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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-30-07 Parking Commission Minutes, part 2 Bozeman Parking Commission Meeting Part 2- Matt Inman of Carl Walker, Inc. January 30, 2007 Parking Commissioners in Attendance: Chris Pope Lisa Danzl-Scott Steve Schnee Larry Bowman Pam Bryan Tammy Hauer City Staff in Attendance: James Goehrung, Superintendent of Facilities Katie Maroney, Parking Clerk Anna Rosenberry, Finance Director Laurae Clark, Treasurer Guests in Attendance: Matt Inman, Carl Walker, Inc Action Items: 0:03:49 [8:02:55] Second Parking Management Planning Workshop Chris Pope called the meeting to order. Discussion was held about the Thomas Mosser Cash in Lieu request as approved and presented by the planning department. Larry made the motion to approve Thomas Moser's request as presented by the planning department and Pam seconded the motion and the motion was approved. 0:07:33 [8:06:21] Discussion of Parking Management Impacts due to the New Facility Things that need to be discussed: *How will the garage be structured within the management of the existing system now? *Self operation *How many will be staffed, will there be a parking ambassador etc. *Possibility of staying open Mon-Thurs 8-8 with weekends being open until midnight It may be best to keep the parking department small to start with. Keeping the lines of communication open between the Parking Commission and the City is going to be the key to success. The parking ambassador will need to be a person that will be a positive force for downtown. There is an executive director that is being hired for the Downtown Business Association to replace Paul Reichert. The Commission is looking at the boot option for chronic violators as a way to keep citations under control. How many people will be staffed for the garage-? *A Bookkeeper *Facility Manager *Funds Collector for Pay on Foot Machines *Have a drop box for tickets *Ambassador should have some sort of an office to maintain records of the garage, injuries, maintenance. A line of communication from the garage to City Hall will need to be established. There will need to be internet connection for the office at the garage. Enforcement for the facility should be low with general problems of handicap spaces, someone taking up two spaces, abandoned vehicles, etc. being the problems. Signage for the pay on foot machines will have to be very visible for people to know that they have to pay at the machines versus paying at the gate. Having uniformed officers go through the garage will offer a sense of security for customers. 0:57:38 [ 8:56:41] Impact to Other Parking Supplies Questions that need to be answered regarding the other parking spots in the downtown are: *Who will be cleaning the lots and how often? *Will on street parking remain 2 hours free? *Will the surface lots remain with lease spaces or will more spaces open up allowing more transient spaces? *Will we change some parking to 3 hour? The decision whether or not to have free parking or limited parking on street should not have a serious impact on the garage revenue itself. It was discussed to look at increasing the rates of the surface lots and make the rate for the garage less, to encourage people to use the garage. Matt recommended not segregating areas for permit holders other than the rooftop. The ground level entry will need to be addressed. If that level is full will they have access to go back up to the next level without having to leave the structure? The entry/exit on Black may need to be reassessed to help with this. Discussion was held about the basement being "mixed". This item will be tabled until further talk could be had with Dick Prugh this afternoon. Would it be possible to have separate entry/exit for basement, maybe the Black entrance being basement only? Possibly look at selling basement only permits. Matt will talk with Scott to see if there is some way to improve the Black entry/exit. If no improvement can be made, what is the next step? If this entrance is decided to be accessed with AVI, then the flow of traffic will be better at this particular entry/exit 1:46:45 [ 9:46:05] Parking Enforcement Implications Chris would like to briefly discuss the parking enforcement in regards to the AutoChalk system. AutoChalk has approximately an 80% accuracy rate. Having consistent enforcement is going to encourage people to use the facility. Could the AutoChalk be tossed into the technology overview that is going to be done for the garage as well. Will this be a good option for the parking commission. Matt will check into this system. 2:01:42 [10:00:41] Discussion of Next Steps Scott Martin has done a limited review of the plans and will be available for discussion at a future meeting. 2:03:18 [10:02:20] Brief Peer City Review A peer city review will bring information regarding the following: *Rates? *How their structures are managed? *What hours they are open? *How much citations are and transients vs. permit holders? *Percentage of lease holders vs. transients *Are they trying to pay for structure through rates? *Do they have surface lots and what are the rates? *Do they offer rooftop rates? *Do they offer validation programs? *Payment Options/Technology *Information booths? *Ask about philosophical questions/is it all about making money? *What are their guiding principals? *What would they have done differently? *Pay rates for employees- *Are peer cities a separate authority from their City government? The Parking Commission is budgeted for 2 full time downtown officers. To date the parking staff consists of the following officers: Bob Coffin-full time downtown Jackie Woosley-Citywide abandoned vehicle Kathy Middleton-75% MSU residential district 25% Animal Control Connie Lien-Animal Control/with backup duties as parking officer It was brought up to possibly meet with Tracy Ulman, the Neighborhood Coordinator, to check about a more regulated environment for downtown and keeping an open communication with parking overflow into residential areas. Signage for downtown parking is going to be an essential part of the garage. Having an annual parking report to keep the community involved with the parking garage and downtown. Having a website with information regarding parking will help with communicating with the citizens of Bozeman. The Parking Commission has the power to have a little more control now. Customer Service would be duties handled by City Hall employees, but enforcement issues would be more Police Department responsibilities. Who would the parking ambassador report to the City or Parking authority? A transition period will have to take place once the garage is up and running and time was not established how long the transition time would be. 2:52:58 [10:51:52] 12:30 pm Lunch Meeting with Architect Dick Prugh was introduced and spoke with the Parking Commission. Design issues have been raised with the entry/exit floor on Black Ave. and are being addressed. Dick brought over new changes according to the DOT that need to be made to accommodate the bus stop. The retail spaces will need to be moved back 3 feet to help with this. It will take approximately 2 months to have all the changes done, redesigned and approved again. There were four public hearings about the garage and the design. Having the lower level would have less impact on the community than not. This came as a comment from the public. There is not a "turn around" space in the lower level, it may be an option to take away a few spaces for this. It's not a necessity though. The breakdown of the spaces for each level of the garage is as follows: 102 spaces in the basement level 67-ground 100 full lap 66-very top There were some questions that arose- *Will there be a way to dedicate an entry to the basement level? *How can we tell the difference between transient and permit holders? *Would it be possible to scrap the basement? It would be a very timely change. It would have to go through the entire process again. Martel Construction told Dick it would not add/remove a significant cost by getting rid of the basement. The basement spaces could possibly be "reserved" to specific customers. A separate AVI tag and entrance would be for the basement permit holders. Maybe have one card for both options. There is just an arm gate to block off the ramp from the ground level to the basement not a coil gate. A coil gate may need to be added if it is going to be a segregated part of the garage. With the changing downtown, graffiti and other security issues will arise. The gates could be programmed to only let a certain number of transients in the garage. Dick suggested to leaving options open for the garage, electrical changes can be made and or fixed at any time With the two phases the garage will be approximately the height of the Powder Horn. If it goes higher, it could pose as problems with the public. The office space will be 10ft by 8ft and heated with access to a bathroom. Having call boxes in the garage may be another option for additional security measures. The boxes will need to be "serviced" to make sure they are working correctly each month. The calls should go to 911 dispatch immediately. Glass stairwells that are well lit, with additional lighting at each entry point and transitional lighting will also help with security issues. Intercoms are usually installed on pay on foot machines which will help with security and or technical problems. Stairwells will have to be locked off. It needs to be addressed how to deal with the open gates. The pay on foot machines would need to be placed in a climate controlled area. The machines may have to be close to elevator area. Matt will find out how much space is needed for this. Telephones fax and internet will need to be accessible in the office. The office will need to have full function. We'll need conduit from the parking office to the satellite dish. The gates will automatically go up if power goes out and the pay on foot machines will reboot themselves. *Signage- Graelic has provided the signage as far as functionality for the garage. Graelic has not provided the cosmetic signs. The interior signage has been decided but the exterior has not, nor has the signage throughout the city. The signage for these needs to be calculated into the budget. It could possibly be put as a separate bid package for signage. The to do list that Prugh and Lenon needs is a concern. The list has not been completed and it needs to get done. The list ranges from where conduits are going to be placed to signage. Electrical is going to be the most important information that Prugh and Lennon will need. Exterior lighting on the building will have decorative street lighting with alley lighting as well as every entrance to retail spaces having lights. Retail space will be part of the bid. It is empty space, each retailer can customize their space for electrical, etc. Utilities are metered as one right now, then they would have to be sub-metered. Who will make the determination of who will sell the retail spaces, prices of them etc. Will we have a waiting area for the bus system? Can the Parking Commission get someone involved as the director for the garage. Chris will talk with the DBA and find out and email everyone. It is anticipated the garage will be servicing approx 60% permit holders. The next Parking Commission meeting will be February 15 at 7:30 a.m. The meeting was adjourned at 12:27 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Katie Maroney-Parking Clerk