Banned since 2010, skateboards could be making their way back into Jim Thorpe borough if the situation is right, council members said Thursday night.

Council heard comments from Josh Schaeffer, owner of Jam Concrete Masonry of Lehighton, who asked the ban be amended to allow skateboarding in some parts of town.Schaeffer, who is also working to add a skate park at Skyline Park in Lehighton, told council he could work on getting grants for the park if they gave him the go-ahead."The kids really need options beyond baseball and basketball," he told council, "and I just think with nowhere to go to skate, facing a $300 fine for doing it is really crazy. We're pushing children away from a growing sport."Councilman John McGuire said before banning skateboarding in the borough, council at the time asked for someone to come forward to build a skate park and maintain it to no avail."Nobody wanted to take on that responsibility at the time," he said.According to Schaeffer, his group would do all the fundraising and legwork while running everything through the borough.A change.org to amend the Jim Thorpe skateboarding ordinance received over 90 signatures in two days, he added."We just want to help keep the kids off the streets," he said. "The streets are awful right now."A site for a potential park hasn't been identified, though the borough-owned Memorial Park was brought up as a possibility.Schaeffer said the space would need to be a minimum of 10,000 square feet.Council invited Schaeffer to its next building and grounds committee meeting to further discuss the park's potential.