Lower Burrell’s longtime zoning and ordinance officer, Michael Nedley, has a plaque by his desk that reads “Love Thy Neighbor.” It’s a gift from his secretary, who knows what he’s had to deal with over the years.

After more than 32 years of listening to neighbor-on-neighbor complaints about high grass and junked cars — as well as enforcing city zoning, ordinances, state building codes and more — Nedley is set to retire at the end of May.

He will miss the people he worked with — at least four mayors, four city clerks and five police chiefs.

But it won’t be hard to leave behind the feuding between neighbors over property maintenance issues.

“People don’t always get along with each other, and that’s why they call,” he said. “But, really, it’s been an honor and a privilege to serve the community.”

In the end, for Nedley, it is the people he worked with to build what are landmark developments in the city that matter most to him.

Among those projects is the $3.3 million renovation of city hall, for which Nedley served as project manager. More than two decades ago, he started work with city officials and community volunteers to develop Wolf Pack Park, which later became Kotecki Park.

Code enforcement was Nedley’s second career.

A Lower Burrell native, he worked in Pittsburgh in the building trades. Everything changed Nov. 17, 1988, with a Route 28 truck crash that shattered his hip and caused other trauma. Though he did not suffer a permanent disability, the injuries left him unable to pursue the physically demanding work he was in.

With his building trade knowledge, he said, he “lucked out” by finding a position with the city.

Over the decades, Nedley watched the development of single-family homes in the 1990s give way to condos in the 2000s. Building a new home with costs of $500,000 and up is getting out of reach for the average person, he noted. In his later years, the city, as with other communities, has been combating blight in the city’s older neighborhoods, such as Braeburn and Kinloch.

One of Nedley’s favorite moments was found in developing Kotecki Park.

Purchased in 2000, city officials agreed to buy the acreage for what was then known as Wolf Pack Park from resident Augie Moret. Nedley and then-Councilman Rich Kotecki were instrumental in acquiring the land.

“It was evident that many residents wanted the park when more than 300 people showed up to clean up the site,” Nedley said.

Former Lower Burrell Mayor Don Kinosz said, “Mike was the driver. He took the bull by the horns and started designs.”

City resident Bill Herman, now executive director of the New Kensington Redevelopment Authority, designed the park, Nedley said.

At that time, the city didn’t have the athletic fields the public wanted, Kinosz said.

“When we first went down there, everything we pictured — bocce court, soccer, baseball and softball fields, a one-mile trail — came into existence,” Nedley said.

Former city Councilman Frank Trozzi, who was elected in 2004 and headed up the city’s parks commission, credited Nedley with mentoring him in the development of Kotecki Park.

“The park is a beautiful landmark of the city, and everyone should be proud,” he said.

The name changed from Wolf Pack to Officer Derek Kotecki Memorial Park in 2013 after Kotecki’s murder in the line of duty in 2011. He was the son of Rich Kotecki.

Then-police Chief Tim Weitzel commissioned and had a new park entrance installed.

“Every time I drive past, I think about both Koteckis,” Nedley said.

For his retirement, Nedley said he intends to spoil his grandchildren and ride his Harley-Davidson.

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