Earlier this year, Tamaqua Borough Council voted to offer longtime employees a once in a lifetime opportunity to take early retirement.

At Tuesday night's council meeting, two more borough employees notified council of their intentions to take advantage of the deal.Mark Sinn will take his retirement as of July 29. He is currently employed at the Tamaqua Water Authority's treatment plant in Still Creek.Council voted to advertise to fill the position after an in-house posting failed to produce a current borough employee interested in the position. Borough manager Kevin Steigerwalt noted the borough would be advertising for an experienced worker with a Class A water treatment license.David Lesniak, the borough's head mechanic, will also be leaving. While his retirement date will officially be Dec. 31, he will be using accrued vacation, personal and sick time, effectively ending his active employment on June 11.Lesniak asked council to compensate him for the vacation time he was unable to take in 2013 due to work demands. Council unanimously agreed to make an exception and grant his request.Due to the large number of employees taking advantage of the early retirement package, the borough workforce, especially the clerical and the street department, have been doubling up on work, waiting to see if council would be hiring replacement workers.Their patience was rewarded Tuesday night, but not without a touch of drama.Waiting until almost the last possible minute, under new business, Councilwoman Kerry Lasky noted a committee had been formed and recently conducted interviews to hire office staff, including a utility clerk and an assistant borough secretary.She then made a motion to hire Robyn Rex of Tamaqua to fill the utility clerk position at a starting salary of $13 per hour. The motion was unanimously approved by the six members in attendance. Councilman Brian Connely was absent.Lasky then hesitated before making a second motion, this time to hire Bobbijean Muffley of Andreas to fill the assistant borough secretary position.The motion was seconded by Councilman Justin Startzel, which brought an immediate response from Councilman Tom Cara.Cara berated Lasky for "surprising him," noting that four people on the interview committee had supported another candidate. Lasky replied she was "doing what is right for the borough."She added, "The salary requested by the other candidate is outrageous and this candidate is well-qualified."When Lasky was unable to provide information on when Muffley could start work, or what salary she would be paid, Councilman Dave Mace immediately made a motion to table the hiring, which was seconded by Councilman Dan Evans.Mace then asked for an executive session to discuss personnel matters.A mere 69 minutes later, the council meeting resumed.The motion to hire Muffley was put to a vote, with Lasky noting the salary would be $13.50 an hour. Mace, Startzel, Evans and Lasky all voted in favor, while Cara and council President Micah Gursky cast negative votes.Muffley is currently employed as a part-time secretary by both West Penn Township and the borough of New Ringgold.Both of the newemployees will be starting their jobs in July, at adate to be determinedin coordination with apayroll cycle.