Public Parking Commission

1 CITY OF NORWICH NORWICH PUBLIC PARKING COMMISSION The following are the minutes of the regular meeting of the Public Parking Commission held at 5: 00 p.m., May 20, 2014 at the Buckingham Memorial Building. PRESENT: Mr. Alan Bergren, Ms. Olive Buddington, Mr. Pete Desaulniers, Mr. Jeff Lord and Mr. Sean Ryan. Mr. William Nash arrived at approximately 5:35pm. ABSENT: Mr. Terell Wilson ALSO ATTENDING: Mr. Matvey Sokolovsky, Mr. Jason Vincent Co-Chairperson Buddington called the meeting to order at 5:03pm, noting a quorum was present. PUBLIC COMMENT: Mr. Sokolovsky was slated to appear before the Commission to address them regarding the denial of his protest related to summons #3040004165. The summons was issued for parking too close to a crosswalk, a violation of Connecticut state statute 14-251. Mr. Sokolovsky stated his belief that the ticket should be excused because of the snow conditions on the roadway. Based on the evidence presented, the Commission decided to waive the penalty attached to the summons, but that the original fine would be due and payable. The motion was made by Mr. Desaulniers to waive the penalty only. Motion seconded by Mr. Lord. The vote was as follows: Yea: Ms. Buddington, Mr. Bergren, Mr. Desaulniers,and Mr. Lord. No: Mr. Ryan; wanted to waive ticket and penalty. At this time, there was no one else that wished to address the Commission. The Public Comment period of the meeting was closed. MINUTES NPPC MEETING 05/20/2014  1 MINUTES: On a motion made by Mr. Lord, second by Mr. Bergren, the Commission voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the November 19,2013 meeting as written. It was also noted that the January 2014 and March 2014 meetings were cancelled. FINANCIAL REPORTS & BILLS TO BE PAID: A motion was made by Mr. Ryan, second by Mr. Lord to accept the financial reports and accounts payable reports for: November & December 2013 January through April 2014 The motion was voted on and passed unanimously. NEW BUSINESS: ELECTION OF OFFICERS: A motion was made by Mr. Bergren, to nominate Ms. Buddington as Chairperson and Mr. Desaulniers as Vice Chairperson. The motion was seconded by Mr. Lord. The motion was voted on and passed unanimously. CHANGE OF MEETING TIME: The Commission was requested to consider changing the meeting start time to 5:30pm, to accommodate work schedules. Several members voiced opposition to the change, citing that 5pm is a convenient start time for them. They come to the meeting right after work, and when they leave it is still an early evening. The members decided to leave the start time at 5:00pm. A motion was made by Mr. Desaulniers, second by Mr. Lord to keep the start time of the meetings at 5:00pm. The motion was voted on and passed unanimously. MINUTES NPPC MEETING 05/20/2014  1 PROPOSED BUDGET 2014-2015: Mr. Ryan made the motion to approve the proposed budget, the motion was seconded by Mr. Alan Bergren. The motion was voted on and passed unanimously. DISCUSSION/RETURN DATE CHANGE: Currently, the amount of time to pay or protest a summons is 48 hours. It is a very short period of time to pay a ticket before the fine doubles. This restriction is based on City Ordinance Sec 20-19, and can be changed by the City Council. The Commission members decided to forward a recommendation to the City Council and request the “return date”be extended to 14 days. The protest time limit would remain at 48 hours. It was also decided to recommend that the fine for items l and m, (overtime parking), be increased to $15.00. This change would bring us more “in line” with neighboring cities. We have not increased parking fines since 1998. A motion was made by Mr. Desaulniers, second by Mr. Ryan, to recommend to the City Council that the “return date” be extended from 48 hours to 14 days from summons issue; increase the fine for overtime violations to $15.00, and change the protest time from 48 hours to 2 business days. Ms. Rizzuto was directed to write the Corporation Counsel and request the changes be made to the ordinance and presented to the City Council. The motion was voted on and passed unanimously. ANYTHING ELSE BROUGHT BEFORE THE COMMISSION: The condition of the Main Street garage was brought up in discussion. The elevator was the primary concern. It was noted that the Commission spent about $80, 000.00 10 years ago to bring the elevator back to working condition. Mr. Lord commented that any improvements or major maintenece projects should be protected. The options could include surveillance cameras in the elevator and refuge rooms to hopefully prevent any vandalism, or limiting the time that the garage is accessible to the Public. Mr. Desaulniers requested that Ms. Rizzuto to write a letter to the Public Works & Capital Improvements Committee, requesting they revisit the possibility of expending some capital funds in the Main Street garage. MINUTES NPPC MEETING 05/20/2014  1 Ms. Rizzuto informed the Commission members that there has been a Handicap space added on Main Street, in front of the Buckingham Memorial building. The space was added to aid disabled drivers going to the Library, the banks or other businesses in the immediate downtown area. The Handicap spaces at the rear of the Railroad Ave lot will be converted to leased spaces. During the first 2 weeks that the sign was placed, there were no summns issued. We issued warnings to alert drivers to the change in the parking status. It was also noted that the Rotary Carnival is in town. The workers will be using a portion of the Cliff Street lot as a base. All vehicles will be removed from the lot by Tuesday May 26, 2014. There has been a new hearing officer appointed in the City. Ms. Rizzuto suggested that the protest procedure be changed to have the hearing officer hear protests of persons looking for further review of their situation. Currently, those 2nd step appeals address the Commission members at a scheduled meeting. The Commission members suggested that an opinion be requested from Corporation Counsel, regarding the statutory requirements when a hearing officer is in place. The inquiry should include the option of having the Commission as a 2nd step and the hearing officer as the 3rd step in the procedure. As in the past, a motion was made by Mr. Desaulniers, second by Mr. Ryan, to cancel the July 2014 meeting. In the past, vacations have played havoc with getting a quorum together for the July meeting. If something urgent should come up, a special meeting will be scheduled. The motion was voted on and passed unanimously. ADJOURNMENT: Motion made to adjourn by Mr. Lord, second by Mr. Desaulniers. Voted on and passed unanimously. Meeting was adjourned at 5:50 pm Respectfully Submitted, Judith A. Rizzuto, Administrator Norwich Public Parking Commission MINUTES NPPC MEETING 05/20/2014