Millvale hopes to have a new borough manager hired by summer, council President James Machajewski said.
At its Feb. 10 meeting, council voted 6-0 to engage Public Partners, a program of the Allegheny League of Municipalities, to conduct a search for a manager. Councilman Al Atkinson was absent.
The borough set a limit of $5,000 that it will pay for the service.
Millvale has not had a permanent manager since Ed Figas resigned in April as part of a settlement agreement. Joe Kypta, assistant manager and public works supervisor, has been serving as interim manager.
Figas has not responded to requests for comment. He has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.
Millvale has blamed Figas for mismanaging and not informing council of the borough’s true financial condition, leading to the borough seeking emergency approval to borrow up to $2 million to pay past debts.
Allegheny County Judge John T. McVay Jr. approved the borough’s request after hearings on Jan. 15 and Feb. 3. The length of the loan cannot exceed 10 years.
“I find that the need to fund unfunded debt arose from the previous borough manager’s failure to disclose interfund transfers to councilmembers,” McVay’s order says. “Decreased tax collections, higher insurance premiums, pension obligations and public safety expenses contributed to the unfunded debt.”
Without the loan, borough officials had said they would be forced to shut down all municipal services, endangering public health and safety.
Millvale will be looking for a manager with a financial background as well as prior public administrative service, Machajewski said.
While Machajewski said a search may take about three months, a precise timeline won’t be known until after borough officials meet with Public Partners.
“It’s been a while since we had a manager search,” he said.
After a manager is hired, Kypta will return to his posts as assistant manager and public works supervisor, Machajewski said.
