Lehighton has reversed course and will apply for additional funding for new basketball courts at a heavily-used recreational establishment.

By a 6-1 measure, borough council on Monday agreed to submit a Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program grant of $244,826 from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to be used for improvements to Baer Memorial Park.Councilman Joe Flickinger, who cast the lone "no" vote, explained the reason for his decision.Flickinger said that while he strongly believes "that recreational activities are a vital necessity of any great community," he "must look beyond just one or two recreational venues within our community.""Instead of moving some opportunities from one to another, I believe we should concentrate on some of our parks such as Skyline and Sixth and Coal locations for the residents of those areas of the community that we also serve," he said. "Some of those locations haven't seen any improvements in decades."The matter was revisited after Councilman Jared McEvoy said he believed the borough should see if it could get the grant, which can be applied for until June 30.McEvoy noted that the pool is located in proximity to the basketball courts and would bode well for the youth.Council's decision comes one month after it voted 4-3 to not adopt a resolutionfor a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant for the basketball courts at Baer Memorial, as well as a walking path.That decision came after council in April 2015 approved a resolution to submit an application to DCNR for a $530,000 grant.Also at that time, council approved the funding commitment letter for $265,000, as well as a letter supporting the project.The project would replace the baseball diamond at Baer Memorial with basketball courts and be handicapped accessible. Additionally, the basketball court at the grove would be removed, borough secretary Brenda Koons said.If there is money left over from the grant, Koons said the borough would start on the rehabilitation phase of the grove playground, which would include different play stations for different age groups, as well as a handicapped accessible area. Tennis courts could also be rehabbed, the existing pavilion may be replaced with a bigger one and a Little League Baseball diamond may be installed in another section of Baer Memorial.To date, none of the previous grants applied for have been received.