Duane Hicks
Weighing in on the hot-button issue of parking meters, the local Economic Development Advisory Committee formally has said it supports the town pursuing the project further.
EDAC chair Gary Rogozinski told the Times the committee has discussed parking meters during its last few meetings, and the consensus was to send a resolution to council supporting the idea but not necessarily recommending it.
“The biggest concern from the majority of the members is there are a lot of business who have employees who park on Scott Street instead of parking off of Scott Street to allow customers to come and park,” he noted.
“They take up valuable spots.”
Rogozinski said the town’s bylaw officers try to do a good job of enforcing it, but “they play hopscotch with the people who park there.”
If people who have parked in a spot for more than two hours see the bylaw officers coming, they just move their vehicles a couple of spots and they’re good for another two hours, he added.
“It gets very frustrating,” Rogozinski remarked, adding the town simply doesn’t have enough personnel to “babysit downtown the whole day” while bylaw staff have other duties to dispense.
Rogozinski noted that, in the worst case, installing parking meters will be a “break-even proposition” financially.
While the parking meters cost money to buy and then put in, they will pay for themselves in the long run.
He added paid parking is a fact of life elsewhere, especially in cities, where people who work downtown do not get free parking.
There already are alternatives to Scott Street for downtown employees to park (the town has three parking lots for them to use).
These include the lot just west of From the Grind Up and the Legion parking lot (both of which are free to use), and the Portage Avenue lot by the post office, which is free to use for the first two hours and a $1 an hour after that.
In other news, EDAC is recommending changes to the town’s lease with the province for the tourism information centre here.
It has told council the town should start discussions with the Ministry of Infrastructure to secure a reduced lease rate for operation of the facility.
EDAC also recommended the removal of the clause in the current lease agreement respecting the sublet, or carrying on of other commercial activity, within the current facilities to allow for new vendors.
