(12/21) Upgrades to downtown parking will have to wait a little longer as the Town Council tabled a proposal to purchase and install improved parking meters on Main St., add meters to the end of West Main St. and at the community pool parking lote, and raise the parking fee until more information justifying the initiative is presented to the Council.

The current coin-based parking meters are starting to jam and becoming more defective as they age, according to Town Manager Cathy Willets. The town has a few spare parts for the current meters; "However, once those spare parts are gone, we are unable to purchase spare parts for any defective meters," she said.

The new meters, according to the staff, would offer payment by credit card as well as mobile pay applications. The updated meters would be a huge convenience to drivers caught without change, and town staff predicts fewer parking tickets and fines as a result, Willets said.

The proposed project would replace the existing 125-coin only parking meters along Main Street and will add 20 new metered spots on with ‘smart’ meters that accept both coin and card payments.

The initial cost of the project would be $62,000, of which $32,000 will be covered by a USDA Community Facility Grant, with the town picking up the remaining $30,000. However, the town would be charged a yearly fee of $8,400 for the software to run the meters.

Currently, the town’s parking meters bring in roughly $15,000 a year, said Parking Officer Kadeem Brim, and Mayor Frank Davis noted that with a 25 cents fee increase, this amount could notably increase.

Davis said he has met with downtown businesses and reported they were all in favor of the meter replacement and the increase in parking fees if the increased revenue is put towards purchasing a vacant lot that could be used for parking. Davis told the Council the new meters would pay for themselves in less than two years after which, the town can begin to make a profit and that money can be put toward the purchase of land for a parking lot, Davis said.

"This parking problem has been going on for 50 years," he said, and recommended the town increase its income "a quarter at a time" and fix the decades old parking problem.

Flyers outlining the initiative that were delivered to each home along Main Street that are currently unmetered, but will be metered under the new plan, received little response, he said.

After a lengthy discussion the Council tabled the proposal until more information and resident feedback can be gathered.

Council President Amy Pollitt and Commissioners Jim Hoover and Valerie Turnquist voted against moving forward with the project. However, Hoover said he would approve the project without the 20 additional meters on Main Street.

Turnquist argued meters were not money makers for the town as it was. Before the town purchases new meters, it should know which meters currently bring in the bulk of the parking money. "Why should we be replacing existing meters with expensive meters that will be rarely used? That makes no sense at all," she said. "If necessary, we could move meters from parts of the town that are not used to replace broken ones in areas that are frequently used, at no cost to the town. That way all the revenue is going to the town, not some software company." Turnquest also pointed out that several residents complained that adding meters in currently unmetered areas, and increasing the cost of parking, was nothing more than a tax increase, which did not go over well given they already are faced with higher water bills.

Pollitt concurred with Turnquest and said a lot of questions still had to be answered including the rationale for metering previously unmetered locations. Pollitt said she wanted to see more project information presented, including studies of all additional funding and costs over the life of the new meters.