Greenville Municipal Authority board members met behind closed doors Friday to discuss offers from potential buyers of at least some of the 190 acres the authority owns along Hadley and Williamson roads in Hempfield Township.

Public boards in Pennsylvania are allowed to meet in executive session to discuss the potential buying or selling of real estate, under the state Sunshine Law.

Authority board members Jack Dershimer, Thomas D'Alfonso Jr. and Dick Miller attended the meeting, while members Janet Hurlbert and Dr. John Brown -- who was appointed to the board this month, in place of President Mario Marini, who resigned -- did not attend.

Sharon realtor Charles Bestwick, whom the board hired in March to broker a potential sale of the sprawling chunk of land or piecemeal sales of it, requested the meeting to inform board members of offers that have been made and potential sale strategies.

By dividing the land for both commercial and residential use, the land could generate as much as $2 million or more, board members have said.

Any money generated by a land sale or sales would not go toward bailing the borough out of its fiscal crisis, board members have said. Members have said potential money would go toward infrastructure and water company improvements.

The borough formally became a financially distressed community under the state Act 47 program last month.

The authority board also is considering a potential multi-million dollar sale of its water system. For the past several months the board has discussed exploring a potential sale of the system and in April it hired Hermitage attorney Peter Acker to represent its interests throughout the process. So far the board has not authorized Acker to formally begin seeking offers from potential buyers.

If the water system were sold, money generated by the sale would first go toward paying off the authority's $4 million long-term debt. The authority would then dissolve and leftover proceeds would go to the borough. The authority operates independently of the borough, but its board members are appointed by borough council.

The authority board is expected to address both the potential land and water system sales when it meets Tuesday.