Construction season is almost here, and many projects in the downtown are taking off in Tamaqua. Borough Manager Kevin Steigerwalt announced that bids are being accepted for paving projects, which are tentatively planned for Market and Elm streets, but could include several additional roads, depending on the available funds.

The borough will also be putting out bids for the Lincoln Street Wall project, which will hopefully be completed later this year. Paving is also planned by the state for Route 309 as it goes through town. That will be a curb-to-curb milling and paving project.

It was also noted that a long-awaited project for the improvement of the sidewalks and area surrounding the Burger King is finally being put out to bid.

In other plans, Steigerwalt hopes to continue plans with Schuylkill County for the demolition of buildings at 307 E. Broad St. and 252 W. Cottage Ave.

The East Broad Street property is owned by the historical society.

Steigerwalt is also in the process of working with the borough’s engineer to prepare an application for a flood mitigation grant in the amount of $500,000 that could help with repairs to the Wabash Creek tunnel. A fee of $6,300 payable from the Wabash fund was approved for borough engineer Alfred Benesch to proceed with the first stage of the proposal.

Council also voted 5-2 to proceed with a grant application that will bring $1 million into the community for the demolition of a blighted property and the construction of a new commercial or service space in the future.

Steigerwalt said that the details are vague, but the project would be handled by the Tamaqua Community Partnership, but the borough needs to partner with them for facilitation of the grant application process.