(first in a series)
Hey! Do you live, work, shop, play in our two downtowns? (Imagine! A town with TWO downtowns!) Even if you don’t, you will want to keep an eye on and perhaps chime in to this discussion, for the downtown areas are unquestionably vital to the well-being of the whole town.
Public meeting Thursday, September 20, 2018, Town Hall, 6PM to discuss a proposal by our representatives from the Bethlehem Parking Authority to raise parking meter fees and meter violation fines in the Northside and Southside business districts.
From what the Gadfly has seen, the proposal will probably be to raise meter fees from $1/hr. to $1.50/hr. and meter violation fines from $10 to $15.
A letter [BPA letter] from BPA Executive Director Kevin Livingston to Council President Adam Waldron, August 9, 2018, indicates plans to ask Council to raise fines and the mayor to raise meter rates as recommended by the Desman Design parking study. The primary reason for increases is construction of a new garage at 3rd & Polk and either rebuilding or repairing the Walnut St. garage (apparently no decision on which option yet).
For a good overview, see Nicole’s two articles:
Nicole Radzievich, “Replace – garage, – study – suggests – It also says Bethlehem should consider raising parking rates.” Morning Call, April 19, 2018.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/mc-nws-bethlehem-parking-report-20180416-story.html
Nicole Radzievich, “City urged to raise parking fees, fines.” Morning Call, September 4, 2018, p. 1.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/mc-nws-bethlehem-parking-garage-fines-20180815-story.html
See later posts from the Gadfly for additional info to help you come up to speed on this issue.
And please weigh in – there are many potential stakeholders in City action on these $$$’s.
