Coaldale secretary Elizabeth Hosler, nearing the end of her 90-day probationary hire period, will stay on probation another two months before council decides whether or not to hire her permanently.

During a meeting Tuesday, council adjourned into a 40-minute executive session to discuss that personnel matter. As members of the public waited in a hallway outside the meeting room, the raised voices of various council members could frequently be heard from inside the meeting room. Also, during the executive session, an unrelated dispute between a man and a woman took place in front of the borough building, and that also involved plenty of shouting before officer Todd Weiss got the incident under control.When council reconvened, councilman Frank Hutta made a motion to extend Hosler's probation period for 60 days, and the motion was seconded by Yvonne Stoffey. The vote was unanimous, with President Tom Keerans, Hutta, Stoffey, Angela Krapf and Harry Hontz voting yes. Brenda Hosler, the mother of the secretary, abstained. Mike Doerr was not present for the vote; he was at the meeting but had to leave during the executive session to attend work training.Mary Linkevich of Tamaqua, who the borough has retained to coordinate grant research and applications, updated council on the types of projects that could be funded, with deadlines, guidelines and "matching funds" requirements. Council members have prioritized needs, with demolition heading the list.Linkevich is coordinating those efforts, and also applying for funds toward the costs of police vests and "Single Application" Department of Community and Economic Development grants.Citizen Ann Gallagher asked if the borough could seek grant monies toward organizing into a regional police force. Gallagher suggested joining with Lansford, and said that DCED has $99,000 grants available to support efforts to build regional police forces."There's too much going on in these little towns for one officer on duty to handle," Gallagher said.Hontz said that because Lansford is in Carbon County, and Coaldale in Schuylkill County, emergency calls are split between communication centers. Krapf said the court systems in the two counties are different.Council opened two bids for garbage collection but tabled awarding the bid until the next meeting. The bidders are Tamaqua Transfer and Advanced Disposal. The bids were for one year (July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016), two years or five years.Tamaqua Transfer bid $189,248 for one year; $378,496 for two years; or $946,240 for five years. Advanced Disposal's bid was per housing unit, bidding $16.68, $16.83 and $17.29 for one, two and five years, "based on 1,000 residential units.""I'll confess I don't totally understand this bid," said solicitor Robert Yurchak, who opened the bids. Council tabled the bid award until their next meeting.In other action council:• Voted to spend $2,500 to purchase tools for borough worker Kenny Hankey.• Treasurer Anyssa Nunemacher said she has been able to receive a gas tax reimbursement for $1,380.• Hired a cleaning service called Mrs. Domestic to clean the Coaldale Complex at a cost of $108 a week, on a trial basis for three months.• Mayor Joel Johnson wants to have a service window installed in the door to the police department, and is soliciting bids from contractors. Sgt. Keith Krapf mentioned in his police report that he is not in favor of having such a window installed.• Council will advertise an ordinance that will regulate unregistered and unlicensed vehicles parked in the borough.• Councilwoman Krapf will research snow removal ordinances and report back to council.• The community yard sale will be held May 30 and 31.