Tamaqua Borough Council recently received notification from the Schuylkill County Tax Claim Bureau that several properties within the borough will be put up for judicial sale in October.

During a judicial sale, the properties are sold free of all tax and municipal claims, mortgages, liens, charges, and estates, frequently for only a few hundred dollars.Twelve properties in the borough are for sale, including 4 W. Rose St., 33 E. Elm St., 205 Market St., 241 Lafayette St., 305 E. Broad St., 216 Penn St., 153 1/2 Penn St., 220 Hunter St., 64 Mahanoy St., 20 E. Spruce St., 317 1/2 Arlington St., and 316 Arlington St.Council president Micah Gursky encouraged residents of the area and neighbors of these properties to review the list and consider purchasing the properties.Many of the properties have been nuisance properties and have had multiple code enforcement issues in the past."You don't know who is going to be a good property owner," said Gursky, "at these prices, anyone can buy these properties and they will."Council discussed the possible purchase of some of the particularly problematic properties by the borough, including one at 20 E. Spruce St.The property is located adjacent to the entrance to the Tamaqua Transfer Station and the demolition of the property could allow for the widening of the roadway in that area.Council did approve the repository sale of property at 132-134 Orwigsburg St. to Matthew Stahler in the amount of $1030 for each lot.The buildings on the property had been destroyed by fire."We've been chasing after the current owner to keep the grass cut," said Steigerwalt, so the sale will hopefully put an end to that battle.Steigerwalt noted that several property demolition projects that are currently being executed in the borough will be finished by the end of the summer.