Officials from the Greenville Municipal Authority and the borough Tuesday talked about potentially selling the town's water-treatment plant.

It was the first meeting of the two boards since some residents and officials began speculating publicly early this year about selling the plant after details of the borough's fiscal crisis began surfacing.

Some said proceeds from a sale of the water plant, which is considered the most valuable local asset, could help lift the borough out of its fiscal hole.

But even if the plant were sold tomorrow, money from the sale would not be available for another four months, said authority board member Dick Miller.

"The borough does not have that long to survive," said Councilwoman Pam Auchter.

The cash-strapped borough is living "week to week, paycheck to paycheck," added Borough Manager Kenneth S. Weaver.

Money from a sale could possibly be used, however, to get the borough out of the state Act 47 program for financially distressed communities more quickly -- that is, if the state determines that the borough is eligible for the program and council votes to enter into it, which also is uncertain. The borough expects to receive word from the state early next month.

Although authority board members are appointed by borough council, the authority runs independently of the borough and would have final say-so on a sale.

The central, unanswered questions facing the authority are: how much money would a sale generate, how would the borough use the money and what effect would the sale have on rates and authority employees?

For the borough to get any relief, the authority would need to OK a sale, pay off its $4 million debt and then dissolve. Remaining money from a sale would then go to the borough.

"If it's not going to turn a significant profit, then it's not worth selling," said Councilman David P. Henderson, who also is a nonvoting member of the authority.

"If it could sell for $6 million, then it's probably not worth it. If it could sell for $12 million, then I'd say it's worth selling," Henderson said.

To date, there are no hard figures on how much a sale could net.

The authority voted Tuesday to hire Hermitage lawyer Peter Acker at a rate of $85 an hour to seek offers from potential buyers.