SHADYSIDE — The village is eyeing potential funding opportunities and will take a more organized approach to seeking out resources.

Among the possibilities is a partnership with Pultney Township to apply for joint Ohio Public Works Commission projects.

Council began Monday’s meeting by hearing from Jerry Miller, an engineer with M&S Consulting — a firm that has worked with the village, the Shadyside Local School District, and other local organizations on occasion.

Miller said there is funding available from a wide variety of sources, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the American Rescue Plan and the Belomar Regional Council, but he said the most likely recipients will be those entities with planning and organization.

“At the end of the day, you’re competing against other communities, and if you don’t have a capital plan or a comprehensive plan, and if you don’t know the problems you have in the village and prioritize them and look at them and say, ‘Here’s what it’s going to take to solve those problems and here’s what it’s going to cost,’ you are not going to get grants, loans, anything, because other communities are doing these things. … These agencies want to know that you’ve studied the problem and know what it costs. They don’t want to give you a half a million dollars for a project and find out it only fixes half the problem. … This all has to have a strategy behind it. You can’t just pick and choose.”

Council decided to form a grant writing committee, composed of Councilman Mike Meintel, Councilwoman Melanie Haswell and a member of the water board.

Afterward, Meintel, a new council member, said he was happy to volunteer.

“I got on council for the betterment of Shadyside, and what’s a better way to help Shadyside than to go after grants and bring money?” he said.

Council members also noted the importance of listing and prioritizing projects, seeking input about the needs of the village, and creating an overall “vision.”

“We need to send out an email and get everybody’s ideas,” Meintel said. “We get everybody’s input.”

“Mike and I being new, we want to come in and we want to do what’s best for Shadyside,” said Haswell, who is also a member of the Vision of Shadyside community improvement organization.

“We want a better Shadyside. It’s already good, but we want to better it.”

Meintel added that Hillview park behind the football field has the potential for different projects, but there are abandoned coal mines in the area that must be inspected, as well as other details that must be worked out.

“We’re trying to work with the council and the schools for something to work on and to work together,” Haswell said.

Council then heard from Pultney Township Trustees Mark Cervelli and John LaRoche and road foreman Smoke Liberati, who proposed jointly applying for funding for projects through OPWC.

Cervelli said Shadyside could work with the township to seek funding for pavement on West Central Avenue, East 34th Street and Hart Street, along with catch basins and storm sewers.

“They can also add to those three streets and other areas,” he explained. “It would be a joint application. … What you’re trying to do is increase the request amount of the grant in order to have a better chance of getting better subcommittee points at the county level. … That’s why I want to meet with their committee. I don’t think they’ve ever had a grant-writing committee.”

Afterward, Mayor Bob Newhart said council would consider likely projects.

Cervelli said the cost of paving the three streets would likely be about $150,000.

It might not be possible to have an engineer’s estimate and an application in for this coming Aug. 1 deadline. If the application is in by August, they should know if it is successful by November and receive funding the following July. A local match would be at least 26 percent.

Also, council gave permission for a car show in honor of Jim Kovalo, a longtime community member who died recently. The car show will be on Central Avenue from 41st to 43rd Streets on July 4, with a rain date of July 11.