At the end of the month, Greenville-West Salem Township Police Department will be giving up control of its lockup and dispatching, opting to turn over the keys -- and the radio waves -- to county organizations.

The changes could end up putting as many as six people out of work.

Under the state's fiscal recovery plan for Greenville, the borough is required to stop operating its own dispatching and must work out an agreement with Mercer County Regional Council of Governments to monitor the jail cells in the borough building.

The borough faces a debt of $1.5 million, the result of misspent bond money and financial mismanagement. Greenville last year applied for and was granted distressed community status under Pennsylvania's Act 47. Under the act, the state provides management help and loan money until the town gets back on its feet.

Mercer County 911 will take over Greenville's dispatch services April 1, said Police Chief Tom Strahler. The borough employs six dispatchers/lockup attendants.

"There will be an administrative assistant at the station during the day shift," Strahler said. "But after 4 p.m. or during the weekend, no one will be at the station. People should call 911 for emergencies."

COG will begin monitoring the jail cells May 1. About $50,000 in state grants have already been earmarked to pay for lockup renovations. Greenville received the funds as part of its financial recovery package, said James DeCapua, COG executive director.

Four or five lockup attendants will be employed, DeCapua said, and will work as needed.

Strahler said current employees will be given first choice to work for COG.

The Greenville Regional Lockup, DeCapua said, will be administrated in much the same way as the Shenango Valley Regional Lockup in Farrell. Attendants will be paid about $2 an hour for each hour they are on call, he said, and earn $5.50 for each hour they are attending the jail during the afternoon, midnight hours or weekends.

When there are prisoners in the lockup during business hours, DeCapua said, the police department's daytime administrative assistant will act as a lockup attendant. COG will also pay the administrative assistant's wages during that time, he said.

The borough, Strahler said, is looking to save money any way it can.

"We would get about $12,000 each year from other communities for the lockup services," Strahler said. "And then here in Greenville, we had to come up with the rest of the money to pay for it, about $30,000 each year."

According to the recovery plan, the lockup cost the borough $36,400 in 2001.

Under the new agreement, all participating municipalities, including Greenville, will pay COG a per-prisoner fee, Strahler said. COG will also pay $300 a month rent to the borough for the jail.

The new arrangement will save the borough about $20,000 a year, Strahler said.

Mercer County Public Safety Director James R. Thompson said Mercer County 911 has been dispatching Greenville-West Salem police since its creation in 1993, but the borough opted to maintain its own dispatchers as well.

"Whenever someone has a situation that requires a police car, fire truck or ambulance, they should call 911," Thompson said.

Calls regarding administrative matters, such as parking tickets, should be directed to the police department during business hours, Thompson said.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Amanda Smith-Teutsch at: ateutsch@sharonherald.com