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Home My WebLink About07-13-11 Parking Commission Minutes Bozeman Parking Commission Meeting July 13, 20117:00 a.m. City Hall Commission Room Parking Commissioners in Attendance: Chris Pope Ben Bennett Ben Lloyd City Staff in Attendance: Cyndy Andrus, City Commissioner Laurae Clark, Treasurer Paul Burns, Parking Manager Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk Guests in Attendance: None Action Items: I. Call to order, 7:30 a.m. Ben L called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. II. Approval of minutes, Motion to approve the minutes from June 1, 2011. No approval for the June 1, 2011 minutes. III. Public Comment, for any member of the public wishing to comment of parking issues. State name and address. Please limit comments to 3 minutes. None. IV. Manager's Report, including finance report. Millers Jewelry sign is up at garage The Bent Lens has also expressed interest in an ad and has contacted Big Look about that. Paul stated it was a good Fiscal Year 2011. The approximate final deficit is $6,000.00. $4000.00 of the loss was because Paul purchased a sweeper. Laurae stated that the MSU and BHS residential permits will not be received until FY12. Those will show up on the fiscal 12 budget. Brochure and residential permit application costs will be added to FYI 1, May 2011 was the first decline for revenue at the garage. June made up for that loss. It's the third highest monthly revenue behind July and August of last year. Paul predicts this July and August will set new records for revenue at the garage. There was a lighting problem on July 4th at the garage. Chris N called Paul to inform him of the issue. Paul arrived about 10:30. He noticed the lights in the stairway, basement and elevator shafts were still on. The remainder of the lights were all off. Paul said he checked both the fuses and the timers. Everything seemed to be working correctly. The light came back on about 10:57. Paul still doesn't know what caused the lights to be out. It has not happened again. There were two bids made for the upstairs office space at the parking garage. One bid came from Intrinsik, and the other from Prugh& Lenon. Tech Ranch is interested in that office space. Chris N was concerned that they might not be able to make the monthly rent payment. The BPC needs to be careful about who they get in there. Chris P stated that there are 35 to 40 other commercial properties out there for rent. He stated the two most important things the BPC needs to look for are to find a good lease rate and find a good renter for the space. If the BPC moves forward with the build out of the upstairs office space, then they will need to borrow $50,000.00 from the general fund. There has not been a decision made at this time. Plonk created a mural for the south side wall at the parking garage. The Mendenhall Marketplace Condo Association decided against it. They thought it looked too much like graffiti, which would entice others to put their "mark" on the wall too. Cyndi suggested putting something like an ivy plant or hops on the wall. Those plants grow upwards and are low maintenance to take care of Maintenance was completed on the Rouse lot. It was crack sealed and stripped. The firm from North Carolina talked to Brit. They wanted to know where things were at as far as the Carnegie lot goes. Brit told them we still need to create an RFP. The firm is still interested in building the hotel on that lot. Brit is going to include Paul and Chris N in the structure of how the process will be completed. Brit said he should know more by August. Chris P wants to be informed about how the RFP process goes. Paul will email the parking commission when he learns more from Brit. The City Commission is now the decision maker on this. The downtown directories that will be put into place across from the Baxter Hotel and Starkeys are ready to go in. They will be on the sidewalk somewhere in the landscaped area at the Tracy exit of the garage. Eventually they will light up. WTI wants to install bike lockers across town and wherever the Streamline buses go. That would expand out to Four Corners, Belgrade and Livingston. These lockers would help keep a bike protected not only from the weather, but also from someone who might want to vandalize or steal a bike. The City would donate the sites for these lockers, but WTI would handle the renting of them. Paul talked to Aimee Kissel about how to stager the terms for new members who may join the BPC once the current BPC members finish out their terms, or step down from the commission. V. Courtesy Tickets, Compare policy to other cities. There were 475 courtesy tickets in June. Paul researched whether or not other cities both in the state and some out have a courtesy ticket program. He highlighted the similarities and differences on what he found. A discussion ensued regarding whether it should be changed to out of state plates only or whether it should be seasonal. VI. Rouse Lot signage for permit holders, Consideration to erect signage to reserve spaces for permit holders A permit holder in the Rouse lot is having issues with leaving for lunch or to run errands and coming back to find all the spaces in the lot is full. Discussion ensued about what changes could be made to help out those permit holders who need to be able to park during the day if they leave and come back. They pay money to park in those lots, and don't always have a space to park. Paul suggested one alternative is putting a reserved sign up for Monday through Friday for permit holders. Laurae stated that there are 16 permit holders currently. Chris P suggested only selling fewer permits and then the rest is just public parking. Ben B asked if we could charge a premium rate. Chris P asked about going to the Bozeman Bowl and asking if we can have some spaces there. We would pay specific amount for the use of those spaces during business hours. Paul will talk to the bowling alley and other private lot owners. Cyndi suggested that maybe someone can pay $35.00 and that will get you into any surface lot. The consensus of the BPC was to not put up reserved signs for permit holders as that would eliminate spaces available to the general public when the permit holders were not using them. VII. 2 hours free signs, Ben B to show several different location options There was feedback from the public via the parking officers about having more, better signage in regards to the two hours free parking in the garage. The marketing committee met and created four different options on where to place the new improved signage. Option one: Move the exit sign up to match the enter sign. and get rid of the do not enter wrong side sign. Then, put 2-hours free signage on the beam below. Option two: Put signs on both the far left and right side walls as you enter the garage. Option three: Put one sign in the median by the gates. It would be a free standing sign that would require less signage because people could easily see those. It might make it difficult for those who are leaving to see oncoming traffic though. Option four: This is a combination of options two and three. The size of the signs was discussed. Code states they should be smaller than what was initially proposed. The BPC could approach the City Commission and ask for a variance. Ben B mentioned talking to a sign company about how easy it could be to get new signs if things change and new signs need to be created if they were made with a vinyl overlay. VIII. BPC 2011-2012 goals Ben L added this item to the agenda. He talked about how during the parking manager review they discussed goals for the next year. He feels they should do a check-in regularly on goals to ensure that they are being focused on. Cash-n-Lieu will be a priority one. Paul is working on the history of cash-n-lieu. IX. New business Ben L asked the BPC how important it was for them to be out of the meetings by 9:00 am. Sometimes items on the agenda do not get discussed due to the time frame. Cyndi suggested prioritizing the agenda better--start with the action items first. Chris P Thinks one and a half hours for a meeting is enough time. However, he is careful not to schedule something directly after it, as to allow for a little flexibility. It was agreed that the meeting would remain at 1 1/2 hours. Ben will do his best to keep the discussions moving and the agenda on track. X. Adjournment Ben L adjourned the meeting at 9:25 am. Respectfully Submitted Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk