Tamaqua Borough Council heard updates on projects designed to better the community at Tuesday night's regular meeting.

John Sienkiewicz spoke to council regarding the candlelight walk to be held in the borough on July 30, beginning at the Bungalow Park. Sienkiewicz is also organizing a community patrol, and said the organization, "Safer Streets for Tamaqua's Little Feets" has been incorporated as a nonprofit and can begin receiving donations. There is a Facebook page for the group, which has more information about upcoming events.Sienkiewicz said there will also be Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on Wednesday evenings at the Salvation Army. In the past two weeks, his group has assisted in getting several people into rehabilitation facilities.The Sienkiewicz family recently lost a daughter to a drug overdose and is working to ensure no other family suffers a similar loss.Kyle Whitley and Wandie Zammer-Little appeared before council to seek approval for the next chapter of the Tamaqua Community Art Center's "Dear Tamaqua Project." Whitley explained the "Tamaqua Has Heart" sculpture design public art initiative, which will begin this fall during the National Night Out celebration. The art center will have a large heart-shaped sculpture available for the public to help design. Sponsors are currently being sought to provide 10 additional heart-shaped sculptures, which will be designed and painted by interested artists, through a competitive process. These hearts will then be temporarily placed strategically throughout the community and auctioned to the highest bidder. The community-designed sculpture will be permanently displayed at a site to be determined.More information will be available closer to National Night Out, which will be held Aug. 2.Council also discussed the Nature Conservancy Working Woodlands Program. By dedicating an area of the borough to conservation, and agreeing not to develop the land, the borough could qualify for a program which would allow them to sell carbon credits to corporations, based on the forest inventory of the area. The borough could consider the program for the Owl Creek and Still Creek area. At this time, no decision was made to proceed with the initial assessment, which would provide a better idea of what the yield on the areas could be.Council approved the franchise agreement for the borough with Service Electric Cablevision. There will be no changes to the current service as a result of the agreement.Members of the East End Fire Company were recognized for 100 years of service to the borough. Mayor Chris Morrison read a proclamation, detailing the history of the company from its first horse-drawn fire apparatus in 1916 to the present day.The meeting ended with an executive session for personnel matters.