The old First National Bank on South Main Street in Slippery Rock is in the process of being demolished.

SLIPPERY ROCK — Incoming council member Gene Allison is asking the current council members to stop spending money on the Gateway Project until the new members take their seats in January.

“From the last election, the voters overwhelmingly agreed with the vision and ideas of the newly elected members of council,” according to a letter sent to current council members.

In November’s municipal election, the challengers — Russell D. Karl, Itzi Meztli and Gene Allison — won all three available council seats. Regina Greenwald, current council president, ran for re-election and lost by 152 votes. The council is a seven-member board.

Since the election, incoming council members have stood individually before the council to ask for decisions regarding the Gateway Park project to cease until they take their seats in January.

At the Nov. 14 meeting, Greenwald disregarded the requests and said council members intended to move forward with all of their projects.

The first phase of the Gateway Project was to demolish the old First National Bank building on South Main Street, followed by the paving of new parking spaces where the building stood. The project’s final phase would involve landscaping and adding additional amenities to the park at an additional cost.

A full story appears in Tuesday's Butler Eagle.