During the regular business portion of Tuesday night's Tamaqua Borough Council meeting, Councilman Tom Cara asked for an update on handicap parking permit requests. Councilman Dan Evans, chairman of the parking and traffic committee, noted there are three requests currently being considered.

That brought up a discussion on the handicap permit process, guidelines and expectations.Mayor Chris Morrison noted that handicap parking spaces are not "individually owned. Anyone with a handicap placard or license plate can park in these spaces, even if they are placed in front of a different individual's home."Councilman Dave Mace explained the process and reinforced the mayor's words."Anyone can apply for a HP parking space, but there are guidelines and rules. There is also a limit to the number of spaces we will allow in any given block."Mace suggested some applicants may consider the space as their "personal parking space" due to the $25 application fee. That is not the case, though."You may apply and be approved for a handicap parking space in front or near your home. But anyone with a HP plate or placard is also allowed to use that space. That may cause some confusion and hard feelings, especially if there are several residents in the block with plates or placards."Cara suggested the parking and traffic committee should "meet soon to come up with recommendations," then suggested that at least one of the applicants had been waiting a considerable amount of time.Mayor's reportMorrison also spoke about the success of the borough's curbside recycling program, then asked if council would consider purchasing more recycling bins.The mayor said the borough's solid waste contractor told him the borough had the largest amount of recyclable material and lowest trash tonnage of all of the company's clients. He commended borough residents on their commitment to saving the environment.Borough Manager Kevin Steigerwalt noted that specific recycling containers are not needed. "The company doesn't care what type of container you use, as long as it's not a plastic bag. Trash cans, totes, any type of plastic bin is acceptable and will be emptied."The mayor also spoke of the high number of "quality of life" code violations he sees on his walks around town."The police department and code enforcement officers will be conducting a blitz, centering on these violations. We've done a few in the past and they were successful. People clean up once it hits them in the wallet. I'm sorry to say I don't know any other way to spark people's interest in taking pride in their property except cold, hard cash."Council President Micah Gursky agreed and suggested such a blitz could be successful. "The alternative is having neighbors complain about each other."