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| PARKING AUTHORITY MINUTES |
APRIL 28, 2004
ATTENDANCE: Urban Mulvehill, Chairman; Stephen Bentkover; Burt Schatz; Troy
Jellerette (arrived at 7:35 p.m.)
STAFF: Kathryn Hebert, Administrative Services Manager; Harold Alvord, Director DPW; Edmund Schmidt, Assistant to the Mayor; Diane Beltz-Jacobson, Corporation Counsel
OTHERS: Frank Del Monaco, LAZ Parking; Chad Collins, Project Manager and Matthew Silverman, Vice President of ACS; Robert Cavello, Westview Group
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Mulvehill called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
ACCEPT MINUTES OF MARCH 24, 2004 REGULAR MEETING
** MR. BENTKOVER MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF MARCH 24, 2004
AS PRESENTED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
ACCEPT MINUTES OF APRIL 14, 2004 SPECIAL MEETING
** MR. BENTKOVER MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF APRIL 14, 2004
AS PRESENTED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
APPROVE WEBSTER STREET LOT PROPOSED RATE SCHEDULE
Ms. Hebert said that this item was carried forward from the April 14th meeting. She referred to the description of the lot written by LAZ in their March 24th parking report. A meeting was held and all parties agreed to support this proposed schedule. Mr. Schmidt said that he was hopeful that the LDA would be ready for the Authority’s May meeting. Mr. Bentkover asked about the parking spaces that would be exchanged for a walkway; Chairman Mulvehill said that the law department should be asked for their recommendation. Mr. Schmidt said that Mr. Sheehan, the director of the redevelopment agency, should attend the May meeting and address this issue. Additionally, the space issue has not been resolved with Crown Theater and the LDA. He assured everyone that the ongoing discussions would not have a financial impact on the Authority’s budget. He recommended that the rates be approved so that LAZ could proceed with their next step, which was to order the necessary equipment. The program itself could be approved at the May meeting. Mr. Jellerette thought it unwise to approve rates without knowing the number of spaces. Ms. Hebert said that the agreement would be ready for discussion at the May meeting and hopefully the program could be implemented by July 1, 2004. Mr. Del Monaco agreed that rate approval at tonight’s meeting was necessary, reminding everyone of the six-week lead-time to order the equipment. Mr. Bentkover asked about the impact on the pedestrian drop-off and the street traffic in front of the theater; Mr. Del Monaco said that the first 15 minutes would be free parking. He felt strongly that the traffic pattern would be improved as a result. Mr. Schmidt said that the Maritime Garage parking usage would be watched closely as the weather began to improve.
** CHAIRMAN MULVEHILL MOVED TO APPROVE THE PROPOSED RATE SCHEDULE
PREPARED BY LAZ PARKING AS STATED IN THE PARKING AUTHORITY’S AGENDA OF APRIL
28, 2004 FOR THE WEBSTER STREET PARKING LOT.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Mr. Schmidt said that rates for all other lots were approved at the previous meeting; Mr. Del Monaco would submit a roll-out plan for implementation as soon as the revenue equipment was installed and operational.
** CHAIRMAN MULVEHILL MOVED TO ADOPT THE SCHEDULE AS ACCURATE
REPRESENTATION OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RATE CHANGES
AND EQUIPMENT.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
APPROVE OPERATING & CAPITAL BUDGETS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004-05
Ms. Hebert said that there was no change made in the documents since the Authority’s last meeting. Mr. Bentkover asked about the $405,088 loss shown for the Parking Enforcement/Bureau, to which Mr. Del Monaco responded that it would be reduced as the Authority continued to partner with ACS.
** MR. BENTKOVER MOVED TO APPROVE THE OPERATING AND CAPITAL
BUDGETS AS PRESENTED FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004-05.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
MARITIME GARAGE
Authorize Resolution
Diane Beltz-Jacobson from Corporation Counsel explained the resolution and why expedient execution of it was necessary. Mr. Schmidt said that the City does not want to risk losing sales due to delay in execution of the document.
** CHAIRMAN MULVEHILL MOVED TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION OF THE
NORWALK PARKING AUTHORITY, AS PRESENTED, AUTHORIZING THE DECLARATION OF A
CONDOMINIUM AND THE MODIFICATION OF THE GROUND LEASE, LEASE AGREEMENT AND
LEASEHOLD OPEN-END MORTGAGE FOR THE MARITIME CENTER GARAGE.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
** CHAIRMAN MULVEHILL MOVED TO APPOINT TROY JELLERETTE AS VICE
CHAIRMAN OF THE NORWALK PARKING AUTHORITY.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Status on Fit-Out Project
Mr. Cavello said that the project went out to bid and when received, came in under budget. After the contract is awarded for the work, construction will begin immediately since insurance certificates are already in place.
** CHAIRMAN MULVEHILL MOVED TO AMEND HIS PREVIOUS MOTION TO
INCLUDE THAT TROY JELLERETTE AS VICE CHAIRMAN WAS AUTHORIZED TO SIGN LEGAL
DOCUMENTS ON BEHALF OF THE NORWALK PARKING AUTHORITY IN THE ABSENCE OF THE
CHAIRMAN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Status Report on Completion
Mr. Cavello explained the items listed on the sheet prepared by his firm dated April 20, 2004 and said that the project is near completion, and the City is in “good shape.”
Validated Parking at Apple Fund Awards Benefit
Mr. Schmidt said that each year the Aquarium holds one major fundraiser; this year’s event is set for May 5 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. A request was received from the Aquarium’s Operations Manager to grant free parking to the guests attending just this event. Mr. Schmidt said that the total cost would be allocated to the debt of the Aquarium.
** MR. BENTKOVER MOVED TO APPROVE THE REQUEST FROM THE MARITIME
AQUARIUM TO VALIDATE PARKING FOR ATTENDEES AT THE RED APPLE FUND AWARDS DINNER
ON MAY 5, 2004. THE VALUE OF THE VALIDATED PARKING WOULD BE ADDED TO THE MARITIME
AQUARIUM’S DEBT PORTFOLIO TO THE CITY OF NORWALK.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
EAST NORWALK RAILROAD STATION
Status of Building Project
Ms. Hebert distributed the floor plan prepared by Westview Group. The design would be done in house and presented at the Authority’s May meeting. She said that Mayor Knopp requested that the project be submitted to the NFCC for their contract administration and review and assigned Mr. Cavello, Alan Lo and Brian Sweeney to work closely on the project.
WEBSTER STREET PARKING LOT
Status of Road Improvement Project
Ms. Hebert said that the document, once signed, would allow the Authority to do in-house design work for road improvements at the Washington Street entrance and exit to the Webster Street lot. Mr. Sweeney from DPW, Jack Burritt from the Redevelopment Agency and a representative of the law department would work closely with each other as the project progressed.
STATUS OF ACS TRANSITION AND IMPLEMENTATION
Ms. Hebert introduced Messrs. Collins and Silverman from ACS, the firm chosen to replace Net Tech. Mr. Collins said that he is in close contact with representatives of Net Tech to transition the data to ACS. He said that he expects to receive sufficient data to pursue the parking ticket situation, the processing of payments, collection efforts. Mr. Del Monaco said that existing staff would be used to perform these services, through the guided efforts from ACS who would do the back-office processing. Mr. Bentkover asked about the fine for non-compliance with handicapped parking rules. Mr. Schatz said the current fine is $90; Mr. Schmidt said that it could not be higher than $99.
Mr. Schmidt asked ACS to provide a schedule of what the City needs to do and the respective time frame required toward resolution of the route issues and parking improvements. Mr. Silverman said that in January ACS completed its report of two-thirds of all of Norwalk’s parking lots/garages. The data would be used as the base line to create the routes; ACS would have this information available at the Authority’s May meeting. Chairman Mulvehill said that it would be necessary to re-educate the public accordingly.
Mr. Collins said that all data would be “final tested” so that a determination could be made on when to make the cutover from Net Tech to ACS. Net Tech would continue to process tickets until the cutover is made.
Chairman Mulvehill said that he was advised that Net Tech erroneously but intentionally received a percentage of the parking fees. He asked Ms. Herbert to convey to Corporation Counsel that this should be researched after the transition is complete. Mr. Schmidt said that Net Tech might not disclose this type of data, but if/when it was available, Ms. Hebert would pursue this with the law department and a letter would be written to Net Tech in an attempt to resolve the matter in a professional and amicable way. Mr. Silverman said that ACS would ask Net Tech to provide the data for their further evaluation, hopefully before July.
** MR. JELLERETTE MOVED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO RE-ADDRESS THE ACCEPTANCE/APPROVAL
OF MINUTES OF THE MARCH 24, 2004 AND APRIL 14, 2004 MEETINGS.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
March 24, 2004
The following corrections were made:
On page 4 in the heading and first sentence, change the word “Garage” to “Aquarium”
April 14, 2004
The following corrections were made:
On page 1 in the attendance section, change “Todd” to “Troy”
On page 7 in the last paragraph, change the phrase “when the ticket” to “if a ticket”
** MR. JELLERETTE MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF MARCH 24,
2004 AND APRIL 14, 2004 AS AMENDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
DISCUSSION – WAYFINDING SIGNS
Mr. Del Monaco said that members of the South Norwalk Business district expressed an interest in becoming involved in this issue. Budget funds were available but the process may become complex. He said that he was hopeful to have a draft ready for discussion at the May meeting. Chairman Mulvehill said that the area of North Water Street near the IMAX Theater should have a unique sign. As it related to the attire of employees, Mr. Del Monaco said that 95% are appropriately dressed. Mr. Schmidt said that the list of LAZ’s employees/staff should be discussed at the May meeting.
DISCUSSION – ADA REQUIREMENTS FOR PARKING LOTS
Mr. Bentkover asked if Ms. Hebert had received a report on the standards, to which she responded that information was available from the CCM, Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. Unfortunately it did not contain information for on-street parking but rather information relating to residential neighborhood parking. Mr. Schmidt suggested that either Bill Ireland or Mike Greene from P&Z might be knowledgeable about code ADA requirements. He asked LAZ to prepare and present a site plan after the transition is complete to the Parking Authority all parking facilities in the City and said that signage would also need to be ADA compliant. The issue would need to be resolved before the lots were re-striped. Chairman Mulvehill said that the Authority would need to determine whether the handicapped parking spaces would be metered or be available by permit. Mr. Del Monaco said that LAZ would pursue this.
DISCUSSION – PARKING AUDIT
Ms. Hebert said that she had nothing to report because she had not yet met with Corporation Counsel to discuss this.
ACTION ON ANY ITEM DISCUSSED HEREIN
There were no items that still required action.
NEXT MEETING
Chairman Mulvehill said that the next meeting date would be Wednesday, May 26th in the DPW Conference Room.
** CHAIRMAN MULVEHILL MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol A. Wiggins for
Telesco Secretarial Services
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