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| PARKING AUTHORITY MINUTES |
JUNE 22, 2005
ATTENDANCE: Urban Mulvehill, Chair; Stephen Bentkover, Troy Jellerette, Burt
Shatz
STAFF: Hal Alvord, Director Public Works
OTHERS: Frank Del Monaco, LAZ Parking
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Mulvehill called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.
APPROVAL/AUTHORIZATIONS
Approve the Minutes from the Parking Authority meeting held on Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Corrections:
Page 2; the first paragraph should read: Mr. Ken Morrow of the New York Bakery
explained that he and other business people have a parking lot for their customers.
The problem was that non-customers are now using that lot that they have for
their customers. He said that there were about 12 parking spaces in the private
lot and he purchased another six (6) permits. So the spaces would be available
to his customers, instead of using the spaces in the private lot.
Page 3; 3rd full paragraph from the top, the first sentence should read: Mr. Schmidt said that many merchants reported to the Parking Authority that they want more enforcement in that regard, so that metered spaces are available for people looking to make a quick stop at a merchant.
Page 4; under the heading Splash; where it reads MR. BURTON
MOVED… should read: MR. SHATZ MOVED…
** MR. MULEVHILL MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS CORRECTED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Schedule a Public Hearing on the revised parking rates at the Maritime Garage for Tuesday, July 27, 2005, 6:30 p.m.
Mr. Del Monaco updated that now that they have been operating the Maritime Garage for 1 ½ years, they thought they should revisit the rate structure to recognize impacts it has on people who go to the aquarium and then go shopping. He thought by doing this, it would set a good tone to go forward. Mr. Mulvehill noted he didn’t have a problem with the minor increase. He stated that a public hearing on this matter would be scheduled for the July meeting.
DISCUSSION
Mr. Jellerette mentioned there were two letters in the newspaper regarding a woman that sat in the Webster Street Parking Lot for 46 minutes due to a truck that delayed her getting out. She had to pay $1.00 for that time. Mr. Del Monaco said she would be reimbursed. He said there were a couple of other complaints to this effect, but that they would be reimbursed as well.
Mr. Bentkover expressed that he experienced some problems being delayed in the Webster Street Lot; he thought there were still some kinks to be worked out. Mr. Del Monaco agreed there was more reconfiguration work to do. He also noted that a police officer was scheduled to be posted in the lot between 10:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. on weekends.
The agenda was taken out of order as follows:
LAZ PARKING REPORT
· Webster Street
Mr. Del Monaco said they would see construction work on the Washington Street side after the holiday. And phase I work would begin at the entrance behind the theater. Then they will concentrate on phase II for traffic work. He said he hoped it would be completed in October.
Mr. Bentkover suggested angling the lanes in the lot. Mr. Alvord explained they planned to do that. He pointed out on the map where the lands will be one—way only when construction was done.
Mr. Jellerette asked if there was any traffic overflow to the Maritime Parking Lot. Mr. Del Monaco said they saw an increase in activity after 6:00 p.m. but he thought that people were starting to get the message regarding the way the lot operates.
· Upper Haviland Deck
Mr. Del Monaco said they were still seeing increases in activity. The equipment operates well and he said they would see a recommendation to meter Haviland Street. But all in all, the equipment was working well.
· South Main Street Lot (PD Headquarters)
Mr. Del Monaco said the building still wasn’t finished and there is still al of contractor activity. He said they would be getting together in July to review where they were going. But the lot will be a challenge. He said he would report later with more details of how they should be operating.
Mr. Alvord agreed there was still a lot of contractor work. Also, the buses were taking up room at the lot. There was talk of having 12-15 spaces dedicated to visitors, but he thought it would take a while to figure out how to phase the lot.
RAILROAD STATIONS
· South Norwalk Railroad Station
Mr. Del Monaco said Monroe Street has been under siege with all the road work. But they were doing their best to mitigate any problems, although it has been a challenge. He updated that they continue to see people sign up on-line to get permits and their goal is to have that process in full gear by August 1 to take care of payments on-line. They were also getting ready to open up the lot on the eastbound side by July 1 where they will offer permit parking. And they will create additional handicap spaces. They will also put in bollards to eliminate people from driving around prohibited areas in the lot.
Mr. Alvord said they were also eliminating three (3) taxi-cab parking spaces. And they will eliminate spaces there were designated police only.
· East Norwalk Railroad Station
Mr. Del Monaco said they saw an increase in monthly parking permits issued.
Mr. Shatz asked if the demand was because of the station being built. Mr. Del Monaco said he didn’t think so.
· Wall Street Area
Mr. Del Monaco said they just about finished the work here. All the meters are in and they were enforcing the pay limits on Wall Street. He noted signs will be done this weekend for the Yankee Doodle Garage.
Mr. Bentkover asked when the Yankee Doodle Garage work would begin. Mr. Alvord said they had $150k in next fiscal year budget. They intended to start the work last fall, but it got diverted to Wall Street, but they hoped to begin the first phase at Yankee Doodle in the fall.
Mr. Bentkover asked about letting people know work was in progress with the garage improvements and that the parking fee would be used towards the improvements. Mr. Mulvehill said he didn’t think they should advertise that information. He thought that people seeing the actual improvements would be evidence enough of what was going on.
Mr. Bentkover stressed the lot was old, dirty and the stairwells retained water. Mr. Mulvehill said that he thought a paint job would go a long wary to improving the appearance. But the most visible part would be to stripe the spaces.
Mr. Del Monaco said the pay-by-space machines were in and they should see some improvement.
PARKING ENFORCEMENT OPERATION
Mr. Mulvehill said the Common Council was reviewing procedures to enforce parking. Mr. Alvord said there was an ordinance written by Lou Ciccarello and the DPW had an opportunity to review it. He said they went to meetings and there was no objection to it. Mr. Mulvehill said he thought it needed to be well thought out. He commented that he would like to see something in memo form what the Parking Authority’s position was in regard to enforcing parking. He noted there could be some repercussions if it was found out the wrong department were collecting parking violations fees. So they need a clear distinction of who was responsible for it. Mr. Alvord said he would draft a letter to Lou Ciccarello.
SECURITY
Mr. Del Monaco said there was a request for security in regard to quality of life issues, so they will work with the Norwalk Police Department on this.
MAINTENANCE
Mr. Del Monaco said they planned to partner with the Citywide Summer Youth Program to do some painting, sweeping and pavement repairs.
Mr. Bentkover asked about the trash compacters in the Webster Street Lot in regard to eliminating odor. Mr. Alvord said the compacters were supposed to be installed. He explained that the city would construct the pads and install the electricity, but the merchants would have to be responsible for getting the compactors. He felt there might be some opposition from some merchants, but he thought most of them would do it. And for those that don’t, he noted that they may receive a violation for unsanitary conditions.
Mr. Del Monaco spoke about the matter of a constable writing tickets. Mr.
Alvord explained the old ticket pads still read that people should pay at
City Hall. New pads will be ordered, but in the meantime, a constable will
continue to write tickets on a limited basis.
PERMITS
· Residential Parking Program
Mr. Del Monaco said they recently designed Madison and Monroe streets for restricted parking permits.
Staff Report
· Parking Authority Website
Mr. Del Monaco said they met with IT and made changes as needed. The website is expected to be finished at the end of July.
· MTA Installation of Lighting Below Bridge Overpass
Mr. Alvord said he spoke with Metro/North about the bridge overpass lighting and they liked it. So they need written approval now and a maintenance agreement. Then they will install the lighting that is expected to be completed in the fall.
ADJOURNED
** MR. BENTKOVER MADE A MOTION TO ADJOURN
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
The meeting was adjourned at 8:38 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Diane Graham
Telesco Secretarial Services
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