T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Shadyside council member John Longwell informs council that the second round of nuisance property ordinance letters will soon be going out to residents with trash in their yards.

SHADYSIDE — The second round of nuisance property ordinance letters soon will be going out to residents with trash in their yards within the village of Shadyside.

On Monday evening, council member John Longwell said the village has been pleased with the ongoing cleanups.

He added that council has been holding off on the second round of letters to make sure Mayor’s Court would not get too backed up. Longwell said council also wanted to leave space between the first and second rounds of letters to iron out any kinks in the process.

“We just turned them in, and there’s probably 40 properties, and there’ll be new letters going out very soon,” Longwell said.

This past March, an ordinance passed by council went into effect defining what a nuisance property is while aiming to eliminate “junk” in residents’ yards.

Letters were then sent to residents who needed to clean up their properties, and they have 10 days after receiving the notice to comply.

If residents do not comply within 10 days, a $100-per-day fine is imposed until the property is cleaned up.

During Monday’s council meeting, council member Melanie Haswell asked Mayor Mike Meintel and Longwell whether either was aware of the status of the blighted property that formerly housed Blossoms Bakeshop.

“I know, we’ve been trying to figure that out about the bakery, like, who owns it? Why doesn’t somebody sell it?” Haswell said.

Longwell replied that he recently discovered there are unpaid back taxes owed on the property. He added that because of the delinquent taxes, the issue is not a village matter but a Belmont County matter.

DeFelice Pizza Bros. owner Dominic DeFelice, who attended the meeting, said the former bakery is next to his pizza shop’s Shadyside location and that he previously tried to purchase the property but was unable to make progress with the former owner.

Village Solicitor Kelly Kotur said she could reach out to the Belmont County Prosecutor’s Office to see whether the property is on its radar and could potentially be included in the county’s next delinquent tax sale.

“So does it just sit there until that gets straightened out?” Haswell asked.

Longwell replied that it does because he believes the former bakery is currently behind about $16,000 in taxes.

“The building’s in very bad shape. When I was up there the other day, the side next to Dom’s was down to the studs,” Meintel said. “It has a lot of water damage. It’s probably going to start collapsing.”

Longwell added that he and Kotur are still in the early stages of discussing fines for residents with unkempt grass that would be comparable to a parking ticket.

He said the fines would not be handled through the nuisance property ordinance and that a separate ordinance would need to be passed.

Kotur said she could have an ordinance written for the next council meeting, and council could decide whether it would like to adopt an ordinance fining residents for overgrown grass.

Longwell added that he would also like to see overgrown grass, weeds, abandoned vehicles and inoperable vehicles covered under the proposed ordinance.

Kotur replied that when dealing with unkempt grass or abandoned vehicles, time is often of the essence. She said having an ordinance in place would allow issues to be resolved much more quickly than sending letters to residents.