NILES — Mayor Steven Mientkiewicz, reflecting on the second year of his second term as the city’s leader, said it was an “unprecedented year” for projects.

Mientkiewicz noted the completion of Waddell Park’s $5.5 million in upgrades, of which $2.5 million was covered by a federal grant. A ribbon cutting took place in May.

The other major project was starting the Downtown Riverfront Revitalization Project, a $3.5 million project fully funded by the Appalachian Community Grant Program. It encompasses Niles Public Square on the grounds of the former Robins Theater site and the Riverside Park canoe and kayak launch at the corner of First and Brown streets.

“The city has never seen that amount of grant funding, ever. To be able to put the city of Niles’ name on both of those projects, that’s something that I’m very proud of,” Mientkiewicz said. “(Something) I believe that the community is very proud of, and I believe our neighboring cities and townships are viewing that as a ‘wow’ factor in what we’re doing here in the city of Niles.”

Mientkiewicz said those two projects involved years of planning to make proper connections at both the state and federal levels.

“I believe the city now is in a good position, and we’re in the driver’s seat as far as bringing grant dollars back to the city of Niles,” Mientkiewicz said.

COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE

While Mientkiewicz noted the city completed a $400,000 waterline replacement on Johnnycake Road near U.S. 422 / Eastwood Mall, an area that had frequent water main breaks in 2025, he said the improvement of the city’s fire hydrant replacement program was high on his list.

“When I first took office, nearly a third of our fire hydrants were out of service due to lack of maintenance over the years,” Mientkiewicz said. “We made it a priority to budget on an annual basis a certain number of fire hydrants to be replaced.”

Mientkiewicz said the city will enter 2026 with “only a handful” of the city’s 900 fire hydrants in its water system needing replaced, and they are in Niles, Howland and Weathersfield.

In terms of resurfacing, Mientkiewicz said $1.7 million in local streets were able to be repaved, noting the city wasn’t paving anywhere near that prior to him entering office.

He said the city’s goal was to get that number to $1 million, which has been “far exceeded” in 2025 through a mix of local, grant, state and federal funding.

Mientkiewicz said the city looks to build upon that success in 2026, bumping the goal to $2 million.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

Mientkiewicz said that, because the city owns, operates and maintains three utility systems, there’s always room for growth, but some goals can never fully be accomplished because the city’s infrastructure is continually aging.

“We have a certain number of projects that we identify in our capital plans; we’re able to fund those projects, thankfully, but there’s always room to add another project, whether it be a water line project, a sewer line project, or some sort of upgrade to our electric system,” Mientkiewicz said. “The grant dollars only go so far; the dollars recouped through the monthly utility bills only go so far.”

He said the city has to live within its means sometimes, noting that a $2.2 million, 100-foot aerial ladder truck for the city’s fire department set to arrive in 2026 and purchased to replace one purchased in 1998, was a culmination of eight years of savings.

“There’s never going to be enough funding to complete everything you want to do within a one-year span — it’s a long-term game,” Mientkiewicz said. “It’s making sure that the city’s coffers are flush and you’re not deficit spending, and you’re shifting taxpayer dollars and utility rate payer dollars to the appropriate means that will, in the long run, benefit the Niles community.”

LOOKING AT 2026

Mientkiewicz said the city looks to build upon its progress, starting with community redevelopment by revitalizing the city’s downtown area to attract and retain businesses.

He said a long-term vacancy, the old Dollar General building on Main Street, was purchased by two owners “excited” to revitalize the space.

“We have something new going in with Niles Public Square, and now we have — hopefully a solution — with the new owners, a solution to a long-term vacancy next to Niles Public Square,” Mientkiewicz said. “We’re excited to continue our neighborhood demolition program, and we’re excited for the Appalachian Community Grant, Riverside Park and House Public Square to be completed in 2026.”

Mientkiewicz said the city is also investing in public safety, reiterating the arrival of the new ladder truck, but also the expansion of the Flock license plate reader cameras, going up to 30 in their entire system.

“Whether it be around the Eastwood Mall, around our schools, around our parks or the entrances and the exits to the city — our enhanced Flock system will catch you, and you will be charged if you do something wrong,” he said.

Mientkiewicz said Niles was one of the first communities to implement Flock cameras, with other communities following their lead.

“The beauty about Flock, it’s all interconnected; so whether it be an issue in Niles or Weathersfield, or Girard or Youngstown — those Flock cameras all talk to each other,” Mientkiewicz said. “They all work as one to promote safety within the individual communities.”