Downtown Meters to Public: Feed Us!

Like it or not, you’re going to have to pay to stay.

Downtown, that is. After six, all the way until 10..

Those parking aren’t going away, officials said during the September board meeting of the Athens Downtown Development Authority.

It’s not the extra 25 cents an hour, for more hours, that’s inflaming the customers at Square One Fish Company, said owner Erica Cascio. It’s the fine that comes from not paying.

“For every one complaint, 10 people won’t come back,” she said. “We have a PR problem.”

Other board members assured her that things will get better, people will realize they need to feed the meter or park in a parking deck.

Bill Overend recalled how when free lots downtown became Prestige Parking lots, charging drivers $5 to park, he was one of those who kicked about paying the money. Now, he said, instead of circling downtown, searching for an open space, he just pays the fee and heads to his destination.

So, here’s your parking lesson: It costs 75 cents an hour to park downtown, and this rate is enforced until 10 p.m. Save yourself a headache and park in a deck.

In other news:

• When ACC Commissioner Mike Hamby brought up the idea of the Downtown Development Authority paying for the 4th of July fireworks display, Mayor Nancy Denson asked if he meant downtown, and not at Bishop Park.  She told the board “fireworks will be back” in 2012 in Bishop Park. She has been working with the ACC Leisure Services Department and she assured the board the fireworks will be returning to Bishop Park.

• The Washington Street parking deck is expected to open next week. Parking staff are learning how to operate the high-tech equipment in the facility and are making sure there are no glitches before opening it for, say, a UGA home football game. Ken Crellen, who’s overseeing the SPLOST project, agreed it would have been great for the deck to have been ready in time for the Ga.-S.C. game. But he wants to be sure everything runs smoothly. “We’d love to have the revenue, we don’t just want to have the problems,” he said.

• The parking deck features retail and office space. Partners Software moved into its top floor quarters over the weekend, Crellen said. All but two commercial spaces are leased. Among those moving into the space is Waffle House. ADDA Director Kathryn Lookofsky said the tenants will be operating by “Novemberish.”

• ADDA attorney Jim Warnes outlined several changes in the organization's charter the board needs to make. Among them is “cleaning up the language” to reflect the changes in government since the charter was adopted in 1976. Instead of saying “city,” for example, the charter will say “the unified government of Athens Clarke County.” This recommendation passed. Warnes also recommended changing the qualifications for membership on the board and expanding the geographic area which the ADDA’s parking services can cover. This would allow the board to contract with Athens Clarke County to provide parking services in Normaltown and perhaps even Five Points.

• Laura Miller, parking services director for the ADDA, said she’s testing 40 high-tech parking meter machines with various advanced computer and wireless capabilities. The machines would text users to tell them their time is about to run out and then let them add more money with their phones. The machines would allow people to use credit cards as well as coins and bills. They are solar powered, which saves operating costs, and they alert workers when the coin box is full or if there are any problems. The ADDA is going to test drive the new gizmos for three months and then decide whether to purchse them.