MOUNT VERNON — In what probably comes as no surprise to anyone, parking was again before City Council on Monday night, and Streets Committee Chairman John Fair expressed his frustration with the lack of resolution.
“We’ve dealt with downtown parking issues since 2005, and we are no further along with this issue than when it first came about,” he said.
The two main issues are 24-hour parking and downtown parking.
Police Chief Mike Merrilees said that when he appeared before council in 2007, he was told council did not want the 24-hour ordinance overused, that council members wanted it to be more of a warning system. Based on that, he said, if a vehicle is identified as being parked longer than 24 hours in the same spot, a phone call will be placed to the owner, a verbal warning given by an officer or a warning sticker placed on the car. Last week, he said, there was a situation where it seemed like everyone wanted the car ticketed.
“I’m getting mixed messages,” he said.
Merrilees said some of the ordinances need cleaned up, as does some of the language.
“I have some long-term plans for the parking garage and meters,” he said. “I know they want enforcement stepped up in front of the post office.”
Several years ago, council voted to create the part-time position of parking monitor for the downtown area. Since then, two individuals have filled that position; the position is now vacant.
“We haven’t had much luck with keeping people in that position,” he said. “If that’s where council wants to head, that’s fine.
“I think a 20-hour person ... it’s a wash,” he said. “The revenues don’t quite seem to meet the cost ... you are not going to make money down there.
“If we do have a 20-hour person, I want more enforcement at the post office,” he added.
Merrilees said part of the cleanup is using new parking tickets and getting rid of collection boxes.
Last month, council suggested the responsibility for parking enforcement be returned to the Mount Vernon Police Department.
“We can have officers do it, but it will not be a high priority,” said Merrilees. “I am not going to pull officers from other duty to do that, but there are officers who have a few hours here and there when they could do [parking enforcement].”
Fair referred to a memo from October 2005 from the late Police Chief Tom Bartlett, which stated that the Ohio Revised Code places parking operations within the police department.
“I’m banking we can put parking back with the police department so it’s not in the red,” said Fair.
He pointed out the chief’s table of organization in the MVPD listed three auxiliary officers, and questioned whether those officers could be used for enforcement. Merrilees said two of the three were Mount Vernon firefighters, but it might be another resource to monitor.
Councilwoman Rebecca Jordan said that previously, one of the main concerns was that the parking attendant was only allowed to write parking tickets, not tickets for parking in a handicapped space, or parking too far from the curb.
“That person can write those tickets, but that’s part of the cleanup I need,” said Merrilees.
Merrilees said he was doing some internal monitoring to see how many officers get involved with parking enforcement.
“Officers can do some enforcement now, but not many are,” he said.
Councilman Chuck Dice was concerned about residents, including himself, who have nowhere else to park except on the street. Previously he was told his car would not be towed. Now, he asked, if the 24-hour parking is enforced, will his car be towed when he is on vacation for a week?
“Common sense has to rule,” said Merrilees, adding that an officer would first check to see if there is a reason why the car has not been moved. “We’re not going to tow because someone’s on vacation.”
Dice said he favors officers doing the parking monitoring.
“I will not agree to hiring another 20-hour monitor,” he said.
Councilman Mike Hillier pointed out the cost of the parking monitor is in the budget, and that monitoring is important to members of the downtown Heritage Centre Association. He also said the parking monitor may not be busy now, but as warm weather arrives and more events are held downtown, he or she will become busier.
Hillier also said that if enforcement is returned to the MVPD, and a call is received about a car being parked longer than 24 hours but the officer is on another call and unable to respond in a timely manner, it might not look too good for the police department.
“The parking attendant [position] won’t pay for itself, so we have to stop going back to that,” he said.
Fair questioned whether money collected from police operations such as towing cars could be used to offset the cost of a parking monitor, rather than going into the general fund as it does now.
Merrilees will meet soon with Fair and city officials to discuss the issue.
