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Cold Spring Trustees Hear Proposal From Parking Meter Company
Flexible system could pay for itself quickly
by Kevin Foley
The trustees of Cold Spring took the first step down the road toward paid parking on village streets last week at their weekly workshop meeting on June 24, 2008. The catalyst was a presentation by a salesman for a parking meter company. And while the session was just an elaborate sales call it was clear that the elected officials and an audience of merchants and activists were quite enamored by the twin possibilities of a dependable new government revenue stream and a greater turnover of parked vehicles on Main Street.
Eric Braverman, a business development manager for Parkeon, a global provider of parking meters based in Moorestown, New Jersey, came to the meeting at the invitation of Trustee Gordon Roberston, who has taken an active role in exploring the potential of metering in the village. At past workshop meetings Robertson contended that a business presentation could jumpstart discussion of the issue by providing a realistic context for it. Judging by the effervescent reaction of the participants he wasn't wrong.
Braverman offered an elaborate pitch for his company's technological services - complete with a laptop-controlled power point outline projected onto a large screen, slick folders filled with multiple brochures and the ultimate object of interest, an actual meter delivered to the Village Hall ahead of his arrival.
The essence of Braverman's message was that the over five-foot-high meter, when combined with the company's software capabilities, would offer Cold Spring a rugged, secure, real-time reporting revenue generator that could be adapted in any number of ways to the village's specific needs. Similar-looking Parkeon meters can be seen on many streets in NYC.
"New York [City] put our machines through a vigorous testing procedure; we had to turn a couple over to them to try and destroy." So we're confident they can stand up to anything your village will throw at them," said Braverman
Braverman said the meter machine is solar powered so it doesn't need to be connected to the electrical grid when installed on the sidewalk. In response to a question he said that one machine is usually used to control ten curbside spaces but in a confined location, such as the municipal lot on Fair Street, one machine could probably do the job for all of the approximately 40 spots.
The meter can offer both pay by the space or pay and display systems. "For our northern clients we recommend pay and display because winter snow covers the numbers on defined spaces," Braverman said. Under such a system a driver buys a period of time with coins, a credit card, a cell phone, a smart card or dollar bills and displays a printed ticket in the vehicle windshield. Transactions are instantly communicated to company headquarters allowing authorized village officials to monitor up to date payment activity at any time.
Braverman said the machines could cost from $6,000 to $14,000 each depending on the features chosen by a customer with installation extra. Accepting dollar bills, for instance, is the most expensive because the software required is more elaborate than for coins or other options.
"Multi-space meters have increased revenue 40% for municipalities that used to have single space meters. In Cold Spring, with no meters, you will have a quick return on investment," said Barverman who at one point put coins in the meter and passed the printed ticket around the room for inspection.
Gordon Robertson said that Nyack, New York officials he visited with were ecstatic over the results after purchasing 46 of the Parkeon meters to replace single space meters. He said he sat with the town comptroller and watched him enthusiastically pull up instant data from the parking system. But Robertson warned his colleagues: "They had a lot of problems, not with the machines, but the procedures of how they went about the bid process. There was litigation so they ended up in court so we'd have to proceed carefully."
Mike Armstrong, a resident with an enthusiasm for thorny public issues like garbage and parking, joined the discussion with his previouslyexpressed concern that any parking plan be comprehensive, taking into account all the available village spaces, to protect homeowners from the effects of pushing vehicles onto residential streets. He also advocated a public/private partnership with churches and other organizations that have space for additional village parking. "Private entities also use these meters and they make a lot of money," said Armstrong.
Braverman agreed with Armstrong, indicating the metering system could be adapted to have different pricing in different locations and at different times, all controlled from a personal computer. "You don't have to have paid parking seven days a week if you don't want it," added Trustee Robertson.
As the discussion ended Trustee Seth Gallagher wondered if metering could have the effect of driving visitors away. "That's never been proven to be the case although it is commonly thought to be so," said Mike Armstrong.
The trustees next considered another revenue raising proposal from Building Inspector, George Tompkins and his assistant Ralph Falloon, who also serves as Fire Inspector. The pair recommended an across-the-board increase in village permit fees with every category charged a minimum of $50. Building permits would no longer be based on the estimated cost of the project but instead would cost $35 plus $.30 per square foot with the minimum $50. The same would be charged for demolition and change of use permits.
A dumpster permit would be a comparable bargain at $25 plus $10 a day after the fourth day. Construction projects begun without a permit would be expensive with the new permit (as opposed to a fine) costing $250 plus $.50 a square foot. "This approach seeks to avoid litigation and the expense of going to court over fines," said Tompkins.
The trustees took no action on the proposals but appeared favorably inclined to act on them in the near future. The fee increases are intended to more accurately reflect the actual expense of the permit services rather than raise additional money for the village coffers.
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