Dilapidated properties in Tamaqua need to be demolished, there is no question.

But how the demolition is going to get completed and who will foot the bill is delaying the process.Tamaqua Borough Council discussed two properties at length at Tuesday night’s meeting: 216 Penn St. and 202 Pitt St.Both properties have multiple citations against them, and Community Development Director Mary Linkevich said the property at Pitt Street is actually leaning on the neighboring property.“I would consider that an emergency,” Linkevich said, “but we don’t have the cash on hand to bring it down.”The other property at Penn Street is slated for demolition in the near future, and has had $25,000 in CDBG funding dedicated to that project.Councilman Brian Connely expressed frustration over the two-year process that has been grinding on to get the property demolished.“I’m running around in circles. We’ve been on either pathway for two years, and we haven’t even come close to the finish line,” he said.The borough has been dedicating a portion of its CDBG funds to demolition every year, but at any given time the number of properties that need demolition exceeds the funding available.The borough hopes to see some relief thanks to the recent grant of $1.4 million that has been given to Schuylkill County by the Department of Community and Economic Development to combat blight.However, in order to receive funding from the grant, the property in question must either be under ownership by the borough or under a court order for demolition.The property at Penn Street is under the borough’s ownership.Due to changes in the administration of CDBG funding, there are now additional requirements needed by the county, which facilitates the CDBG project funding, including an engineering study.“We have to pay more money for them to tell us what we already know,” Connely said.“The building needs to come down.”The property at Pitt Street is not owned by the borough; however, Linkevich said she feels a court order could be obtained.Council has previously approved the demolition of the Penn Street property using CDBG funds, but also voted to pursue funding under the DCED grant.They moved to pursue getting a court order for the demolition of Pitt Street.