City Parking Lot Goes Back to Meters After Box Fails to Please

By Christina Georgiou

The parking payment kiosk at Easton's South Third Street
municipal parking lot is covered and awaits removal after
drawing complaints from the public. Individual smart
meters have replaced the unpopular payment station system.

The city parking lot on the east side of South Third Street has gone back to using individual meters for each of its 22 parking spots after the new box to administer the whole lot failed to impress parkers.

The box, which accepted credit and debit cards, as well as cash, and produced a printed receipt that patrons were require to display as proof of payment on their cars, had been installed for a two-month trial period and will go back to the manufacturer, said City Administrator Glenn Steckman.

"We were getting mixed reviews," he said, adding that complaints included people not liking the inconvenience of having to walk back to their cars, opining the system was complicated and confusing, that the machine was difficult to read, and that the machine was slow to process card payments and generate the required receipt.

"From my personal standpoint, I think the boxes are more efficient for the city, but we listened to what our customers were saying," Steckman said.

He estimated the single payment station would have saved the city about $1,000 annually in operating costs over smart meters that accept card payments, which is what has replaced the unpopular box.

Removing the parking payment station won't cost the city more, as the money that would have been spent on its purchase was reallocated by city council to pay for the new smart meters in that location, and the box had been installed on a trial basis offer from the company that offers it.

"We leased it (on a trial basis) at a very, very low rate," Steckman said.

The city administrator added the city may try out the single payment station method again at other municipal lot locations in the future, but those will probably not be from the same company that produced the one being removed.

Where the system might be tried again is undetermined, though it's possible one could appear next year at the city's new 20-spot lot on North Fourth Street.

That lot, which has long term, 10-hour parking limit, is planned this year to have individual meters that only accept quarters. City officials have cited the costs of card-accepting smart meters as being a barrier to their immediate implemenation at the new lot.

Steckman said the solar-powered new smart meters, which also accept all denominations of silver coins, cost $495 apiece, versus the quarter-only meters, which cost $180 each.

The city's new lot may eventually get a more versatile payment system though, whether another payment station trial or card-accepting smart meters. It depends on the amount of revenue the new lot generates and if the city determines it to be cost-effective, the city administrator said, adding that since the location is new, it's too early to tell.

"We need to look at the whole year, not just a couple of months," he said.

The new smart meters were installed earlier this year, coincident with a rise rates for curbside metered parking from 50 cents to one dollar per hour.

The rate of parking in the city's parking deck has not changed, and the city is offering discounted evening rates in the deck as well in an effort to encourage locals and employees to park there more frequently during peak city visiting hours.

New Downtown Parking Lot Won't Get Smart Meters This Year

By Christina Georgiou

The City of Easton's newly acquired parking lot on North Fourth Street will likely open by June, but patrons of the lot will need to bring an ample supply of quarters if they intend to take advantage of the 10-hour time limit.

That's because Easton officials said at last week's city council meeting that they don't have enough smart meters, which accept credit and debit card payments, to spare to cover the 40 spaces the new lot will provide.

It will cost $20,000 to purchase enough of the solar-powered devices to furnish the new lot with the smart meters, as they are $500 apiece, said Mayor Sal Panto.

"We wanted to put them in there, but we just don't have the cash," the mayor said.

At the $1 per hour rate, those parking in the new lot will need an entire roll of quarters to take full advantage of long-term parking in that location. There are few shops in the immediate vicinity to provide the coins too, though it's doubtful most  merchants regularly carry that many to give out.

City administrator Glenn Steckman said it's possible a few spare smart meters might be reallocated to the lot this year.

"Right now, we could probably do a handful (of parking spots)," he said.

Adding a multi-spot payment box that does take card payments is a vague possibility at some point in the future, but Steckman said he doubts that is an ideal solution.

"After what we went through with the multi-space box on South Third Street, I'm not sure," he said. "I will tell you that we may come back next year and ask for more credit card meters, but it probably won't (cover all the places Downtown they're wanted.)...We'd like to do this in phases."

Steckman suggested a solution for the new parking lot on North Fourth Street for now might be to rely on it less for city visitor parking.

"We may also recommend that part of this lot be converted into a residential permit parking lot, and that would help," he said.

Steckman said that the current residential parking permit system allows residents to park on the street, where there are smart meters, and the city loses revenue when that happens.

"If a spot is being parked at by someone with a (annual) $100 residential permit, there's no revenue from that meter for a day or two," he said.

Credit and debit card payments at curbside meters are providing a substantial amount of revenue for the city, Steckman said, adding that $10,471 was collected via the method last month.

Panto noted that the annual rate for Downtown residential parking permits hasn't been raised in about 25 years. He also suggested the system should be changed to allow permit holders to park anywhere in the Downtown district, instead of specific zones, as the system currently allows.

"Originally, the program zoned based on where people were living, but now people are living everywhere Downtown, and some of them can't park," Panto said.

The mayor also said the city needs to put more effort into getting the word out about its new parking program for those employed Downtown in the evenings, which provides workers a discounted rate of 50 cents an hour in the parking deck on South Third Street after 5 p.m.

Parking Rate Increase Still Months Away

By Christina Georgiou

Easton's City Council approved an increase in metered parking rates from 50 cents an hour to a dollar per hour in December, and the law officially will take effect on Jan. 11, but the motorists aren't likely to be charged at the new rate until April, officials said Wednesday evening.

"We need to buy the (new smart) meters and install them," said City Administrator Glenn Steckman, estimating that the city will actually begin charging the new rate and enforcing extended hours--from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays--beginning on April 1.

Switching to the new hours and rates isn't something the city can accomplish overnight, Steckman noted.

"You're talking about 500 to 600 meter heads here," he said.

Not all the Downtown parking meters will be converted to smart meters that accept credit cards, Steckman said--those will be placed at the busiest locations.

Meters in areas further from the commercial center of Downtown will be electronic Duncan meters, though those still need to be recalibrated to reflect the new rates. They also will get stickers to indicate the new hours of operation.

The city will also change the older meters batteries more frequently--every three months instead of every six months--to hopefully cut down on inoperative devices, the city administrator said. The city is also considering adding a phone number on the meters' stickers that people can call to report problems or inoperative devices, he added.

City parking lots will also be converted to central pay-box systems in the coming weeks. The parking lot pay boxes will be installed soon by city public works employees, Steckman said.

Those boxes, along with the new smart meters, will display the rates and hours of operation automatically, once placed.

"They'll have everything you need to know," Steckman said.

He estimated the converting the whole parking system over to the new rates and hours will take city workers a total of 30 to 40 days, barring bad weather.

"If we get a foot of snow, all bets are off on certain things, " he said.

Mayor Sal Panto said the city will be communicating with Easton Main Street and the Easton Business Association to keep city businesses in the loop about the coming changes, and that the city doesn't plan to take a hard line on enforcement as the new system is implemented.

"The first couple of weeks, we'll (have parking enforcement officers) give warnings after 6 p.m.," Panto said.

Administrators Present Parking Revenue Estimates at Budget Discussion

By Christina Georgiou

Easton City Council members were presented with parking revenue estimates for 2013 during budget discussions at their workshop meeting Tuesday evening.

The numbers were requested after the initial proposed budget presentation by Mayor Sal Panto earlier this month.

Purchasing solar-powered smart meters that take credit and debit
card payments are part of the city administration's
2013 budget proposal.

A rate increase from the current 50 cents to 75 cents an hour at curbside meters will likely net the city an additional $150,000, while if the rate were raised to $1 per hour, the city would raise $250,000 more than in 2012, estimated city Finance Director Chris Heagele.

Running metered curbside parking times from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., instead of the current 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., would likely net the city an additional $65,000. Adding metered parking on Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. would likely raise $50,000 more in revenue, Heagele said.

"All these numbers are conservative, not liberal (estimates)," Panto added.

All told, the changes and potential rate hike could net the city between $265,000 and $365,000 more parking revenue next year, discounting expenditures associated with the changes.

On the expenditure side of the potential plan, adding multi-space meter boxes to city parking lots would likely cost $40,000, replacing and changing various parking signs, including signage to change the time limit from two to three hours in most areas, would run about $10,000, and the proposed smart meters that would take credit card payments would be about $100,000, members of the administration estimated.

Additionally, giving parking violators a $5 break on their fines if they pay them within one business day would eat about $25,000 in city revenue, the city administrators said.

City Administrator Glenn Steckman said the costs associated with purchasing new smart meters and the parking lot pay systems wouldn't be borne in one year, but stretched out over several years.

When it comes to the multi-space pay stations too, the city needs to test the idea out and see how it goes before a final decision is made, he added.

"We're not just going out and putting in this equipment," Steckman said. "We want to test first and see how it's going to be used."

He said officials expect the pay stations are likely to be more useful and heavily trafficked at places where city visitors park often, such as at the South Third Street parking lot, more than at one where there is a higher proportion of residents' permit parking, such as at the city-owned parking lot on Church Street.

The cost of signs, Steckman said, is somewhat unavoidable whether the city decides to change parking time limits or not.

"The signage, some of that's already in the budget," he said. "We're always replacing signs."

The city is also planning on spending a bit more on parking enforcement personnel in 2013, regardless of whether the rates are raised.

Hiring a full-time parking enforcement officer supervisor is necessary for higher efficiency and good parking enforcement management, Steckman said.

The move would eliminate one part-time position and create a full-time position with benefits, costing the city about $20,000 more.

"It's what we think is a good use, which, frankly, would result in more tickets being issued," Steckman said.

Currently, the city tickets only about 8-9 percent of those parked after meters expired, officials said.

"Ninety-one to 92 percent of expired meters are still going unticketed," confirmed Easton Police Chief Carl Scalzo.

Still, that is two to three times the estimated percentage of those ticketed earlier this year, when the "capture" rate was in the 2 to 5 percent range.

Current digital meters provide the numbers, Scalzo said, noting that they send a signal to enforcement of their status when cars are parked but the meter has expired.

Parking violation fines account for the greatest amount of traffic-related revenue for the city. By comparison, moving violations are likely to put less than $100,000 into city coffers.

"My guess is that it will be at $80,000 to $100,000 for this year," Heagele said. "I don't think we'll go past six figures this year."

"I think it comes down to a best guess situation when it comes to what's being written," Scalzo added.

The proposed 2013 city budget doesn't include any tax hikes, but some fees will be raised or added if budget passes as presented.

While the bulk of those are likely to be mostly in planning and codes fees and are planned to be discussed at the next budget discussion, officials did mention they are leaning towards adding a billing fee to trash and sewer costs.

"We are recommending a $2 a month bill fee--$1 for trash, $1 for sewer--to help with mailing costs," Heagele said, adding the charge would be waived for those recorded with the city as being senior citizens.

Additionally, in 2013, the city expects to spend less on highway cleanup.

"That's directly related to a mild winter last year. Our barns are full (of road salt)," Heagele said.

But the Crayola Experience expansion will likely cost the city a bit more than just the last $100,000 installment of a total $300,000 payment to McDonalds to entice them to move out of their Northampton Street location this past September.

The Crayola store is planning on vacating the space in the Alpha Building it currently rents from the city to reopen in the same space as the children's interactive museum.

"We're assuming that it will remain vacant through the end of the year," Heagele said. "We're taking a conservative approach (when it comes to potential revenue."

Panto said the Crayola Experience is planning on closing for three months at the beginning of 2013, from January through March, to enable its planned expansion.

Another 2013 city budget disscussion, to review and discuss city expenditures, along with a detailed presentation of possible rate hikes for city planning and code enforcement, is set for Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m.

City Council Hears More on Parking Meter Proposal

By Christina Georgiou

After discussing the possibility of enacting additional fines for "lazy double parking" at their workshop meeting Tuesday evening, members of city council heard a presentation on the proposed metered parking rate hike and the administration's plan for installing smart meters that accept credit and debit cards in the most heavily trafficked parts of Downtown Easton.

City Administrator Glenn Steckman said the rate increase, already enacted by city ordinance but not yet implemented, would increase revenue and would be used to create a dedicated funding stream for the Greater Easton Development Partnership and also help fund future parking mananagement system growth.

While most of the presentation further explained changes that might come with the 2013 budget if it is approved as the administration is proposing, Wednesday evening's presentation did include some minor changes and clarifications.

Specifically the plan would:

• Change the hours of meter operation and parking enforcement of all Downtown parking meters to 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday
• Put metered parking into operation in some locations Downtown from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays, most likely on or south of Northampton Street and on the Centre Square
• Increase the time limit for Downtown street parking except on Centre Square from two to three hours
• Install about 200 smart meters in the Downtown core, from Second to Fourth streets and from Spring Garden to Ferry streets
• Install multi-space payment boxes at three surface parking lots at an estimated cost of $24,000 to $40,000, with the variable in price being dependent on the type of box and its capabilities the city chooses
• Offer a discount of $5 on all parking tickets paid within 24 hours, with the discount offer for those being issued on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday being good through the close of the business day on Monday
• Add better signage to guide city visitors to parking areas
• Create a pass program for those who work nights to park at a discounted rate in the city parking garage

Steckman said the city would also consider lowering the rate for parking in the deck from $1 per hour to 50c and hour between 5 and 9 p.m.

City council members offered various opinions on parts of the proposal.

Councilman Roger Ruggles, whose wife Sue Ruggles leads the congregation at St. John's Lutheran Church on Ferry Street, said he didn't like the idea of charging on Sundays.

"I'd be really, really, really against this one," Ruggles said. "For one thing, 12 o'clock is too early."

"The whole reason here is to capture Crayola. Crayola is going to be bringing in more people, and we need to pay for Ambassadors and stuff," Mayor Sal Panto said.

Councilwoman El Warner said the time change and having metered parking at only some locations on Sundays seemed inconsistent.

"Either do it six days a week, or do it seven days a week. But don't do it halfway," she said.

Panto said the estimated increase in revenue would be about $235,000. While that's less than the city's contribution to GEDP, it's approximately the difference between the annual $170,000 the city has given to the organization in the past and the $355,000 it plans to contribute for 2013, he added.

The remainder would go toward funding an additional parking enforcement officer, which would cost the city about $60,000 including salary and benefits.

Warner questioned how much purchasing smart meters would cut into the estimated revenue increase.

"I want to know exactly how much we're paying and how much we'll make," she said.

Panto said the purchase cost wouldn't cut into the revenue increase because the city would be using its capital funds to "loan" the money to itself, but the revenue would be going into the city's operating budget.

"Regardless, we really still need to upgrade the technology," he said.

Steckman added that the majority of the increased revenue would be coming from the anticipated increase in traffic from additional Crayola visitors generated by their expansion.

"The value is from replacing some of our (old mechanical meters) that keep breaking down and selling them. They do have value, even if it's just scrap metal," he said.

Some members of council also wondered if it would be better to alter the proposal to run meters for 12 hours a day.

Panto said the administration will bring estimates of what it thinks would be generated if the hours of operation were either 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. or 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and also estimates of what would be generated if the city were to raise rates to $1 per hour instead.

Councilman Jeff Warren said he feels that would be too much.

"I could support 75c but not a dollar," he said. "I think going from 50c to $1 (per hour) would just send shock waves through the community."

"We will put together an entire matrix (of the possibilities)," Panto said, adding that the administration will have it done in time  to present it for the city budget hearing on Tuesday, October 13.

2013 May Bring Parking Meter Rate Increase

By Christina Georgiou

Visitors and residents that come to Easton's Downtown and want to park curbside and in metered ground-level city-owned will pay a little more next year, if city council approves the proposed 2013 budget as presented by Mayor Sal Panto Monday evening.

The current rate is 50c an hour, but the plan is to raise metered parking to 75c per hour and extend hours of operation, with metered parking in effect from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and also adding metered hours on Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. in the prime commercial areas of the city, namely at metered spots from the Centre Square south along Third Street.

A city ordinance allowing for the increase was already passed earlier this year Panto said, but the changes have not been put into effect.

Panto said the Sunday hours were added to capture increased revenue from city visitors on a prime weekend day, but the expanded area and times will hopefully not impact locals attending services at local churches.

The administration also wants to install new smart meters that can accept credit cards at curbside locations and a kiosk system at city surface lots that will also allow users to pay with plastic, eliminating a possible scrambling for quarters to “feed the meter.” Card users will have to deposit at least $1, but the meters and kiosks will also still accept quarters for those that wish to pay cash. 



Photos of IPS Group's smart meters
from Bethlehem's test run last summer.
The sophisticated devices run on
solar power and users can pay either
with quarters or by credit or debit
card. Additionally, the meters
communicate with parking enforcement
officers and can reprogrammed with
whatever changes a municipality
chosses via wifi connection instead of
requiring each to be changed
individually by hand.



Easton Police have contracted to test both systems, Panto said, and about 50 solar smart meters from IPS Group Inc. are likely to appear in the most heavily trafficked parking spots near the county courthouse in about a month. The test period is to last for 60 to 90 days, he added.

The meters are identical to ones that were tested in Bethlehem's historic district last year. City officials refused to estimate the total cost for purchasing a total of 250 meter heads that would be installed in the most heavily trafficked section of the Downtown area—specifically between Second and Fourth streets and Spring Garden and Ferry streets—with another 50 solar smart meters to be placed in the most used street-side spots in the courthouse district in the city's West Ward, saying they are still negotiating the possible deal.


However, City Administrator Glenn Steckman said they do hope to haggle a better deal than Bethlehem. Last year, Bethlehem estimated IPS devices as costing about $600 per meter head.

Cited advantages of the smart meters include being wi-fi capable and able to communicate their status to enforcement officials, letting them know which are expired, or even jammed so maintenance calls happen immediately. Additionally, the sophisticated IPS devices are capable of being topped off via a cell phone, though no mention of that feature was made Monday evening, and the feature wouldn't work for those that were already at the meter's maximum time limit, which is three hours at most Downtown spots and two in the Centre Square. After the limit is reached, the vehicle would still have to be moved.

Panto said the city will either negotiate a zero-percent loan with IPS if it's offered or “borrow” the money from the city's capital improvements fund, with payments from parking revenues paying back the fund over a period of about three years.

Steckman added that if the test is successful and city official approve the budget with the increased rates, meters might be installed all at once, or they might happen instead in increments.



“It all depends,” Steckman added. “We don't want to go out and purchase this to find out we didn't need it.”

Additionally, he said that parking meters outside the planned areas in the Downtown will not be upgraded as he doesn't feel the upgrade would yield revenue to justify the costs at this point.

The city will also test a parking kiosk at it's surface lot on South Third Street. That system, provided by Parkeon, will also accept credit and debit cards, as well as cash. Unlike some systems that require drivers to physically walk a payment receipt back to their vehicles and display them on the dashboard, the Parkeon system will ask users to enter their parking spot number, which will be displayed on the poles formerly occupied by meters to be clearly visible, said Easton Police Chief Carl Scalzo.

Under both new systems, parking rates per hour will be the same for those who pay either by cash or by card—however the minimum payment amount will be $1 for those who pay with plastic.

The minimum is necessary to cover processing and wifi fees associated with card use, city officials said.

Times and rates in the city's parking deck on South Third Street will remain unchanged if the plan goes through, but a plan to offer parking in the deck to restaurant employees and others who work night hours Downtown would be put into place, with a suggested cost of $10 per month, Panto said.

City council members mostly offered no comments, having not yet had a chance to look at the proposed budget in detail Monday evening. However, Councilwoman El Warner seemed initially opposed to suggestion of an increase in rates and times.

“So I suppose we really don't need to approve this, since you've already ordered the machines?” she asked Panto.

The mayor said that with the changes already approved earlier this year by the council, passing the budget without changes would trigger the plan.

“So if we really don't want to go to 75c per hour, and we can find some alternative, we can do that,” Warner replied.

City budget documents indicate the city will receive almost $390,000 from parking meter fees and about $618,250 in parking fines this year. If the proposed budget is passed as presented, that revenue is estimated to climb to $500,000 in fees and about $625,000 annually in 2013.

The additional estimated $117,000 would go towards a proposed $355,000 that is earmarked to support the Greater Easton Development Partnership (GEDP) and the programs it oversees—the Easton Main Street Intiative, Easton Ambassadors and the Easton Farmers' Market, Panto said.

Also expected to be weighed concurrently, but separately from the budget discussions, is the possibility of extra fines for “lazy double parking” or penalizing those who double park when adjacent parking spots are readily available.