BROOKVILLE BOROUGH, Pa. (EYT) – The bagging of the parking meters on Main Street in Brookville became a topic of discussion at Tuesday evening’s borough council meeting.
(Pictured: The crew of volunteers who helped cover the parking meters for the holidays this year. Photo courtesy of Brookville Area Chamber of Commerce)
Council member Rick Baughman brought the topic to the table, noting that when he recently saw Main Street parked full, he was happy, until he began speaking to other people about it.
“I appreciate the efforts of the Civic Club,” he noted. “I think it’s a very nice thing that they did. That being said, I guess I’m a little naive, because when I drove down Main Street last week between eight and nine o’clock in the morning, Main Street was almost parked full, and I thought ‘this is working.'”
“It turns out, I was wrong. I was contacted by a downtown business and the parking that I was looking at was mostly business employees, not the shoppers. I don’t know that for a fact, but that’s what I was told.”
Baughman noted that is not the intended purpose of the bagging of the meters.
“It’s to bring customers into Brookville and make the shops and the stores available to them when they get here.”
He went on to note he understand the plight of the employees taking advantage of the free parking, but would prefer to see the spaces available to people coming to Brookville to shop.
“I have no idea what to do about it,” he said.
Baughman also noted he was told by another downtown business that in some previous years, a number of years ago, they used to receive a letter addressing the issue and asking employers to try not to let it happen. He wasn’t sure who the letter came from, though.
“We used to have the Brookville Area Business Association that really pushed that, and they’re probably the ones who sent the letters,” solicitor Jim Dennison said.
“I agree. I think it comes down to the employers, not just the retailers, but all of the service employees, too.”
Dennison went on to say he believes the downtown employers would “really have to police this” if they want to continue to have free parking during the holiday season.
“I also agree it’s being abused, and we know that’s the case,” council president Phil Hynes said.
“We don’t have a list of all of the employers for us to send a letter.”
Council member Karen Allgeier noted that it’s a little late in the year to be able to do anything about it this year, but it is a topic the council should revisit next year.
Mayor Richard Beck suggested that if downtown employers want to keep the free holiday parking program available every year, they should ask their employees not to take up the parking spaces.
Baughman also pointed out that during the time the parking meters are bagged, there’s no income generated from parking. It is intended specifically to generate more shopping.
“Let’s keep this in our thoughts for next year,” Hynes said.
“If the Civic Club isn’t there anymore, we may not even have this issue.”
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