The winter weather took center stage at the borough council meeting in Tamaqua Wednesday.

Borough manager Kevin Steigerwalt outlined the snow removal schedule and provided a copy of the snow removal policy and the emergency route map to all council members.He said the borough is currently running two crews of borough workers and another crew from an outside contractor to remove snow from the borough streets."We've reached out to another contractor, but he will not be available until at least Thursday," he added.The borough has been challenged by the recent heavy snowfall and fire Chief Tom Hartz Jr. noted that corners and intersections in particular are "horrendous."Councilman Tom Cara said snow removal must continue non-stop "until we can get a fire truck down every street."Councilman Brian Connely, filling in for absent President Micah Gursky, agreed, but cautioned council."They've been working three weeks straight. They're hammered. The equipment is hammered," Connely said.Steigerwalt indicated the types of equipment breakdowns the crews have been experiencing are due to the nature of the work and the continual use of the equipment. He noted that the borough is adequately stocked with salt and anti-skid material.Councilman Justin Startzel questioned the borough's current snow removal policies."I think there's things we can do as a council to better operate the snow removal plans. We're beating ourselves and making more work."Later in the meeting several residents from Clay Street questioned the snow removal in their neighborhood.According to resident Ed Moran, there was a "misunderstanding." He said residents were under the impression snow removal was to begin at 11 a.m. At 1 a.m. many of them were awakened by police and informed they needed to move their cars immediately. They were also ticketed, and several cars were towed.Steigerwalt was unsure how the miscommunication occurred and council discussed the possibility of using the phone alert system in the future to notify residents of snow removal.Mayor Christian Morrison said there had recently been what he called a "code enforcement blitz" on property owners who have failed to clear their sidewalks."There is an ordinance that you have to remove snow from your sidewalk," he said. "We're talking about the habitual offenders who never make the good faith effort, not the senior citizen who has a path that's only 24 inches wide instead of the 36 inches it's supposed to be."Morrison said that approximately 70 citations had been issued.