Parking lot debate down to the wire

A resolution for Kingston to borrow $125,000 to purchase payment kiosks for use in municipal parking lots still was generating debate among city lawmakers and residents on the eve of another Common Council vote on the matter.

Much of the discussion at Monday’s Common Council caucus centered around the newly appointed working group that will study city parking issues. Alderman Reynolds Scott-Childress said purchasing the kiosks would allow that working group to collect information and do research to help it come up with a parking system that produces income for the city and also draws people to Kingston.

“The kiosks are not the end of the discussion,” Scott-Childress said. “They’re the beginning of the discussion.”

Scott-Childress, D-Ward 3, who will serve on the Parking Work Group appointed by Mayor Steve Noble, also said it was crucial to be aware there would be no “one-sizefits-all” parking plan for the city.

“We’ve got to think of parking in terms of different constituencies,” Scott-Childress said. “We’ve got to think of parking in terms of different income levels. We clearly don’t want to be charging our minimum-wage workers some exorbitant amount for parking.”

The alderman said he was committed to having the work group be fair and flexible and listen to constituent concerns as it creates a system that works for as many people as possible.

The Common Council was to vote Tuesday night on a resolution to borrow $125,000 to purchase payment kiosks that would be used to collect parking fees in the city’s municipal lots, which current are free to use. The vote was occurring too late for inclusion in this story.

The council first acted on the borrowing proposal in January, and though the vote at that time was 5-3, the measure was defeated because bonding requires six “yes” votes on the nine-member council to be approved.

The alderman who was absent from the January meeting, Ward 2 Democrat Douglas Koop, has said he favors the bonding.

A council rule on actions necessary for a defeated issue to be reintroduced pushed the bonding vote from the council’s February meeting to its March meeting.

Alderwoman Nina Dawson, D-Ward 4, said Monday that the city needs to listen not only to the Parking Work Group about how to proceed but also city business owners, whose customers and employees would be affected by parking lot fees.

Council Minority Leader Deborah Brown, R-Ward 9, said charging for parking in the lots could drive out small businesses.

Dawson, Brown and Alderwoman Maryann Mills, D-Ward 7, were the three lawmakers who voted against the bonding in January.