Carbon County's request for 10 bagged parking meters in downtown Jim Thorpe may be met by the borough, but not without a cost.

Last fall, the borough approved bagging three meters in front of Molly Maguires Pub and Steakhouse during a one-day trial run for the county's transition to a central court system for its preliminary court hearings.Jim Thorpe Police Chief Joe Schatz said the county requested an increased number of bagged meters to be able to get closer to the courthouse for prisoner transports.While no formal decision has been made, Jim Thorpe Councilman Jay Miller said during Thursday night's borough workshop that he isn't willing to give up the spaces without something in return."What do we get out of this?" Miller asked. "We'll bag them, but (the county) has to pay the fee."Jim Thorpe's fee for meter bagging is $10 per meter, per day.According to borough Manager Maureen Sterner, in exchange for the borough bagging its meters for central court, the county would bag its meters near the Jim Thorpe Train Station during Fall Foliage Weekend."That helps with traffic flow by giving a turning lane over there, but where does that turning lane lead, right into the county parking lot," Miller said.Miller pointed out that the county sheriff's department has a transport van they could use to transport prisoners to central court.Under Carbon County's current system, however, individual police departments are responsible for transporting prisoners to preliminary hearings.Only after cases reach the Court of Common Pleas is the sheriff's department responsible for transport."We're the only county in the state that operates that way," Schatz said at the workshop."We go down to Montgomery County to do a prisoner transport and they look at us like why is a chief or a detective down here doing the transport instead of a deputy. We're told that's the cost of doing business. We definitely lose money when we arrest people."The transport issue has come up multiple times at meetings of the police chiefs and mayors in Carbon County.As for the bagged meters, Miller said he'd like to see more give-and-take."I work for the taxpayers of Jim Thorpe," he said, "and this right now looks like a one-sided request."