HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-08-10 Parking Commission Minutes
Bozeman Parking Commission Meeting
September 8, 2010, 7:00 a.m.
City Hall Commission Room
Parking Commissioners in Attendance:
Pam Bryan
Chris Pope
Chris Naumann
Tammy Hauer
Ben Bennett
Ben Lloyd
Lisa Danzl-Scott
City Staff in Attendance:
Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk
Laurae Clark, Treasurer
Paul Burns, Parking Manager
Jeff Krauss, Mayor
Greg Sullivan, City Attorney
Guests in Attendance:
Art Thompson
Ron Slade
Beau Mossman
Action Items:
________________________________________________________________________
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 am.
7:31 – 7:35 – Approval of August 11 minutes
Tammy motioned to approve the August 11 minutes. Lisa seconded the motion and the motion
was unanimously carried.
Public Comment – State name & address. Limit comments to 3 minutes.
None.
7:40 – 7:50 – Manager’s report
The city has an ethics handbook that the parking commission needs to read. Paul will deliver the
handbooks to the parking commissioners and obtain their signature to record that they have
received it. The Bruce Eiting trial is now postponed until September 13, 2010. A car was
vandalized in the garage. A big garbage can was placed on the roof of the car. No permanent
damage was done--just some scratches. This was the first car to be vandalized at the garage.
The advertising for the Parking Garage and other publicly owned property will be presented to
the City Commission on October 11, 2010. Paul looked into the costs for a walk behind
sweeper and power washer. The cost for a sweeper is $5000.00; the cost is about the same for a
heated power washer. He did find a cold water power washer for $400.00. Paul will not be
purchasing the sweeper, but will look into getting a power washer. A man who is serving
community service time helped out at the garage. He cleaned the tree wells on all sides, cleaned
out the big planter boxes, and also picked up trash at the Black lot. The man said we would be
happy to power wash the garage for us as he still has a lot of time left to serve. The Black lot
was landscaped in one corner, and was fixed to drain, new sod was also planted. June Lowells
last day was September 3, 2010. Dave is now working 40 hours a week, from previously
working 30 hours a week. Paul will be hiring a new part time officer at some point. During the
3 on 3 tournament people were parking in the yellow zones and handicapped zones, and received
tickets. Paul created a flier that can be sent to all teams involved next year. He will talk more
about this flier at the next meeting. The Finance Department is starting a new collections
process for parking tickets. Instead of using the court, which is extremely backlogged, they will
send out a second notice and then if still unpaid, the tickets will be sent to collection. It was
asked if Paul could bring last years finance reports to the next meeting so the parking
commission can do a comparison between last year and this year. Both MSU and high school
are back in session, permits for both districts are being sold. Revenue is right on schedule. The
finance report shows that the parking commission is under budget on expenses, and should
remain under budget.
7:50 – 8:05 – First 2 hours free in garage
A discussion ensued about changing the way the parking commission charges for usage at the
garage. Paul emailed the parking commission a summary of what the garage makes for revenue,
and what it could make if the prices were changed. The summary stated that the garage would
make more revenue with the new prices. A marketing campaign should be put together for the
garage. Ben Bennett offered his marketing subcommittee. The committee could use the list that
Chris N created. Chris N. retracted the tabled motion from the August meeting. Chris N
motioned that the Bozeman Parking Commission extends the free timed parking in the Bridger
Park Garage from 30 minutes to 2 hours and establish a fee of $1.00 per hour thereafter in one
hour increments effective October 1, 2010. Tammy seconded the motion. The motion was
carried unanimously. Paul stated that in order to execute the changes for the garage, the system
would need to be updated, and new signage would need to be made. Chris N also stated that the
website would need to be updated.
8:05 – 8:10 – Parking study update
Paul received the findings from the parking study done by Western Transportation Institute
(WTI). Paul stated that the information he received for the two Willson lots was not consistent
and he will be asking WTI for occupancy rates and dwell times for both lots. The map does not
show all the lots in the downtown area, therefore comparisons cannot be made at this time. A
new study will need to be done this September.
8:10 – 8:55 – Armory presentation and discussion
Greg Sullivan spoke to the parking commission about Municipal Code 2.05 and extension 040.
He advised the commission on the circumstances in which public property can be sold. Ron
Slade and Beau Mossman of Slade Beal Designs presented the Armory project to the Parking
Commission.
The project is a boutique hotel which would be about 100 rooms with a restaurant. It will also
include a conference room made to seat about 200 people. Ron stated that this project would
require the acquisition of the parking lot at the south corner of Willson and Mendenhall. In order
to attempt to accommodate and seek approval from the neighboring businesses, he has
redesigned the hotel which decreases the square footage of the 1st floor to put 22 parking spaces
in the back alley that would be covered. The developer would like to trade these 22 spaces for
the lot. They would need a variance from the city to allow these spaces. Ron is asking to get a
preliminary tenor from the BPC in regards to this project. He wants to get his application to
Planning very soon.
This is a 20-25 million dollar project and they would like to begin construction as soon as
possible. The developer also has deadlines that they must meet to ensure their bank loans and
sale of the property are secure. A discussion ensued regarding the total amount of parking this
project will be required to have and how many spaces they will actually be able to create on site.
Leasing spaces in the parking garage could be an option to cover these parking requirements, and
should be pursued further. A motion was made by Chris N to move the meeting to October 6,
2010. Chris P seconded the motion and the motion was approved unanimously. The
subcommittee is meeting on Sept 13, 2010. Chris N wants ideas in advance of the meeting.
Greg stated that having the public involved would be a good idea. Greg and Paul will work
together and will reserve the commission room in order to have plenty of space.
8:55- New business
None
9:00 – Adjournment
Pam adjourned the meeting at 9:50
Respectfully Submitted
Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk