plans to resurrect and revamp efforts to clean up Shadyside, passing the first reading of a nuisance property ordinance that Meintel said would be strictly enforced.

“People who live in Shadyside want to live in a clean town. They want to live in a town that they are proud of,” Meintel said. “As a taxpayer you should not have to take care of your property and live next to a property that has high grass, weeds out of control, brush out of control, garbage, junk cars covered up with tarps. Those days are gone.”

“I have to do what is right for Shadyside. There are not going to be any side deals. The ‘good old boys club’ is done in the town,” he added. “I am going to support our boys in blue. If they write a ticket, if they write a citation or if our code enforcer brings somebody in front of mayor’s court, I am going to support them.”

Ordinance 1889 will “amend and update the nuisance regulations” in the village and repeal and replace the existing nuisance property code.

Councilman John Longwell, who chairs the village’s new property maintenance committee, explained that the objective of the committee is to identify properties within the village that have become nuisances due to neglect, weeds, junk cars and garbage accumulation. The committee will also follow up on nuisance notifications and citations.

Longwell said the village worked with the city of Defiance, which has “been successfully utilizing” an ordinance that mirrors the one Shadyside will implement. Longwell said the ordinance focuses on residential and commercial properties and addresses stored garbage, openly stored building materials not related to current projects at that address, junk cars and trailers, dilapidated fencing and damaged gutters and downspouts, among other issues.

“These are just a few examples and failure to cure all deficiencies will result in fines and other penalties. We will no longer look past these issues and allow the property owner to simply pay a small fine and hope it will go away,” Longwell said. “We will work with people, especially the poor or people who can not afford to do certain things, for sure, but there are not going to be any exceptions.”

Meintel added he has been in contact with local churches to create a program that would help elderly and disabled residents clean up or repair properties.