Carbon County commissioners on Thursday opened bids for street paving in Mahoning Township and water tower improvements in Weatherly.

However, the board will wait for the bids to be reviewed by Jim Martino of the Office of Planning and Development before awarding the contracts. Commissioners expect to award the jobs on May 2 for the Weatherly work, and on May 9 for the Mahoning Township work.The bids for the Mahoning Township work, repaving Beaver Street, were $86,455.62 submitted by Livengood Excavators Inc., Walnutport; $83,939.85 by Lehigh Asphalt Paving and Construction, Tamaqua; $81,895.97 by Popple Construction, Laflin, PA; $81,364.69 by Bruce George Paving and Excavating, Inc., Kunkletown; and $78,630.04 by Hanson Aggregates PA, Stroudsburg.The Weatherly water tower repair bids $150,000 from Amstar of Western New York, and $67,000 by Corrosion Control Corp., Pedricktown, New Jersey. The Amstar bid did not include the required 10 percent bid bond.In other business, commissioners approved revisions to an engineering agreement for the replacement of county bridge No. 16, on Koch Road, in Towamensing Township. the increased costs under Part II engineering and final design come to $43,240. the final approved contract amount is $635,876.02.The project will replace the 60-foot, single lane concrete arched bridge which spans Pohopoco Creek. The state Department of Transportation has deemed the historic bridge obsolete and deficient. The roadway will be widened from 15 to 22 feet, with two-foot shoulders.Also on Thursday, commissioners agreed to allow St. Luke's Miners Memorial Hospital to use county property for parking for its annual Black Diamond Affair on June 1, and authorized them to conduct tethered hot air balloon rides starting in the courthouse annex parking lot. they may also use the annex facilities. The hospital will reimburse the county $20 an hour for each security guard.They also approved a tentative allocation of $1.6-million for the Medical Assistance Transportation Program with Lanta, and executed a Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency Juvenile Accountability Block Grant of $5,000 for a Community Service Work Clerk in the juvenile probation offices. The clerk will oversee court-ordered community service work done by juveniles under the juvenile probation department's supervision.In other matters, commissioners adopted proclamations for Sports Safety Week and for the 100th Anniversary of the Big Creek Grange.In personnel matters, commissioners approved the resignation of Jessica L. Smith of Summit Hill from her job as county caseworker II, Children and Youth services, effective April 26.they also hired Jamie W. Blisard, Albrightsville, as a part-time dispatcher at the communications center, effective May 13; and Gerard J. Donati, Jim Thorpe, as a seasonal park ranger, effective May 1.Commissioners also approved the request of Dawn Orsulak of District Judge Casimir Kosciolek's office, to take an advanced accounting course in Allentown. She will be reimbursed for mileage and meals.