When it comes to covering borough council meetings, my initiation took place more than 40 years ago, and the heat was substantial. It was six hours of fire and brimstone. I won't forget it.

The date was Feb. 1, 1975. In those days, I freelanced at the Times News while at college. George Miller was manager of the Tamaqua Bureau. Scibbie Weaver was in the office, always busy doing Scibbie things.Occasionally I'd pinch hit when George would leave town.Turned out he had an appointment in Allentown one night, so I filled in covering a council meeting. It happened to be a tumultuous time.Tamaqua Borough Council decided to increase sewer rates by a whopping 150 percent.The funds were needed, they said, to update sewage treatment facilities from primary to secondary stage, mandated by the state.Two options for a bond issue were examined, both exceeding $1 million in liability. Town residents were forced to cough up big money at a bad time. Of course, there's never a good time to cough up big money. But the area was in the grips of recession and things weren't good.The economy was bad, jobs were scarce and people were struggling.An overflow crowd of 150 jammed town hall for the 7 p.m. brawl.Tension in the air was palpable as the meeting was called to order."We can't afford to pay these bills," yelled a man from the back of the room."Order! Order," screamed council President Donald Becker, slamming the gavel."We will not have any irrational outbursts!"Yet tempers flared. Accusations flew. Becker pounded the gavel 10 more times during the course of the long night, into early next morning.Hell hath no fury like the public scorned. Money was hard to come by, and attendees felt council simply didn't understand.Elm Street resident Andrew Gozjack, for instance, questioned why the board insisted on including Social Security benefits as taxable income."It's used as a basis to see if you can pay," answered George Wenzel of the finance committee.Dozens spoke up, many shouting and fuming, not only about sewage fees, but water quality.Al Fritz, representing the Tamaqua Taxpayers Association, complained the drinking water from Still Creek Reservoir was filthy.Fritz said buildup of organic matter was studied by engineers who'd made recommendations to borough officials without results.Extensive arguments ensued regarding aeration and filtration.The night wore on and pressure built. Hours went by. Each person, it seemed, wanted to vent at length.Other issues surfaced, and those matters, too, were essential to health and welfare. It was one of those brutal sessions never to be forgotten.The only question was whether the meeting would ever conclude.Despite the crowd's objections, council approved the sewer rate increase and Becker rapped the gavel to end the meeting at 1 a.m.I stayed up the rest of the night poring through copious notes, then typing a full-page story using the old Olivetti Underwood.The steamy, six-hour boxing match was so grueling I saved a copy of the story. I don't know why. But I've held onto it for four decades.I've covered many municipal meetings since those days, but the one involving a major increase in sewer rates is memorable.There were some sessions in other places that stand out for other reasons.For example, the Rush Township meeting room reminded me of a sardine can. The old municipal building simply wasn't large enough to handle crowds. So we'd pack ourselves in like sardines, almost on top of each other.If nothing else, it provided much-needed humor. But I often worried someone would yell "Fire!"Municipal meetings are essential to pay bills and do business. They're mostly normal and routine.But there are times the sessions can get hot. When they do, the heat can sear mental images that last a lifetime.