IN Peters Township August/September 2016 | Page 43

40 Years

Proud

Peters Township Manager Michael Silvestri retires
after serving the community for 40 years.
BY NICOLE TAFE

O

ver the course of 53 years, Peters Township has only known
two Township Managers. Many of those years have been
under the diligent direction of Michael Silvestri, who will
retire Aug. 26.
Silvestri came to the township as an intern in February 1976 after
completing his master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from
the University of Pittsburgh. “I saw the internship posting while I was
still in graduate school,” says Silvestri. “I applied and was interviewed
on Super Bowl Sunday,” he says as he also recalls the ticket he received
on I-79 while speeding back to his dad’s bar for a Super Bowl party
following his interview.
Later that year, on June 1, 1976, he was promoted to Assistant
Township Manager/Planning Director and continued to work in that
position until Jan. 1, 1981, when he was offered the Township Manager
position by council, following Jim Ross’ retirement.
In 1976, Peters Township’s population was 12,411 with 2,483
residences. During Silvestri’s management the township has grown
to 22,349 residents and 7,760 homes. “When I first started, we had
a minimal staff of only nine police officers and six public works
employees,” he recalls. “At one time I was the Assistant Manager,
Planning Director, Zoning Officer, Interim Building Inspector, Interim
Public Works Director and de facto Parks and Recreation Director, as
we did not have a formal department.”
When he first became Township Manager, Silvestri’s goal was
to continue the fiscal prudence of his predecessor while cautiously
increasing services and facilities to keep pace with the anticipated
growth of the community. In meeting and even exceeding this goal,
there have been a number of achievements over the past 40 years that
Silvestri is proud of, including hiring an excellent staff, developing a
budget process that included a five-year capital budget, developing

a new comprehensive plan in 1978, negotiating a deal with P&LE to
purchase the Montour Railroad in addition to obtaining a grant to
develop it, and developing key recreation facilities such as Peters Lake
Park and the Recreation Center (CRC).
“I believe in reminding myself who I serve and why I am here. You
have to be able to understand the flavor of the community, and so I was
very active in many volunteer efforts,” says Silvestri, when asked the
secret to his success. “I also must give significant credit to my wife, Susan,
and her support.” The two were married on Oct. 9, 1976, and have one
daughter, Michelle, who attended Peters Township School District, and
who Silvestri refers to as his “greatest achievement.”
The past four decades have been rich with memories. “One of
the things I admire most about the community is its resilience,” he says.
“I remember during the Hurricane Ivan flooding, staff and residents,
though stressed, came together to help others and protect their
properties, and even stayed up all night to ensure the opening
of the Community Recreation Center (CRC) would still take place
as scheduled.”
Silvestri also recalls participating in the early beginnings of the Peters
Township Community Access TV Channel. “Back in the mid ’80s, Paul
Lauer and cable board members Ed Wisniewski and Arlen Stehney were
trying to get the community access television channel going,” he says,
“so we would go out and record all kinds of events.” Silvestri particularly
recalls going to a soccer championship game at Shippensburg University
on a very cold day. He was running the camera at the top of the stadium
and his hands were froz en as the tournament went into multiple
overtimes: “The equipment was freezing up, as were we!” Finally the
game was called a tie and there were co-champions that year. “After
that experience, we started to recruit more high school students to get
involved with the Cable Access Channel,” Silvestri smiles.
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Peters Township | August/September 2016 | icmags.com 41