The newly seated members of borough council made their intentions clear Tuesday night.

“We took the initial steps,” council member Gene Allison said. “We did nothing that should have surprised anybody.”

Council members voted to nix the final phase of the Gateway Project.

New mayor Jondavid Longo did not need to vote on the action, as newly sworn-in council members Allison, Itzi Meztli and Russell Karl voted along with Royce Lorentz against opposing members Ron Steele and Tom McPhearson to abandon the project.

The Gateway Project was the pinnacle of the previous council's work, which involved the demolition of the former First National Bank on Main Street and paving the land the bank stood on.

The project's final phase involves renovating the space with additional landscaping. The building is still being demolished.

Over the past several months incoming council members have fought to stop the project's final phase, saying they consider it wasteful spending.

“We've been asking since the primary to slow down and look at the alternatives that we could use the park for,” said Karl, who was elected council president on Tuesday.

Metzli said he was relieved to finally have a say on the project. He said all of the incoming council members were excited to act.

“That's why we moved on it on the first day,” Metzli said. “The question is how much we're going to save by removing the last part of the project.”

Incoming council members sent a letter of caution last month to both Gateway Engineering andMcElroy paving, which was awarded the bid for paving the property after demolition, according to Karl. He said the point of the letter was to keep the companies from pushing too far ahead with work on the project, when it was likely that council members would vote to abandon it.

“At that time, we couldn't tell them to stop, but we could tell them what our belief was,” Karl said.

John Trant, the borough's project manager, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Former council member and president Regina Greenwald attended the meeting, and said the vote, which she believes put the borough in legal jeopardy, did not surprise her.

“I'm disappointed, but I expected it to happen,” she said. “They think they're going to cancel it. I think we're going to be sued.”

She said council members, experts and community members spent over three years on the project.

“There was that much time and effort put in with a lot of input from a lot of people,” she said. “It was really heartbreaking. It made me feel ill.”

The project was not the only item of controversy. Earlier in the meeting, council appointed many positions unanimously, but two were a subject of conflict.

Allison said incoming council members sent another cautionary letter to the office of last year's borough solicitor — the Sewickly-based law firm of Cafardi, Ferguson, Wyrick, Weis and Stotler of Sewickley, whose representative was Neva Stotler — informing them that their services would not be sought again this year.

“We found a firm in Butler that was less expensive, and we felt we could work with more efficiently,” Allison said.

Stotler could not be reached for comment.

In a 4-2 vote council members appointed Butler-based law firm Lutz & Pawk as the borough's solicitor. The firm will send attorney Rebecca Black to council meetings, according to Allison.

“She's the representative for quite a few municipalities in our area,” he said. “She has a real good pulse and also the company has a real good reputation for municipal government.”

Another point of conflict was the appointment of a borough engineer for the new year. Council members voted to table the reappointment of Gateway Engineers Inc., with Ron Steele and Tom McPhearson dissenting.

Karl said the tabling wasn't an indication that council members are displeased with the company. He said council members received a briefing on the services and fees of the engineering company, and they wanted more time to digest the information.

“I have no reason to believe we won't still approve them,” Karl said.

In other action Tuesday night, four residents applied for the empty two-year seat on council. The seat is vacant because Karl, who won races last November for both a four-year seat and a two-year seat on council, can't hold both positions.

Metzli said council members want to fill the position as quickly as possible.

“The appointment will be made at the next meeting,” he said.

Denton Zeronas, Mike Pavelek, Alissa Jordan and former council president, Regina Greenwald applied for the position.

Karl said each candidate will be given an opportunity to speak at next week's meeting, before council members vote on the appointment. Pavelek stood at Tuesday's meeting because he will be absent for next week's meeting.

“We will hear from them and vote on it,” Karl said.

At the Slippery Rock borough meeting Wednesday, these changes were made:President: Russell KarlVice-president: Gene AllisonSecond vice-president: Itzi MeztliBorough solicitor: Lutz & Pawk, law firm, for one-year term, with Rebecca Black, representativeParks and recreation board: Mike Sullivan, board-member, three-year termZoning hearing board: Jeff Hogue as board member for five-year term; and Tim Bonner as solicitor for one-year termPlanning commission: Jerry Heller as board-member for four-year termMunicipal authority board: Paul Dickey as board-member for five-year term