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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-10-13 Parking Commission MinutesBozeman Parking Commission Meeting April 10, 2013 7:30 a.m. City Hall Commission Room Parking Commissioners in Attendance: Ben Lloyd Kelly Wiseman Ryan Olson Pam Bryan Cyndy Andrus City Staff in Attendance: Scott Lee, Parking Manager Laurae Clark, Treasurer Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk Guests in Attendance: Jeff Rupp, HRDC Action Items: None. I. Call to order, 7:30 a.m. Ben L called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. II. Approval of March 2013 minutes Ben L asked for a motion to approve the March 2013 minutes. Kelly motioned to approve the March 2013 minutes. Ryan seconded the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. III. Public Comment – State name and address. Please limit comments to 3 minutes. Jeff Rupp from HRDC introduced himself to the BPC. He mentioned that due to the costs for maintenance and replacement of buses, there have been some major budget shortfalls this past year. He has had to lay off some employees and has been unable to assist with the cleaning costs for the public restroom in the garage. He thanked the parking commission for allowing him to not pay for those expenses this year. He hopes that in the future he will be able to assist with that expense again. He also wanted to let the commission know that the curbing around the Streamline bus stop has been a problem from day one and is causing damage to the buses. He plans to work with the appropriate city staff to get the curb shaved down to allow the buses to more easily access the lane without damaging the buses. IV. Manager’s Report (info) – Including finance report Scott stated that monthly number of citations issued was down again in March from March 2012. He stated that April is looking better, and we may have discovered some previously underreporting, and this should be reflected in the April report. Parking garage permits remain flat at about 200 in total, and transient revenue numbers are higher. Expenses are also up, but that was expected due to the repairs at the parking garage. The average daily revenue was up in March. The parking garage hit a new top five event, the Run-To-The-Pub race. There were more dollars paid than entries into the garage that day. Scott stated that the parking garage shows a 16% higher rate in entries at the parking garage, and also a 27% increase in revenue compared to a year ago. V. Consolidation of Parking functions – Effective 07/01/13 – (Info) On July 1, 2013 the parking officer from the police department will move over to the parking department under the direction of Scott Lee, the parking manager. The parking officers will not handle abandoned vehicles as this function will stay with the police department. However, his officers will be responsible for all parking complaints city wide during the day. Scott stated that because of the addition to the department that there will be a shift in hours and days worked by the officers. It may include two officers will work Monday through Saturday instead of just one officer. VI. MSU/HS Residential area changes –recommendation to City Commission (ACTION) Kelly excused himself from this discussion. The owner of Urgent Care has decided that he would like to remain in the high school residential district. He was once told that permits were $35.00 a month, but just recently found out that they are $10.00 per year. Therefore he would like to remain in the district. The Co-op is requesting that the currently signed permit only parking be removed from the district, including the North side of Babcock between 9th and 10th Ave and the east side 10th Ave between west Babcock and Main St. A formal letter was previously sent to the BPC. Cyndy asked what would change if it was removed from the district? Scott stated that those streets would just become regular street parking and only limited to the standard "no parking for more than 48 hours" regulation. Scott asked for a motion to approve him drafting an ordinance change to go in front of the City Commission for approval. Pam motioned to authorize Scott to draft a revision to the HS Residential Ordinance asking for the north side of Babcock between 9th and 10th street and the east side of 10th Ave between west Babcock and Main street to be removed from the Bozeman High School Residential District. Motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Douglas Hartnett and Mary O'Rourke of 805 S 3rd Ave submitted a letter on behalf of the homeowners and residents of their block to add the east side of their street into the MSU residential district. Elizabeth Blanchford who lives on the east side of the 500 block of S 8th also submitted a letter of recommendation to add that section into the MSU residential district. Pam motioned to recommend that the BPC supports the requests from these residents and for Scott to draft a formal revision to the Ordinance to amend the MSU parking District to include these streets and be presented to the City Commission. Ben L seconded the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. VII. Garage crack sealing and restriping (info) Scott stated that the work at the parking garage in finished. They took an extra two days and had heaters in there to help the crack sealant set up. Curbs were also restriped. Due to the construction that will take place at the Armory, there will be no point in restriping the S Willson Lot. However the N Willson lot needs to be restriped and crack sealed. Pam and Ben L thought it should be done prior to the construction starting if at all possible. The TIF board has allocated some funds to help pay for long term maintenance at the garage and the work done at the parking garage for the crack sealing should qualify. VIII. Residential District Violation Fine increase (discussion) There is potential to increase the fine amounts for a MSU residential violation. MSU tickets are currently $60.00. City of Bozeman tickets are currently at $20.00, so students or guests of people living inside the MSU district are more likely to take their chances getting a city issued ticket vs. an MSU ticket. Discussion about raising the fine amount ensued. The problem will likely only get worse as enrollment continues to grow, and parking capacity does not keep up on campus. Scott talked to Kurt Blunck, Parking Manager at MSU. He told Scott that the school is adding a parking lot on the east side of the football stadium, but this alone will most likely not keep up with the expected enrollment increase. Ryan suggested raising the amount to something greater than what MSU tickets are. This will push people back into MSU, and might force them to finally deal with the parking issue. Cyndy thinks this should be a bigger discussion. She suggested having Kurt attend a meeting and give the BPC some input and ideas on how to make this situation better for both the residents of the area and students. Ryan suggested doing a study on the streets that are near campus where it has MSU parking on one side and City parking on the other. Scott liked the idea. Pam asked if the City Commission needs to approve the increase in the Residential District. Scott stated yes. Cyndy asked if MSU has a parking Board? Scott stated that they do not, but he thought Kurt would be happy to attend a meeting, possibly next months’ meeting, or at least meet with the Executive Committee first. IX. Wall wrapping / painting– Parking garage (info) Ryan Reichert from Clean Slate Group presented some options to Scott about wall wrappings for the walls at the parking garage. Scott presented some examples of Ryan’s work and what could be on the walls at the garage. It is not graffiti proof, but would be easier to clean graffiti off, and may be less likely to be “tagged” in the first place. Ryan suggested getting sponsorships to pay for the wall wraps. The cost per wrap is $3,500, or about $10,000 for the three roof towers. The wraps last about 5 years, when it comes time to replace one, a new wrap goes right over the top of the old one. X. Creation of new residential permit areas (citizen question) A resident near the newly approved Cider House (off Wallace Street) is concerned with the already limited parking in the area and inquired about creation of a new residential area with specific parking restrictions. The resident was concerned with the increase in cars for the business customers. Scott informed him that the BPC would need to recommend such a district to the City Commission, but since the Cider House is zoned B-3, the Commission may not consider the request since they met all the requirements and obtained all the necessary permits. Scott informed him this was a long shot. The BPC feels the parking requirements of the B-3 district are adequate, and since the Cider House met those requirements, and there have not been any documented complaints, then there is nothing for the BPC to do at this time. They asked Scott to relay this information to the resident. XI. New business None. XII. Adjournment Ben L adjourned the meeting at 8:45 a.m. Respectfully Submitted Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk