As Schuylkill County moves to “green,” the borough of Tamaqua has determined that the borough offices will reopen to the public on Monday. However, there was some discussion about what safety precautions are in place to continue to protect borough workers.

The main question focused on whether or not the borough could require people entering the building to wear masks.

“We’re not reinventing the wheel here,” said council President David Mace. “All we can do is ask them to wear it, but we can’t refuse them service or entrance if they don’t.”

Councilwoman Mary Linkevich said that there should at the very minimum be some kind of barrier between office workers and the general public. Anne Marie Calabrese, the director of community development, who works in the borough building, agreed.

“We have people who just come in to socialize and to visit, and we need to find a way to cut down on that so people aren’t just coming in to socialize.”

Calabrese suggested having everyone enter the front of the building where there is a window between the office and the lobby.

“There is a barrier there,” she said, “and if needed, Christine (Zamudio) or I can come to that window.”

Council agreed to use this approach to start.

Along with borough offices opening, Linkevich proposed opening all borough playgrounds, provided that recommended guidelines were followed, including maintaining social distancing and using hand sanitizer. Linkevich said that basketball hoops will be reinstalled at the playgrounds.

The Howard D. Buehler Memorial pool has also opened for business. Linkevich said that the maximum capacity has been lowered to half of the original capacity of 500, and that there have been about 125 people using the pool daily.

Council approved the purchase of a new vacuum for the pool in the amount of $3,900 and hired three more clerks, Amy Heisler, Madison Wickersham and Flo Rios, at a rate of $9 an hour.

A resident asked when council plans on returning to holding regular meetings, as opposed to the Zoom meetings they have had for the past three months. Mace responded that he wasn’t sure that the borough chamber could be used as there might not be enough room to keep everyone 6 feet apart. Mace said that attendance might have to be limited, and with not being sure, the matter would require more investigation before the next meeting.

Council did extend the disaster declaration for the fourth time, running through July 26.

In other business

• Council received two letters from residents of North Lehigh Street regarding a paper street that runs behind their properties in parallel with North Lehigh Street. One neighbor has begin clearing the area so that he can have machinery access the back of his property for a pool installation.

Several other neighbors in the area have jointly objected to the work that is being done and the use of the road. Council said that the matter will need more investigation by the borough solicitor to determine what can be done.

• Council approved a handicapped parking space for 435 Glenwood Ave.

• Police Chief Henry Woods reported that a Black Lives Matter demonstration was held in the borough. He attended and also spoke at the demonstration.

“I was pleased that it was peaceful. All of the people that I talked to were super nice and there were no problems.”