Nesquehoning Council is hoping to clean up its borough parks.

On Wednesday, officials reported that Johnson Park, located on West Railroad Street, is continually a hangout for teens, who don't respect the grounds and litter and loiter, as well as cause a disturbance to the neighbors.Councilman Mark Stromelo reported that some of the members of the recreation commission, the mayor and council met at the park to clean it up, trim trees and see if there is anything that can be done so that it will be used for its intended purpose a playground for young children.He noted that they reached out to Panther Creek Valley and ConEdison for donations for solar lights at the park to light it up at night.Council said it will continue to look into seeing what can be done at the park.In other matters, council discussed an issue that occurred while Nesquehoning Hose Company was testing dry hydrants in Lake Hauto.Stromelo said there was a problem with one of the hydrants and a lot of debris got sucked up into the pumper during the testing, which Lake Hauto requested, and did a "considerable amount of damage."The pumper was fixed at a cost of $20,949, most of which will be covered by insurance, but there will be a $500 deductible.He said John McArdle, fire chief of the department, asked if council could contact Lake Hauto's board to see if they will cover the deductible.He said council will need to create an agreement for the future that prevents this from happening again by having someone inspect the hydrants and outlining responsibility in case of future problems.Other businessCouncil on Wednesday discussed or acted on the following items:Look into applying for grants for a recreation center rejuvenation project. The center needs a complete overhaul, Stromelo said, noting that major items include replacing rotting flooring, upgrading the heating and cooling system, and renovating bathrooms to be ADA compliant.Look into updating the heating and cooling system in the Nesquehoning Borough Hall board room. Council will get quotes to see how much a new unit would cost.Approve a motion to advertise for bids for the reconstruction and resurfacing of the unit block of West Rhume Street.Approve the Nesquehoning Democratic Club's request to use the borough hall for meetings.Appoint William Santore as the borough representative on the Dimmick Memorial Library board of directors.Approve the purchase of six vests for the police department at a total cost of $5,380.20.Look into budgeting the purchase of AEDs that are compatible with ones found in area ambulances or police cruisers. Mayor Sam Kitchko said that fire chief John McArdle said police needed to use CPR or older AEDs on five occasions over the past two months and recommended the purchase moving forward. The borough will look at it for 2016.The next neighborhood watch meeting will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 8 in the borough hall.Kitchko reported that for the month of June, police collected $3,189.06, issued 41 citations, had 479 incidents reported and drove 4,079 miles while on patrol.Urge residents to be careful because bears have been visiting the borough during daytime hours and have been causing some problems with getting into garbage.