City Commission moves forward with parking law amendments

But not without angst from a vocal downtown property owner.

The two-hour parking limit in downtown Rome will soon be enforced from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., the extension from 6 p.m. approved by city commissioners Tuesday night, but not without a heated exchange with one downtown property owner. Diane Lewis said she believes the changes to the parking management program are going to discourage business downtown.

“As a resident downtown, we feel like we’re under attack,” Lewis told city commissioners.

Visitors to the Broad Street district can now park for free for a cumulative two hours daily.

The new hours of enforcement will be used to accumulate data when new license plate reader technology is utilized for enforcement purposes after the first of the year. Lewis said there are ways to gather more data without writing more tickets. She argued that someone getting off work at 5 p.m. might not be able to come downtown and unwind at a restaurant without getting a ticket.

“If people want to stay longer they can park free in the decks,” said Bob Blumberg, chairman of the Downtown Development Authority board. “The intention of this is not to write more tickets.”

“Be prepared. There are going to be a lot more tickets,” Lewis said before she stormed out of the commission chamber.

The ordinance amendment also includes a requirement that people park in a manner such that the license plate readers can read tags, such as not backing into parking spaces or parking in the opposite direction

The City Commission voted unanimously to move forward with the proposed changes.

The data that is gathered by the LPR technology will be analyzed after an extended period of time to determine if Rome should indeed move forward with efforts to convert on-street parking to paid parking at some point in the future.

During the pre-meeting caucus, commissioners got a report on water and sewer rates and the need for significant Regulatory Compliance Reserve funding.

Water and sewer division director Mike Hackett said he could foresee new federal compliance issues in less than five years that could cost Rome $30 million — and as much as $100 million over the next 10 years.

Much of that is related to PFOS and PFOA chemical compounds related to stain-resistant technology used in the carpet industry. Hackett explained that if the Environmental Protection Agency were to take health advisory guidelines related to the compounds from 70 parts per trillion down to 14 parts per trillion, it could trigger huge expenditures.

At the top of the list is an upgrade of the Etowah River intake pump station and transmission line to the filtration plant. Hackett said the Etowah is typically a cleaner source for water.

“We need to be in design next year and move as fast as we can,” Hackett said. He estimated the cost of that project at $10 million.

New equipment at the sewer plant, including another 2-million-gallon digester and denitrification technology could cost $10 million each.

Hackett said a rate study has recommended a 2.5 percent increase in rates in 2019.