Jim Thorpe borough and UGI Utilities continue to negotiate the terms of a contract that would allow the company to store two 20,000-gallon liquefied natural gas tanks on borough property during the winter.

The tanks would be located behind Jim Thorpe Memorial Hall, along East 10th Street, and help the company meet demand for borough customers during the peak heating season.UGI said the facility would only be temporary and in operation December through March as the company upgrades its pipeline over the next few years."We're still talking about the financial details and things like whether the lease amount would stay in line with the consumer price index from year to year," Jim Thorpe Solicitor Jim Nanovic.Councilman John McGuire said the borough wants to "be fair" in its negotiations as it has never completed such a contract in the past.Chester Wentz, a UGI regional engineer, said the company would like to have the facility up and running in December.Council could vote on the matter at a special meeting set for 6:30 p.m. today.Randy Hall, of Prometheus Energy, who would supply the tanks, attended Thorpe's council meeting Thursday to address any safety concerns."If we had an incident, it would kill our industry," Hall said. "Safety is our number one priority."Google liquefied natural gas disaster and Hall said what you'll find are actually propane explosions."Propane is usually stored in a single-wall tank, where we'll have a double-wall tank," Hall said. "I don't encourage this, but you could shoot the tank, and while it may get through the first shell, it's not getting through the second shell. The inner tank is made of stainless steel and the outer tank carbon steel."If for some reason pressure would build up in one of the tanks, Hall said Prometheus could set it up so that some of the liquefied natural gas is bled down into the pipeline."Even if that weren't to occur, if the gas was vented it would vaporize," Hall said. "It's lighter than air whereas propane is heavier than air."Wentz said UGI is hosting a training session for area fire chiefs this week.The site of the proposed tanks borders Jim Thorpe School District athletic fields. McGuire said he has talked to the district and there shouldn't be an issue as the fields won't be in use when UGI would have the tanks in operation."We're only there from December to March, and after that the tanks go away and there is nothing left behind until the next winter," Wentz said.When UGI initially proposed the plan in October, Councilwoman Joanne Klitsch said she was apprehensive and would wait to hear what the public thought.Klitsch was absent from Thursday's meeting.Jim Thorpe's engineer, Kim Mazur, said if signed, the contract could be terminated at any time by either party.