T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Shadyside attorney Tom Ryncarz, left, and Village Administrator Erica Tamburin, discuss legal matters Monday. Ryncarz said the village was unable to “cap” funds expended for the burial or cremation of indigents.

SHADYSIDE — Village leaders are considering a proposal to establish a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area after Adam Lucci, owner of the Central Grille, approached council about the possibility at a recent meeting.

Mayor Bob Newhart on Monday said he would discuss the matter further with Lucci.

“We would have to set the area of where the DORA is, and it’s very complicated,” he said. “We have to have police protection. We have to have sanitation, which I’m assuming is outhouses and garbage cans, and we would have to set procedure for each time DORA is used.”

Councilman Nick Ferrelli disapproved of the idea.

“Honestly I don’t like any part of it,” he said. “I don’t think any proposal that they’re ever going to come up with is going to get my vote. I don’t see it happening.”

Village Attorney Tom Ryncarz said he is researching DORAs in Bellaire and in other villages.

He said a map of the proposed DORA must be provided.

“It’s pretty detailed,” he said. “I’ve looked at them online, and they are very detailed, where the boundaries are set. They’ve got to put signs up. There are so many things.”

Ryncarz said there also must be public notices and a public hearing.

“We’ve got to see if there’s a desire for this,” he said. “These are all steps that we’re going to have to see.”

He said, for example, if someone wanted to establish a DORA during the Loop Fest, the festival committee would have to be consulted.

Police Chief Don Collette said definite parameters would be needed.

“They’re not getting it ’til I know all the facts about what’s going on,” he said. “Nobody’s walking around Shadyside with open containers and alcohol in cups, floating like Mardi Gras. It ain’t going to happen, because I sign the permit and my officers are responsible for what goes on.”

Colette said prior instances such as a beer garden and drinking in restaurants or the American Legion were “contained.”

Ferrelli agreed.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to see letting certain businesses close the street down and basically use a portion of the street as their property,” Ferrelli said.

In other matters, Ryncarz reported he has looked into the proposal of “capping” funds that can be expended for burying or cremating an indigent individual. In the past, the cost has been in the range of $1,200.

Ryncarz said an attempt to cap the amount would conflict with Ohio Revised Code Section 9.15.

“My opinion is we cannot do it, and if someone tells me another village passed an ordinance that caps it, they’re violating the law,” he said. “It’s not legal, that’s all I can say.”

Village Administrator Erica Tamburin reported the village has received $270,000 of a $300,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Development for the water system upgrade. The remaining $30,000 will be issued to the village once Shadyside provides paperwork indicating the project is complete. However, she said while the contractor, Litman Excavating, is saying the contract that began in 2022 is completed and the business is requesting payment, the village is dissatisfied with Litman Excavating and the consultant firm ADR & Associates.

The village has made a payment of $122,000, with about $146,000 outstanding. Tamburin said she has supplied a list of items the village does not believe have been properly completed. According to the list, the village intends to withhold $27,025.33 for expenses, including village employees having to monitor the chlorinator for the past four months. Other items apparently in need of completion include repairs to a backwash pipe, replacing all seals and re-torquing flat flanges at the water plant, and bringing the chlorinator into proper operation, at a total estimated cost of $14,500.

“Obviously they feel the job is completed, according to them,” she said.