As a member of Leetsdale council, Paul Scimio has attended a lot of borough council meetings in the past 15 years, but tonight he'll attend his first as borough manager.

Mr. Scimio was hired last month by council, the first manager of the borough since Leetsdale was incorporated in 1904. Before the hiring, council members jointly managed the 1.02-square-mile municipality in northwestern Allegheny County.

Mr. Scimio will earn $57,200 a year and will be the third highest paid borough employee.

The position was created to give a single point of accountability for the overall operation of the borough, said council President Roger Nanni.

"The borough has been run with council making virtually all the day-to-day decisions," Mr. Nanni said. "We have seven council members, all of whom have full-time jobs. Several of these jobs require at least some travel [and] several of these jobs have varied schedules."

Leetsdale's budget has increased more than 400 percent since his first year on council, and in the past five years, it has had more than $20 million in capital projects, something he believes is rare in a community of Leetsdale's size. This is another reason why a full-time manager made sense to council members, he said.

Mr. Scimio said council was looking for someone who had government experience and management skills. In addition to his more than 15 years on council, Mr. Scimio worked in general operations in construction, where he was in charge of project management, inventory control and personnel management. All of those skills are needed by a borough manager, he said.

Mr. Scimio wasn't at the Aug. 13 meeting when borough council chose him for the job because he was on vacation with his family. But he plans to be there when council appoints someone to fill his council seat. When a council vacancy opens, it must be filled within 30 days, and Mr. Scimio said council will have to appoint a replacement at tonight's meeting.

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