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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-28-22 Public Comment - E. Staley - public comment for transportation board tonightFrom:Ellie Staley To:Agenda Cc:Mike Veselik Subject:public comment for transportation board tonight Date:Wednesday, September 28, 2022 5:31:19 PM Attachments:image003.png CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Mike and Transportation Board Members, Sorry for the last-minute submission. My board members were not able to meet before this morning to develop a public comment on this issue any sooner. Thanks in advance for your consideration. Ellie Dear Transportation Advisory Board Members, I’m Ellie Staley, Executive Director of the Downtown Bozeman Partnership and tonight I am submitting this public comment on behalf of the Downtown Partnership Management Committee, a 6-member group who represents the Downtown Bozeman Association, Business Improvement District and Downtown Urban Renewal Boards and oversees the Downtown Bozeman Partnership’s internal operations. I want to thank you on your efforts making difficult decisions regarding transportation in this growing community. These decisions weigh hard on all of us knowing they directly impact our neighbors, coworkers and friends. There has been much time and energy put towards the development of the materials you are being presented with tonight. Although, the Partnership Management Committee feels that the city staff missed an important opportunity to get the opinions of “downtown” as a whole through presenting these materials to the DBA, BID and DURD boards who represent over 500 businesses, property owners and downtown stakeholders, all with energy and ideas about how to make downtown the best in can be. It has been determined at this time, that the PMC does not support the paid parking program as submitted and presented by city staff tonight. There are several reasons for this lack of support. First, there continues to be concern about the revenue allocation from paid parking specifically within the "downtown" area where this revenue is specifically being collected. There are also concerns about the development of a suitable employee parking program under the paid parking system presented during a time when staffing is of grave concern now and into the immediate future. Next, due to the lack of current parking supply, the PMC feels we cannot adequately provide our employees, customers and visitors with the parking solutions needed to make a well-rounded paid parking management system work in our downtown area. Lastly, throughout this process there has been a lack of trust from our board members that the city will take the concerns and comments outlined above into consideration with the develop of a downtown paid parking program. For these reasons we cannot support a paid parking program in downtown as presented. Thanks in advance for your consideration of these comments when making your decision. Sincerely, Ellie Staley Downtown Bozeman Partnership ellie@downtownbozeman.org Ellie Staley Executive Director Downtown Bozeman Partnership 222 East Main Street #302 | Bozeman MT 59715 406-586-4008 | www.downtownbozeman.org Thanks to our Platinum Sponsor: The Downtown Business Improvement District and Downtown Urban Renewal District are City of Bozeman entities administered by the Downtown Bozeman Partnership. City of Bozeman emails are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sect. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chpt. 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law.