Noel Sets Main Street Parking Limit

2-HOUR LIMIT, 15-MINUTE LIMIT AT POST OFFICE

The Noel City Council on Tuesday night approved an ordinance regarding parking on Main Street.

The ordinance sets a two-hour time limit on parking on Main Street, except for the four spots in front of the post office, where the limit will be 15 minutes. The two-hour request came from the Noel Marshal’s Office, and the 15-minute limit request came from the postmaster, according to Mayor John Lafley.

Penalty for violating the ordinance will be a $25 fine for going over the two-hour limit and a $20 fine for going over the 15-minute limit. Time limits are doubled for people with disabilities who have a handicapped placard, according to Deputy Marshal Lorie Howard.

“Main Street is so congested,” Howard said. “We had several instances of two people pulling out and hitting each other or hitting a pedestrian. We only have a couple of parallel spots. Everything else is on the diagonal. It was thought that if we could keep the traffic moving, we could open some spots for the businesses and keep the traffic flowing.”

She said right now people tend

to park on Main Street and stay there all day. Many of them are either business owners or residents, she noted.

“Hopefully this will eliminate people parking other places and darting across the street to get to a business,” she said.

She also said she worked an accident recently where someone bumped a pedestrian into the other lane.

The ordinance will go into effect as soon as signs are erected on Main Street.

In other business Tuesday night, the council:

• Learned that the city’s FEMA money from the December flood has arrived.

• Approved funds for the Fire Department to replace 10 air pack bottles at $375 each.

• Heard from the mayor that the city brush pile at 801 South Kings Highway is for residents only and only for leaves and limbs.

• Met the new court clerk, Tammy Moore.