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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-08-15 BPC MinutesBozeman Parking Commission Meeting April 8, 2015 7:30 a.m. Madison Room Parking Commissioners in Attendance: Ryan Olson Dennis Bechtold Cyndy Andrus Ben Lloyd Ben Bennett City Staff in Attendance: Laurae Clark, Treasurer Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk Chuck Winn, Assistant City Manager Rich McLane-Interim Police Chief Tom McCardle-Parking Enforcement Officer Guests in Attendance: Action Items: I. Call to order, 7:30 a.m. Ryan called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. II. Disclosures of Ex Parte Communication None. III. Changes to the Agenda None. IV. Approval of March 2015 minutes Ryan asked for a motion to approve the March 2015 minutes. Chris motioned to approve the March 2015 minutes. Dennis seconded the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. VI. Parking Manager Hiring Discussion Chuck stated that the position was posted on March 30th. Applications will be reviewed after April 15th and interviews will hopefully be the first week in May. The hiring committee put together consists of Chuck Winn , the Human Resources manager Bethany Jorgenson, Laurae Clark, Ben Lloyd of the BPC and Chris Naumann for the Downtown Bozeman Partnership. The Executive committee and Chuck came up with the questions for the interview. VII. Revised Garage Lease Policy Update Cyndy spoke with Mayor Krauss about the lease policy he was given. The next step is putting it on the City Commission agenda for approval. The date is tentatively set for April 20th, 2015. Chris stated that it might be beneficial to take out the letter of intent and get approval for the lease policy agreement instead. As long as both the City Commission and the BPC approve the Policy then it will be signed. Chuck asked if Chris could help write a Commission memo to present alongside the Garage Lease Policy. Cyndy stated that the Mayor already has the Letter of Intent and the Lease Policy. If the BPC would like to remove the Letter of Intent then perhaps a discussion should take place with the City Commission and BPC. Chris clarified that the language of the agreement will not actually change, that has already been completed, and the only change would be to remove the Letter of Intent. Cyndy said she would like to talk with Greg Sullivan about this. Chuck stated that because Greg is currently out of the office that a conversation with him will have to wait until he returns and that this might not make it on to the City Commission agenda until maybe April 27th, 2015. Cyndy will let the Mayor know that there are going to be some changes to the agreement he was given for review. Chris mentioned that it would be a great idea to also present an educational parking piece of some sort describing where it was and where it is at now. Chuck stated that the better job we do at creating a staff memo the better understanding the City Commission and public will have and he agrees with Chris to have that included into the Memo for the City Commission to read before the actual meeting. Then, the City Commission will have time to get their questions answered prior to the meeting. Cyndy agrees with Chuck and added that it would be great to have a member of the BPC there at the City Commission meeting to answer the questions that come up that night. Chuck stated that we will prepare the first draft of the memo and send to Chris for review. Ryan said from the BPC and Executive Committee end they could provide estimated data that was used to project what parking would be like once customers are utilizing the hotels and downtown parking garage spaces. Ryan also stated that the BPC should use the hard data to back up what data was already put together. Chris said one item to include is the percentage of hotel guests that will be staying multiple nights versus just overnight. The Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research or (ITTR) might be a potential source of data about hotel use in this area and they might help the BPC predict how the downtown hotel guests might use the parking garage. Chris suggested contacting them. VIII. Parking Demand Analysis Update Chris met with Scott Lee before he left and they decided not to hold off on the Demand Analysis RFP until there is a new Parking manager hired. Chris has a draft of the RFP and he will review it in conjunction with Chuck and the Executive Committee to finalize dates and get it released. IX. 2014 Parking Study Release Update The parking study is complete, Scott wrote a press release. Chris and Chuck reviewed it and it will get posted on the Parking department website and it will also play on the City of Bozeman channel. Cyndy wanted to add that she read the transportation RFP; she would like parking to be looped in with the rest of the transportation RFP. X. Parking Lot Redesign Update In the absence of a Parking Manager both Chuck and Chris are in contact with Sanderson Stewart for the weekly updates. Chris stated that they are working on the surveying now and there is nothing really new to report back to the BPC. Cyndy asked if there is a priority on which lots get completed first. Chris said yes, however it will depend on funding and what’s going on with the hotel proposed development projects. Once construction starts on the Etha hotel, the Willson lot will be used for staging of the equipment. Ben B stated that it is important to communicate with Sanderson Stewart and contractors working in the downtown area so the BPC will have a better idea on which lot should be first and when it could be redesigned. Cyndy asked if the redesign will incorporate or be designed to make the surface lots into pay lots in the future. Chris stated that making the lots into pay lots was put into the scope of work. XI. Monthly Finances and Statistics Ryan presented the finance report to the BPC. Revenues and Expenditures showed to be above budget. Citation revenue is still trending below budget. Parking Officer Tom McCardle stated that the officers are taking a milder approach to issuing citations and they are also operating with three officers instead of four. Tom stated that spring break also played a role in issuing fewer citations. The parking department also got abandoned vehicles back. We continue to improve the way we handle abandoned vehicles, but the recent retirement of Officer Woosley caused some realignment of responsibilities. The new parking software also charges $2.60 each time a citation is issued, that also affects the revenue being generated. Tom stated that a clearer sense of direction would be helpful for the future of the Parking Department. He asked if they should be pushing citations more or should they act as more of an ambassador to the city. Chris stated that the BPC has always pushed for a "kinder/gentler parking enforcement”, but still enforcing the rules and regulations. It should be a balance of the two. Scott was working with the Brian LaMeres and Brandi Higgins in accounting to figure out the issue with the wages and salaries budget. It still shows off budget, so that will continue to work towards being corrected. There are a couple other items listed on the expense report that are off balance. The new Parking Manager will need to revisit and expand the sub categories so we know what everything is. Scott had a specific way of categorizing items that made sense to him, and it was structured in a way that only made sense to him, so it will be recommended that the new manager revise the financial report. Residential parking permits are at an all time high. XII. New business Chris would like a decision on the abandoned vehicles issue. He thinks it is a Code Enforcement issue not a parking issue. Tom stated that Code Compliance officer doesn't know how long a vehicle has really been sitting because he doesn’t patrol like the parking officers do. If the Parking department can determine if a vehicle is abandoned and then turn it over to the Code Compliance officer to complete the process that would be a help. Ben L gave an FYI about a discussion that took place with Wendy Thomas the head of Community Development for the City of Bozeman regarding the Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District (NCOD). Due to the current and future downtown development, Wendy encouraged more conversation about the future of parking in the B3 downtown district. XIII. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m. Respectfully Submitted Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk