Murrysville council appoints community development director, approves volunteer service credit list

Murrysville Borough Council unanimously appointed Emily Malice as director of community development and approved the 2024 volunteer service credit eligibility lists for the Murrysville Volunteer Fire Company and White Valley Volunteer Fire Company.

Council member made a motion to appoint Emily Malice as community development director; the motion was seconded and carried with no recorded opposition. Chief administrator Mister Nistica said Malice has served the municipality in an engineering role for more than seven years and that the borough has budgeted a top‑end salary near $103,000 for the community development director position.

Nistica told council the borough plans to hire a deputy director who is expected to start March 10 to support the department and help transition duties so Malice can take on a director role while continuing some engineering responsibilities. “The municipality budgeted just generally speaking for the community development director somewhere in the range of a $103,000 as a top end number,” he said.

Council also voted to authorize the volunteer service credit list for 2024. The chief administrator estimated roughly 15 eligible volunteers from Murrysville and about six or seven from White Valley; council discussed that some volunteer fire personnel live outside the borough and are therefore ineligible for the service credit program. Nistica said staff will explore options such as a stipend and assess budgetary impacts, and council indicated it expects to hear more on that topic in the near future.

Both motions passed unanimously with no votes recorded against either action.