Cooperation was the name of the game at Tuesday night's meeting of Tamaqua Borough Council, from approving requests from local organizations to partnering with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad.

Borough Manager Kevin Steigerwalt and other borough officials met with representatives of the railroad to discuss the condition of the Spruce Street crossing.Previous attempts at convincing the railroad to repave the area were unsuccessful, so officials weren't expecting much progress.Instead, the two entities were able to reach an agreement, sharing the project costs on a 60/40 split, with the borough shouldering the larger percentage."I expect the work will begin sometime in July and be done at night to cause the least impact. But, I have no firm dates as of yet," reported Steigerwalt.The second big cooperative effort is with PennDOT.The borough has been trying to get improvements made to the Five Points Intersection, specifically to deal with the many drivers who miss the "do not enter" signs on North Railroad Street, then snarl traffic by going the wrong way on the one way street or try to back out.The state department of transportation has finally responded, sharing drawing of several revisions for the area.They include larger "do not enter" signs, adding a cross hatch area (similar to pedestrian crossings/no parking areas) and painting 309N on the street at the entry point of Mauch Chunk Street.Councilman Dave Mace asked if

L.E.D. lights could be added to the signs.That request will be forwarded to PennDOT, along with approval for the suggested revisions. The borough will be responsible for the costs associated with the changes.Council will also partner with the Eastern Schuylkill Recreation Commission to apply for a Greenway, Trails and Recreation Program Grant in the amount of $250,000.If successful, the grant will be used toward a project at the Howard D. Buehler Memorial Park, constructing new bath houses. Council had planned to fund the project with Community Development Block Grant funds, but was notified in May that the project no longer met the required guidelines.Approval givenCouncil approved the following requests:• Traffic closure for the American Hose Company's annual firemen's festival. The festival will be held the first weekend in August. Pine Street, from Broad to Mauch Chunk, will be closed to through traffic from Thursday through Sunday.• Parking restrictions and traffic closure for the annual Summerfest event, sponsored by the Tamaqua Historical Society. The event will be held June 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the downtown area. Streets to be closed during the festival include: South Railroad, from Broad to Spruce; Hegarty Avenue, from Berwick to Lafayette; Nescopec, from Hegarty Avenue to Cottage Avenue. Parking will also be restricted on these streets. Additional parking restrictions will be on West Broad Street, from South Railroad to Nescopec; Berwick, from Broad to Rowe Street; and the entire length of Hegarty Avenue.• To place a 16-foot by 16-foot cabin on a designated area at the Owl Creek Reservoir. The request was made by the Owl Creek Reservoir Commission. The cabin has been donated and needs to be reconstructed. All labor will be done by volunteers. There will be no cost to the borough.