Murrysville chief administrator prepares to welcome successor, move into new role

Patrick Varine
Thursday, June 16, 2022 10:43 a.m. | Thursday, June 16, 2022 10:43 a.m.

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Courtesy of Michael Nestico

Tarentum Manager Michael Nestico has resigned to take an administrative post in Murrysville. His last day in the borough was June 3.

Tribune-Review file

Jim Morrison has served as chief administrator for Murrysville twice during his career.

Outgoing Tarentum Borough Manager Michael Nestico is eager to rebuild ties with Westmoreland County when he assumes the position of top administrator in Murrysville this month.

A resident of Jeannette, Nestico worked as an attorney and municipal manager there before taking the reins in Tarentum five years ago.

“I’m looking forward to renewing many of the professional relationships with county and state officials in the area,” he said. “It was difficult to transition away from Westmoreland County, so I’m excited to come back to where I have a lot of familiarity.”

Murrysville Chief Administrator Jim Morrison will be leaving for a second time, having worked in the municipality from 1993-‘97 before moving the private sector and returning in 2009.

“I had a good career in the private sector, but I was trained to work in the public sector and always enjoyed it,” Morrison said.

During Morrison’s first stint with Murrysville, he said the municipality “was in more of a suburban growth mode.”

“It was developing also on the administrative side — we built the municipal building and put the public works building in,” he said. “And we were putting procedures in place to secure the future for a growing community.”

Since returning in 2009, Morrison said, he’s most proud of work put into developing Murrysville Community Park, as well as securing a project coordinating Route 22 corridor traffic signals.

“Putting in place the earned income tax increase was also big,” he said. “That will help the municipality move forward and be less dependent on real estate taxes, which are always an issue with school districts and local governments nowadays.”

Morrison attended his final council meeting as chief administrator on June 1, but will be attending council meetings once Nestico takes over as part of a transition. He will also have a second role as the municipality’s community development coordinator.

Nestico was paid about $85,000 in Tarentum. His salary in Murrysville will be $117,000.

He said the job in Murrysville came at the right time.

“I’m very thankful for the opportunity ahead and excited to get started,” he said.

Morrison said he’s thankful to have worked with a great group of people over the years.

“I think we’ve had elected officials who’ve always served with the community’s best interest at heart,” he said. “That’s one of the most important things — getting quality people not just in elected positions but on our staff, boards and commissions.”