PARKING BOARD
MINUTES
FEBRUARY 1, 2010
1. CALL TO ORDER 4:30 p.m. by Mr. Spatafore
ROLL CALL Mr. Spatafore, Mr. Bouchard and Mr. Walsh and Parking Director James Hacker. Mr. Caggiano arrived later in the meeting.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Bouchard made a motion to approve the minutes of January 4, 2010 with the amendment to change Agenda Item #7 to February 1, 2010. Mr. Walsh seconded the motion, all were in favor and the motion so carried.
3. REPORT OF BOARD MEMBERS
There were no reports from Board members.
4. INFORMATION & CORRESPONDENCE
Mr. Hacker distributed the Salem Regional Visitor Center Statistics from January, 2003 through December, 2009, noting that the Visitor Center numbers were down in November and December.
Mr. Caggiano joined the meeting at this time.
Mr. Hacker distributed the spreadsheets on revenues for the parking garage and office and noted that the figures were up for November and December. He noted that the this may be due to the Museum Place garage now being open until 10:00, Monday through Friday, and the South Harbor garage now being open during weekdays.
Mr. Hacker distributed the spreadsheets on revenues for the lots and meters and noted that the figures were also up for November and December. He stated that the meter increase from .25 to .50 per hour may have had an effect.
Mr. Hacker noted that the snow emergencies have only been on weekends thus far, so there has been no loss in revenues due to snow emergencies.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Mr. Hacker stated that there is a Downtown Parking Study Public Workshop being held this evening at 6:00 pm.
Mr. Hacker stated that he is working with Tom Daniel in the Department of Planning & Community Development on a proposal for valet parking in the evenings. He noted that mostly restaurants are interested and that it is still a work-in-progress.
Mr. Spatafore asked the status of the parking for construction workers at the Courthouse project.
Mr. Hacker stated that there has been no change. St. James Parish was willing to rent out their lot, but the State never contacted them. He stated that the workers seem to be parking under the bridge and that he hasn’t found there to be a problem in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Mr. Bouchard asked if there have been any calls about the proposed parking in front of the former Salem Jail.
Mr. Hacker replied that he has not received any calls.
Mr. Walsh asked if the new equipment at the Church and Bridge Street lots was working well.
Mr. Hacker stated that they have had a few computer glitches in software. He has been keeping staff out in the lots until around 2:00 p.m. to help demonstrate the machines. He noted that one machine was not working for a time due to the batter. He stated that they initially did not issue any violations, but are now giving them out and are getting some complaints, noting it is mostly people who don’t know how long they will be parking there. He stated that he is looking into software that will let people add time onto their space from their cell phone.
Mr. Bouchard stated that he received on call from a law office because clients did not know how long they would be at the law offices and were used to paying when they left the lot.
7. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be March 1, 2010.
8. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mr. Caggiano made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Walsh seconded the motion, all were in favor and the motion so carried. The meeting adjourned at 4:51 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jane A. Guy
Secretary
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