Tamaqua Borough Council accepted the resignation of Code Enforcement, Zoning, and Health officer Greg Kurtz as of Sept. 8. Kurtz appeared at council’s regular meeting to tidy up a few loose ends.

He presented the borough with recommendations for improvements and adjustments to the fee schedule, including changes to the rental property inspection fees, which would include an increase to $100 per inspection, which would be good for four years. He also proposed a sliding scale for reinspection following an inspection failure.

“People who do a better job would only have to pay $35 if they have a few infractions, whereas people who have 10 or more would pay $100,” he said. Kurtz also recommended charging additional fees for work done without permits, and for flood plain development, which had not had a fee schedule previously.

While the borough adopted the majority of Kurtz’s proposals, Councilman Brian Connely asked why rental property owners couldn’t be rewarded for having no violations, by getting a refund of $50 on their inspection fee. Council approved Connely’s proposal.

Kurtz also made a recommendation to the borough for the purchase of code enforcement software that he said could be used by most of the borough employees to help coordinate efforts across departments.

The software package, which is produced by iWorQ, has an initial installation fee of $9,000, and then a yearly maintenance fee of $6,000. Kurtz said that he had negotiated with the company to keep the $6,000 maintenance fee for the life of the borough’s contract for the software.

Borough Manager Kevin Steigerwalt said that the borough’s existing hardware is compatible with the requirements for the system, and council approved the purchase of the package. Council has advertised to fill Kurtz’s position.