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North Adams Panel Endorses Return of Center Street Parking Meters
By Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
12:25AM / Tuesday, July 26, 2016
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Parking meters were removed from the Center Street lot a decade ago in favor of kiosks. The council is being asked to return them now that the kiosks are broken.


Councilor Keith Bona is encouraging the city to consider a smartphone app in addition to meters.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Public Safety Committee voted unanimously on Monday to recommend ordinance changes that will put parking meters back in the Center Street Parking Lot.

The three members, however, sent a message during the discussion that the city should be looking at a parking plan for the entire downtown.

"I tend to the agree that the idea of thinking about this longer term and making this move now are not mutually exclusive," said committee member Kate Merrigan. If the cost was exorbitant it would make sense to hold off, but this did not seem to be the case, she said. "The cost of installing the refurbished meters is less than $5,000. ... It seems to me that this could be moved forward and at the same time we could be talking about our next city planner about doing a comprehensive plan."

The administration asked for the ordinance change to return the meters because of the difficulty in enforcement after the parking kiosk broke several years ago. Police Director Michael Cozzaglio had approached the Traffic Commission about restoring the meters last month, saying it was impossible to enforce parking limits in the short- and long-term areas.

MaryAnn King, chairman of the Traffic Commission and former parking clerk, said two parking kiosks were installed in the lot in 2006 but were "not top of the line." The motherboard on the one behind the Mohawk Theater went bad about a year later and had to be replaced, but that one didn't last long. It was determined to remove it since there wasn't a lot of use at that end of the parking lot. It was used for parts for the kiosk behind 85 Main St. but that one finally died 3 1/2 years ago.

"The enforcement was tough," she said. Because the parking included the first two hours free, she had to write down tags and come back two hours or so later. And those with long-term parking permits often used the short-term spaces. "You really have to have someone there all the time.

Cozzaglio said re-installing the meters would allow officers to cruise through the lot and see immediately the expired meters. It would mean the end of the free two-hour parking; the new parking fees are 25 cents an hour.

Mayor Richard Alcombright said the idea is to reuse the meters in the St. Anthony Municipal Parking Lot and make that underused lot free.

"All the feedback I've gotten has been against putting in parking meters," said Councilor Lisa Blackmer, one of four other councilors attending the meeting, calling it a "hot button issue." She said customers have complained to business owners who in turn have complained to her. If the council went forward with the plan, she said the city needed to look at signage and plowing in the metered lot.

As for enforcement, "I honestly think we should have a beat cop who works say 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. ... We should have a beat cop interacting with the residents and the tourists and people on the street when businesses are actually open."

Councilor Keith Bona again urged the administration and police to consider automatic parking payments using a simple and free software.

One example he showed the committee, Park Mobile, scanned a bar code to make micropayments and even sent an alert to the driver to let her know when the meter was running out.

"I think we should look at other options ... people constantly come in because they don't have quarters," said Bona, who owns a store on Main Street. He was unconvinced, however, if the meters should be restored.

Committee Chairman Robert M. Moulton Jr. thought the city should completely rethink its parking plans to leverage the influx of festival and concertgoers at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

Rather than put in meters, he said, the city should have free parking but institute $10 parking the five or six times a year that Mass MoCA has a big event, estimating it could bring in $60,000.

"I'm totally for [meters] on Main Street, Eagle Street ... but what if we could have free parking in the lots but not lose revenue?" he said." "I think we're missing the boat a little bit on the parking for Mass MoCA ... I don't see much downside to it."

Cozzaglio asked how such a parking scheme could be staffed; Moulton thought the city could rely on non-profits if they were guaranteed a cut.

While the mayor and Cozzaglio said the impetus had been enforcement, they and King noted that the permitted parking brings in about $40,000 a year. Because of the broken kiosk, it wasn't clear how much the meters lots had brought in. Making the parking free could discourage the purchase of permit holders.

The revenue goes into the Parking Meter Account, which helps pay for equipment and other needs of the Police Department. Cozzaglio noted that the force is purchasing two cruisers priced at $41,000 out of the account.

The committee members did not see a problem with 25 cents per hour on the meters, especially after learning that there were some free 15-minute parking by the bank.

"Twenty-five cents is practically free," said committee member Josh Moran. Bona said, "Every day I have people [from out of town] taking pictures of the meters because they think it's comical to charge 25 cents an hour."

Councilor Nancy Bullett said there was a great deal of free parking downtown, but "if you want to have convenience it costs a quarter."

The parking meters will be part of the work planned for the Center Street lot this summer to make it easier to maneuver some of its tight corners, repair some sinking grates and improve its handicapped accessibility. Cozzaglio said the signage will also be part of the improvements.

The City Council will take up the ordinance on Tuesday night.

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