Some good news for the residents of the Panther Valley, who have been faced with the closure of the Lansford pool this summer: Tamaqua Borough Council voted Tuesday night to extend an offer to the patrons of the Lansford pool to purchase passes for the Bungalow for the upcoming season.

Tamaqua will offer passes for sale at the same rates that Lansford sold them, $50 for a single pass, $100 for a family of 2, $125 for a family of three, and $25 for each additional family member. Senior citizen passes will be available for those 60 years of age and over at a rate of $30 per person.Members of the recreation and youth committee explained that Lansford will sell the passes through their usual means, and then communicate to Tamaqua the number of passes required and arrange for payment.The rates for Tamaqua School District residents will not be affected by the Lansford pass sales, and residents of other towns besides those in the Panther Valley will still be subject to the normal pass rate at the Bungalow.Council President David Mace also said the rates only apply to season passes, anyone looking to attend the Bungalow for just one day would be subject to the daily out-of-town rates, as coordinating an in district, out of district, and a Panther Valley daily rate would be overwhelming for staff members.Mace said the information received from Lansford indicates they sell about 200 family passes for the season.Mace said he does not expect to have a huge impact on the attendance at the Bungalow.In previous seasons, the Lansford pool and the Tamaqua pool have honored each other's passes during emergency and weather situations where one pool was unavailable.Mace and several other members of council complimented the organizations on being able to work together for the good of both communities.In other pool-related business, Council approved the recommendations of Bungalow manager Adrian Bumbulsky and hired five clerks and 24 lifeguards for the upcoming season.Sage Frey, Brianna Heck, Justin Huegel, Beth Fritzinger-Jones and Emily Wenzel were hired as clerks.Daltono Adams, Emily Andrews, Emily Bumbulsky, Tyler Calkins, Ethan Eberts, Chelsea Frantz, Amber Gulick, Kennedy Ho, Kayla Holland, Kirstin Jones, Melanie Kostecky, Victoria LaBar, Gabrielle Markiewicz, Jordan Nowacki, Kaitlyn Shlanta, Olivia Stanek, Kaitlyn Stauffenberg, Nathan Steigerwalt, Sierra Szabo, Megan Toth, Jacob Triano, Benjamin Turrano, Aleida Van Buren, and Michael Witozak were hired as lifeguards, with Emily Bumbulsky being hired as senior lifeguard, at a rate of $10 per hour when she is acting in that capacity.