Coaldale Borough Council will pursue discussions about a regionalized police force.

During Tuesday’s meeting, council voted 5-2 to engage in talks about contracting with Tamaqua officials about shared police coverage.

Coaldale has been relying on Pennsylvania State Police for coverage since January. The borough’s force began to dwindle with the resignation of police Chief Joseph Krebs in September and by December, all officers had either resigned or retired.

Council’s recently established police committee has been studying options for police coverage over the past few months.

Councilwoman Kim Gavornik presented council with options to either rebuild the borough force, or establish a regionalized force with Tamaqua.

To rebuild the Coaldale department, Gavornik said a minimum of five officers are needed at a cost of $344,000 plus expenses like insurances, overtime and more.

Regionalization with the Tamaqua force, Gavornik said, would mean entering into a multiyear contract and paying a set rate of $366,000 for the first year.

She noted Tamaqua would have to add three officers to the force to provide Coaldale coverage.

“No matter what option we would go with, we will need to put in a 2 mill levy for the police coverage next year,” she said. “Keep in mind that the money can only be used for police protection.”

The value of the mill, Gavornik said, will be based on the new Schuylkill County reassessment.

“We will not find out that amount until the end of this year,” she said.

Remington thanked Gavornik and the police committee for the research.

“We need to do something. We need police protection,” Remington said. “Our town is really getting overrun with ‘We don’t give a crap attitude’ and we have to put an end to it.’”

While state police has been providing coverage to the borough, troopers do not respond to issues like dogs running loose or illegally parked vehicles.

Remington polled the board to determine whether the borough should pursue additional discussions with Tamaqua. All were in favor except Gavornik and Councilwoman Angela Krapf.