posted by Joe Polk at 12:30 AM /
Officials of the Mt. Lebanon Parking Authority must vote their organization out of existence or be replaced by board members who will.
Mt. Lebanon commissioners passed a resolution Monday to dissolve the authority by 2012.
"It just seemed in the end that there were too many impediments to continuing to operate as two separate entities," said Commissioner Dave Brumfield. "The financial gains through consolidation far outweigh the losses."
The 3-2 vote directed municipal Solicitor Phil Weis to work with the parking authority -- which owns, runs and maintains Mt. Lebanon's parking meters, garages and surface lots -- on a plan to cease its operations no later than Dec. 31, 2011.
Read the full article:
Mt. Lebanon commissioners passed a resolution Monday to dissolve the authority by 2012.
"It just seemed in the end that there were too many impediments to continuing to operate as two separate entities," said Commissioner Dave Brumfield. "The financial gains through consolidation far outweigh the losses."
The 3-2 vote directed municipal Solicitor Phil Weis to work with the parking authority -- which owns, runs and maintains Mt. Lebanon's parking meters, garages and surface lots -- on a plan to cease its operations no later than Dec. 31, 2011.
Read the full article:
- www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_708452.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
Labels: commission, parking authority
5 Comments:
Joe...please post today's Trib article on this subject today in the Neighborhood Section and I'll "peel the onion" some more to expose the sophistry of the Parking Authority and lack of journalistic thoroughness in reporting the real story.
Bill Lewis
Here is the link that Bill Lewis asked about.
Parking
Rates May Rise
Elaine Gillen
Thank you Elaine....get your hankie ready :
1) in today's Trib, the new Chairman of the Parking Authority played the blame game... attributed possible rate increases to the Muni taking back a long standing subsidy of Police parking ticket revenue;
2) this subsidy of yesteryear is totally unnecessary, and has been for some time...an unwarranted crutch;
3) what the Chairman...aided by the reporter who failed to probe and seek and report the actual facts and opinions..failed to admit is that the Authority has been and is in the process of raising parking rates and fines;
4) even that would not reveal the added fact that since 2003, the Authority board has approved 3 separate rate and fine increases;
5) further probing would have revealed that the first 2 were never implemented by the Executive Director....he must have been busy on other matters (he claims the Commission told him not to in 2003);
6) the 3rd. approval of increases is being slowly implemented...only a year or so behind schedule...everyone has been very busy;
7) the reasons for being behind schedule include the fact that new digital meters increasing rates from 25 cents for 20 minutes to 25 cents for 15 minutes had not been ordered in a timely fashion to effect a systemwide rate adjustment....don't use the credit card feature unless you plan to park for at least 2 hours...it automatically charges $2.00...the notice is in fine print. It wasn't a question of money...the Authority has loads from lot sales for the condo's at Washington & Bower Hill and the hotel;
8) parking fines were to be increased from $5.00 to $6.00 on July 1st. this year, but were not. The reason why was thought to be that someone forgot to order the printing of new tickets with the new fine rates....and that is apparently partially true. The rest of the story is that the tickets were ordered late at a premium cost; however, there was a small remaining supply of the *old* tickets that management wanted to use up and not waste. There was no cost-benefit analysis done on that one. The fines were finally increased a couple of weeks ago instead of July 1st.;
9) the Authority instituted a 1-hr. free parking scheme for the South Garage over a year ago...they didn't tell you that it was up to the 1st. hour...if you stayed 1 hour 1 minute, you paid for the hour. Anyway, it didn't turn out as expected...the garage lost a lot of money, merchants stopped buying validation tickets/stickers for customers, and the Authority cancelled the program but apparently didn't really get the message out...they even reduced what had been the $1.75 charge for the 1st. hour for those who did not qualify for the waiver to $1.50...but who knows ?
It's educational to follow the exploits of the Parking Authority....it provides case study material of how not to run a business.
And, don't believe everything you read in the newspapers. What I have related above has been revealed by other very knowledgeable residents in numerous public meetings.
Pardon me while I reach for my hankerchief.
Bill Lewis
The new Chairman of the Parking Authority says he doesn’t know what will happen with the Parking Authority’s two buildings.
I hope they don’t get mixed up with the school board’s new TIF guidelines. Lebo has had enough political foolishness with the Parking Authority’s tax-development giveaways over the last 15 or more years. It is time to sell the buildings and get the Parking Authority out of the “land bank” business and get the properties back on the tax rolls.
As for an unneeded $85,000 parking price increase, I think I’ll drive to the mall for free parking.
When I read this story the first thing that I thought about was what it costs me to park in NY or Chicago, and how incredibly cheap parking appears here in Mt Lebanon. Then I started thinking about where I would go after I park...
What would really be great is if we can build a highly desirable upscale retail corridor across Washington Road. I'd even pay to park to shop there,... even with the new rates!
I've always felt that an upscale retail corridor is what the community wants to see. Why can't we become like Shadyside? Crate and Barrel, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and similar retailers are starting to market in Pittsburgh (finally!). We need anchors to draw customers. Don’t get me wrong, I like Rolliers and I appreciate what they have done to develop their property, but how many people are going to drive to Mt Lebanon to buy a box of nails and then have a coffee at Aldo’s? Wouldn’t it be better to have (in addition to Rolliers) a Trader Joe’s in proximity, or a Whole Foods, maybe a Coffee Bean, a Starbucks in proximity, or a Crate and Barrel in the downtown area of Washington Road?
Look at the businesses that have colonized Washington Road today. I was in Aldo’s the other day. My God! Have you guys read all of the signs? “Pull hard on the door – it sticks”; “Restrooms for Customer Use Only”; “Flush hard”; “Don’t pay with a credit card under $5 because the bank takes too much”; “Don’t put wet items into our trash”, etc.
WOW! I think that the best way to solve the problem is for the customers to leave and then they will be rid of the problem completely!
What I am saying isn’t a rant. Try to assess a property for development in Mt Lebanon, call the municipality and watch what happens! We need an economic development strategy that is geared to building value in our community; and we need a municipal manager who can set the cogs in motion!
An upscale retail corridor would be nice, but if we continue down our current path with a collection of businesses that are largely financial sieves then I'm following John to the mall where the parking is free!
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