Parking Commission.

411 West First Street City of Duluth Duluth, Minnesota 55802 Minutes Parking Commission. Friday, February 10, 2023 7:30 AM Council Chambers, 3rd Floor, City Hall ROLL CALL Members Present • Noland Makowsky, President • Terese Tomanek • Robert Woods • Mark Bauer, Ex Officio Members Absent • Linda Krug • Karin Swor Guests Present • Marva Beckman, Asset Manager – Atwater Group • Carl Crawford, Human Rights Officer – City of Duluth • Ari Eilola, Duluth Operations Manager – Interstate Parking Company • Emily Larson, Mayor – City of Duluth • Noah Schuchman, Chief Administrative Officer – City of Duluth APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of January 2023 meeting minutes (January 2023 Duluth Parking Commission meeting minutes were not presented for a vote due to lack of a quorum of Commissioners.) PARKING BUDGET AND PUBLIC SAFETY DISCUSSION Parking budget and public safety discussion Mr. Bauer reintroduced an ongoing discussion regarding the public safety needs in the City of Duluth’s parking structures and the Parking Fund’s ability to sustain those needs. He summarized the Commission’s concerns, which had been expressed in prior meetings. Mr. Bauer stated that while the parking industry had been disproportionately negatively affected by COVID-era revenue downturns, third-party expenses had increased, while meanwhile security and cleaning needs in the parking ramps had also escalated dramatically. He stated that the majority of the Parking Services Division’s Five-Year Plan, which was approved by the Commission in 2019, remained unfunded due to the ongoing budget challenges. He stated that the Commission had expressed concern that by continuing to transfer a large portion of the Parking Division’s funds to the City’s General Fund, without the consultation or input of the Parking Division or any type of transparent process of annual review, the City was not prioritizing the public safety needs in the parking system. He stated that the Downtown Parking City of Duluth Page 1 Parking Commission. Minutes February 10, 2023 Advisory Committee, the Parking Commission, and the Parking Division had all recommended review and possible reduction of the amount of the annual General Fund Transfer but had not had success in advancing the discussion. Commission President Noland Makowsky stated his concern regarding the funding of security enhancements in the ramps, emphasizing the basic public expectations of personal safety. Commissioner Robert Woods reiterated that concern and stated that his own research had indicated that a far higher percentage of the Parking Fund was annually transferred to the General Fund than any other City enterprise fund. City Chief Administrative Officer Noah Schuchman stated that all City divisions are struggling to cover necessary expenses, noting that 84% of the City’s annual budget involves payroll. He suggested that the Commission provide Administration a written set of questions and/or requests from which to work on answers in conjunction with the City’s Finance Department. Mr. Bauer stated that he would coordinate such a list with the Commission. Mayor Emily Larson provided a list of various initiatives to which the City has committed in response to societal challenges affecting Duluth, including increased funding to the City’s warming shelters, coordinated crisis responses, the Downtown Task Force, the Clean and Safe Team, and increased police patrols. Commissioner Terese Tomanek inquired into who decides the amount of the annual General Fund transfer and whether the Parking Commission had authority to affect budget amounts. CAO Schuchman indicated that the Commission does not have this authority. Commissioner Tomanek requested that the City’s Finance team be asked to attend the next Commission meeting to answer some of the questions. Mr. Bauer stated that he thought the most effective way to initiate this discussion was to quantify the Commission’s questions in the method suggested by CAO Schuchman and to proceed from there. Commissioner Makowsky suggested that a five-year plan, featuring a more manageable General Fund transfer amount, be considered and then reevaluated at the end of that period of time with the goals of addressing the urgent public safety needs and working to rebuild Parking Fund reserves to fund the parking system’s needed technology updates. Mr. Bauer thanked Mayor Larson and CAO Schuchman for their willingness to attend the meeting and stated he would follow up with the requested list of questions for Finance. ON-STREET ACCESSIBLE PARKING ZONE REQUESTS On-street ADA accessible parking zone requests Mr. Bauer stated that though the two received on-street ADA accessible parking zone requests would not be presented for approval due to the lack of a quorum, he would request that one of the two be installed prior to formal approval due to the urgent need of the applicant. CREATION OF A NEW DROP-OFF ZONE AT 2301 WEST SUPERIOR STREET Creation of a new drop-off zone at 2301 West Superior Street (The proposal to create a new drop-off zone at 2301 West Superior Street was not presented due to lack of a quorum.) ANNUAL ELECTION OF DULUTH PARKING COMMISSION OFFICERS City of Duluth Page 2 Parking Commission. Minutes February 10, 2023 Annual election of Duluth Parking Commission officers (The annual election of Duluth Parking Commission officers was not conducted due to lack of a quorum.) OFF-STREET PARKING UPDATE Off-street parking update Mr. Eilola stated that enhanced security measures would soon be implemented in the downtown parking facilities. He and Mr. Bauer described those measures, which included installation of a physical access control system at Technology Village Ramp and employment of a third-party security firm to devote 24/7 attention to the challenges in the ramps. ON-STREET PARKING UPDATE On-street parking update Mr. Bauer stated that there were no significant updates regarding on-street parking. PUBLIC COMMENTS Public comments Atwater Group Asset Manager Marva Beckman expressed concern regarding the lack of available parking stalls near the building Atwater owns at 310 East Superior Street, which houses Blink Optometry, among other tenants. She stated that contractors associated with the Essentia Health redevelopment project consumed a large portion of the parking in the area. Mr. Bauer stated that the Parking Division was aware of the issue and had been consulting with Blink’s owner on options. He stated that one of the key challenges is that many of the vehicles display valid Contractor Parking Permits, a program that is administered by the City to allow contractors to complete construction and demolition work without having to abide by posted time limits. He stated that the parking staff would continue to monitor the area for any parking violations, particularly those involving time limits. City of Duluth Page 3