Parking Advisory Board

Billings Parking Board Meeting Minutes May 11, 2022 Board Member Present in person: Brandon Scala, Todd Morgan, Kallie Parsons, Larry Matthews, Pete Sanderson, Mark Kary, Sean Lynch Ad Hoc Board Member Present : Board Members Absent: Mehmet Casey Guest: Matt Lundgren City Staff Present: Tracy Scott, Jennifer Mockel, Call to Order: Brandon called the meeting to order at 2:00 pm Minutes: The April 13, 2022, minutes were approved by Larry seconded by Mark, approved by board. Reports:  Monthly Reports (April 2022) Increase in the monthly and yearly monthly spaces, cash sales are up by monthly and yearly. Empire Garage hourly is down due to gate control equipment, monthly was also down. Tracy is working with Finance on the Double Tree issue  Operating Report The department is still looking positive financially. Sean asked if Tracy had time to talk to Admin about the Covid money issue. Tracy was not able to talk to them due to being out of the office for surgery. Sean asked if Tracy would like him and Brandon to talk to them, Tracy said she will discuss things with Kevin this month.  Credit Card Analyze Report/PBP Report (April 2022) There was slight decrease in Pay By Phone and Credit Card possibly due to weather.  Empire Garage Equipment Tracy reported that the new equipment will be installed June 13, 2022. There will be cameras installed in the entrance and exit as well as the stairwell of the Empire. The police department has asked to have the cameras installed. They have helped in the other garages. Downtown Alliance Report Mehmet was not present to give a report Public Comment (3 Minutes) Matt Lundgren represented the Montana Rescue Mission on their Special Parking request. Discussion Items Agenda/Action Items  Special Parking Application o 406 RX PPLC There was some discussion about how many 10 min spots on that block. Sean believes that the spots will be abused. The board talked about it being the busiest block in the downtown area. There was discussion how handicap permits can be used at meters. Mark motioned to deny this request, Sean seconded, board approved. o Montana Rescue Mission The board received the special parking application requesting the meters and signs be removed. Matt Lundgren would like to have some uniformity of street parking on the block. He would like to have the meters and signs removed and have unrestricted parking. The board talked about why and what could happen down the road with other businesses. Mark asked what the goal is and the need to have the parking on the street. Matt stated that he will have a parking lot for staff done in December 2023. Sean does not want to have it free parking in the downtown area, he is open to a uniform solution but not having free parking. Sean suggested that we have meters installed there again at some time. Brandon talked about the problem of having free parking on the street. The board would like to talk about the whole Minnesota parking issue. Matt asked if we could do free parking for the time being and change as the building and parking lot is built, which will be the end of 2023. Mark would like to have a short-term solution. Tracy wants to make sure we are fair across the board and for every business. Brandon suggested that we have 10-hour only signs, the board talked about how that can work for the employees but not the visitors.  Brandon motioned to have unrestricted parking for 6 months and have the 10 meters bagged. He would like to have this item put on an agenda and have a plan in place by January 1, 2023, to move forward. He suggested that the Parking Enforcement Officers continue to patrol that area but don’t ticket. Sean seconded; board approved. Agenda Items for Next Meeting Residential Parking (Moved to July’s Agenda as per Tracy 5/5/2022) Sean wants to come up with a Residential Parking Permit Kevin from MET at next meeting (Moved to July’s Agenda as per Tracy 5/5/2022) Meeting Adjournment : Brandon adjourned at 2:54, Kallie seconded Next meeting July 13, 2022 @ 2:00 pm Additional Comments and Discussions: Kallie suggested that the board have some Special Work sessions, Sean agrees. Sean would like to have Kevin Ploehn, Kevin Iffland, and Chris Kukulski to attend the sessions. The board would like to have the first meeting in June. The first meeting will be without city admin but the second meeting we can invite admin. The board would like to have a 5 and 10 year plan, before things start to happen in the downtown area. Sean would like to have a meeting with all the business owners on Minnesota to talk about the parking situations.