Placid parking goes high tech

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August 21, 2008

Pay by credit card at Main Street sites, as board orders new meters

By JACOB RESNECK The Press Republican Thu Aug 21, 2008, 05:55 AM EDT

LAKE PLACID -- New parking meters are on order for the Village of Lake Placid.

The move came following more than a year of wrangling between village officials, merchants and other stakeholders working to find a replacement for the 1960s-era coin-fed meters that line Main Street.

This week, trustees voted 4-1 to award a contract to MacKay Meters of Nova Scotia, whose low bid came in at $119,925 for a modern system that will allow motorists to pay by credit card.

The new meters will feature a pay-and-display system in which motorists pay for parking at one of 15 units that will be found along Main Street and in municipal lots. Trustees said the charge for parking -- $1 an hour -- will remain unchanged for the time being.

The dissenting vote came from Trustee Peter Roy, who argued in favor of a traditional one-meter-per-space system.

Mayor Jamie Rogers said the new system will make it easier on village crews.

"I think the biggest benefit is it will be much easier to maintain and clean Main Street."

The village had bonded $250,000 last year for a new parking-meter system, but it was not until this week that the money has been authorized. The village attorney is reviewing a service contract from the vendor that will cost $8,100 a year for the parking meters.

Not everyone has been satisfied with the process. Wayne Johnston of the Lake Placid Business Association, a loose-knit coalition of Main Street merchants, complained that many questions raised in committee meetings have still never been answered.

"I don't want anyone leaving here thinking that everything is cool on Main Street," Johnston told the board. "There is by no means consensus in the business community about these meters."

Once the new meters are installed, trustees will move some of the original '60s-era ones and install them on side streets to expand paid parking areas.

In related news, the village will open some of the upper portion of a municipal lot across from NBT Bank on Main Street to general parking.

The lot is currently reserved from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for permit holders. But under the new configuration agreed to by trustees, some central spaces will be open to the general public while the perimeter will remain reserved for permit holders during normal business hours.