Greenville will keep its police office open 24 hours a day under a plan made possible by an infusion of cash by Thiel College.

The borough had announced the imminent lay off of up to six employees to save money.

Greenville is a state-designated financially distressed community and its recovery plan called for pursuing a regional lock-up. The borough still needs to clear the arrangement with coordinator RDM Inc., Pittsburgh, said James DeCapua, executive director of Mercer County Regional Council of Governments.

COG, which will run the lock-up, is working with Greenville, Hempfield and Pymatuning townships and Mercer County to organize a regional lock-up using the jail facility at the Greenville-West Salem Township police station.

DeCapua presented a $125,000 budget to the COG board Wednesday that includes Thiel providing $25,000 and having the lock-up attendants take over dispatching for Thiel security.

"They always wanted a presence in their police department 24 hours a day," DeCapua said of Greenville. "They are no longer in a position to afford that."

Thiel has been doing its own dispatching and is not eligible to have 911 handle it.

DeCapua said he will be meeting with borough officials today to discuss current employees and how many will be needed to keep the office open. DeCapua said he is not sure if all employees can be retained and he did not rule out lay-offs. Lock-up attendants will be paid $5.50 an hour.

COG has drafted an ordinance that could be approved by Greenville, Pymatuning and Hempfield to allow them to enter into intergovernmental agreements to create the Greenville Regional Lock-up.

The first-year budget is buoyed by a $70,000 state grant, which COG has applied for.

Each participant would be assessed an annual fee -- $500 for the county and $250 for the municipalities -- and the departments will be charged an hourly rate for prisoners.

COG also is proposing doubling its administrative services fee to $8,000. Prior to Thiel joining, COG was giving Greenville "a break" on the fee, DeCapua said.

If Thiel pulls out in the future or grant money dries up, COG probably will have to staff the lock-up only when there is a prisoner to look after, DeCapua said.