A deal was reached Monday with Atlanta-based ParkMobile to initiate the system of paying through cell phone, while retaining the option of letting drivers continue to pay the existing 25-cents-per-hour metered rate.
“People can come and utilize the app or utilize the meter,” Mayor Bill Murphy said.
Under the contract, ParkMobile will charge customers a fee amounting to 20 cents per use plus 3% of the total transaction if they use the app.
“We’re going to keep the meters in place for a year,” Murphy said. “Hopefully, within a year’s time, they figure out how to use the app or they buy a parking pass.”
Recommendations about rate changes, hours that the village will charge for parking, and which locations will have fees are expected to be made in the coming month by a committee.
“The devil is in the details and we’ve got to iron them out,” Murphy said.
Among concerns is the potential impact on employees in businesses and residents who use municipal lots for long-term parking.
“I’m tired of seeing people leave their cars back here (in the John Street lot) for weeks on end and not moving them,” Murphy said. “(We) towed probably 10 cars out of there in the last year.”
Officials hope to develop zones that will allow parking fees to change based on the demand in various locations.
There are currently about 130 metered parking spots in the village along Partition, Main, and Market streets, with those locations expect to fall about $15,000 short of the $55,000 estimated as revenue in the current 2024-25 budget, The figures are similar to projections that were in the 2023-24 budget, which estimated there would be $51,000 in revenue but only $39,000 was collected.
Among the goals is to convert the currently free-to-use off-street Partition Street parking lot into a paid location, with the number of available slots increased from 80 to 110. The additional parking using payments through the app is expected to cost the village $65,000 for paving and $1,000 monthly to lease the property.
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