The Shenango Valley YMCA is proposing a partnership with the borough of Greenville to help continue recreation services in northern Mercer County.

Joellen Arenas, YMCA’s chief executive officer, presented preliminary information to council Thursday, with council President Brian Shipley saying there are exciting possibilities for Greenville.

“We have some great ideas we’ve been working on,” Ms. Arenas said.

A council committee, led by Shipley, has been studying how to restructure the way recreation is run because Greenville Area Leisure Services Association has been struggling financially.

The committee in October proposed dissolving GALSA and creating a recreation commission, and talks with the GALSA board have been ongoing, Shipley said.

Greenville is part of the Shenango Valley YMCA’s district, but doesn’t have much of a presence in the area, Ms. Arenas said. She and other YMCA officials have started analyzing the area, interviewing key leaders, local representatives and United Way of Mercer County officials.

“They’re really big on collaboration,” she said of the United Way board, which merged with the Northern Mercer County United Way in 2008.

The YMCA needs to reach out to others and partnering with Greenville would mean more programs and activities could be offered to more people, school districts, businesses and other nonprofit organizations, Ms. Arenas said.

Partnerships lower expenses; increase resources, staffing, grant opportunities and purchasing power; and bring together people who have a wealth of knowledge and experience, she said.

That ties in with the YMCA’s new mindset for 2011, the earliest any collaboration with Greenville could take effect, she said. The YMCA, which has had its main center in Hermitage since 1954, wants to branch out to other locations to serve the most people possible.

“Greenville is the missing link, the missing community,” Ms. Arenas said.

GALSA has abundant indoor and outdoor space, including Riverside Park and an outdoor swimming pool. The YMCA has a swim team, but its building doesn’t have a pool, an example of how the two nonprofits could help each other.