Charleroi to continue free parking – for now
By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
Parking will remain free in Charleroi throughout the new year.
In August, Councilwoman Jeannine Motycki proposed not collecting change from borough parking meters because of a national coin shortage.
Council has evaluated the decision monthly, and so far, no problems have been reported but some members are still concerned with residents taking advantage of the generosity.
Council President Mark Alterici never objected the free parking, but has been consistently hesitant about residents parking in front of businesses – including business owners – for several hours at a time.
“I am not a big proponent of keeping the meters,” Alterici said. “I am a proponent of limiting how long people can park on the street.
“I would love to get rid of the meters, if people would not park on the street all day.”
On Wednesday, Motycki offered a potential long-term solution – to permanently do away with paid street parking on McKean and Fallowfield Avenues.
“Leave the meters in the lots, but the ones on the street, take them out,” Motycki said.
She told council she discussed potential legal matters with the borough solicitor and council would have to install signs to inform residents that there would be a two-hour limit and violators would be fined or towed.
Council would also have to come up with a plan to enforce the two hour, on-street-parking limit.
Vice President Jerry Jericho, who supported the idea of free parking, is worried part-time meter enforcement Officer Sam Kopach, who works 24 hours each week, will not have enough to do.
“We are going to lose money,” Jericho said. “We will be paying him (Kopach) to do a job he will only be doing half of.”
For the past several weeks, while meters have been free, Motycki said Kopach has been repairing broken meters, taking inventory and still collecting change from meters from out-of-town visitors who don’t know they don’t need to place a quarter in the stall to park.
“I know that some think it might be an issue, but I personally don’t think it will be,” Motycki said. “Even if he was done an hour or so early, I am sure that Roberta (Doerfler) could find something viable for him to help with in the borough building to meet his hours, if need be.”
Jericho suggested a slightly different proposal.
“I think we should take the meters out of the parking lots, and entice people to park on the parking lots and not in the street,” Jericho said. “Make the parking lots free. Right now the parking lots are always full. Why? Because it is free right now.”
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