Slippery Rock Borough Council received one bid for the vacant lot at the intersection of Main and New Castle streets on Tuesday.

Over 80 community members helped Slippery Rock Development raise more than $200,000 during a pledge campaign for its bid in hopes to keep the corner lot a green space.

According to borough manager Shawn Pugh, council tabled the vote on accepting or rejecting the bid at Tuesday’s meeting. Bids were due May 3 and the lone bid will be voted on at the June meeting.

In a later interview, Mayor Jondavid Longo said he received a letter of interest about the lot from the Lawrence County Community Action Partnership shortly before the council meeting.

“We, and by we I mean the code enforcement officer, borough manager and council members John Hicks and Royce Lorentz, met with (the organization) previously to hear about their interest in developing (the lot),” Longo said.

The partnership shared its vision for the lot and the opportunities it presented for commercial development, according to Longo. Though the organization did not submit a bid, the letter further expressed its interest in purchasing the lot.

“(The letter) is not putting any pressure on council to reject the (Slippery Rock Development) bid,” Longo said. “It’s being considered ... (the partnership) wanted to take their time and do their due diligence and said they were unlikely to make a bid in time.”

He added that no set amount was discussed with the partnership about the lot, and that the vote was tabled so council could consider the options at hand.

“No one was ready to make a decision with only a few minutes,” Longo said.

Jeff Campbell, council president, said in a phone interview that the vacant lot has been advertised for months and that there was no interest until now from commercial developers.

“I think (council) would have loved to see it commercial, but it didn’t happen,” he said. “It was advertised, it’s been put out there. There was no interest until a week ago, no interest until an hour before our meeting. I found it annoying the waters would be muddied last minute.”

Longo said he’s been adamant about seeing the corner lot developed into a business for some time.

“Do we as a municipality want to let go of a vacant entity to keep something empty, or give it to an entity with commercial development to increase tax revenue to work on our infrastructure? That’s for our streets,” he said. “We only have so many commercial lots. Why we wouldn’t utilize it is beyond me.”

He added that current green space in the borough is under-utilized, such as Slippery Rock Park and Memorial Park across from Dunkin’.

Campbell said he understands the mayor’s point, but was moved by how many community members pledged to Slippery Rock Development’s effort.

“When I looked at the bid and saw over 80 community residents pledged toward this and the amount of money they came up with, I think that speaks loudly that they want it to go toward keeping it a green space,” he said.

Campbell added that he thought the amount offered by Slippery Rock Development was a fair amount for the lot.

“I think there’s going to be contention at the next meeting,” he said about the bid.

Slippery Rock Borough Council will vote on the bid at the meeting June 7.