Middletown Council Considers Parking Improvements

Parking Director Tom Hartley said paving, lighting, security measures and new fee collection systems will be installed in city parking lots with the money. "We want to bring our off-street parking facilities up to industry standards," Hartley said. He said several parking lots are unattractive and uninviting because they do not offer adequate lighting, security or visibility. "They are things that are going to add to the safety and comfort of visitors," he said. Hartley said tax revenue would not be used to pay for the bonding package. Instead, revenue from parking meters and off-street lots would be used to fund all of the work.

The council is scheduled to vote on the measure at a special meeting Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. The upgrades are part of several parking initiatives that are underway right now, including a proposal to raise some downtown fees and build a new parking garage. Hartley has proposed and the council is scheduled to consider it in December that rates for high-demand parking spots should increase. Rates have not been changed since the 1980s, and a new structure would also decrease some hourly rates in off-Main Street lots.

The council Monday night approved spending $6,500 on a study of the Riverview Parking Arcade behind the court house, which will give an estimate of what it will take to repair the structure. Council members Thomas Serra and Gerald Daley said they wanted to see what was in a report done two years ago on the structure, and said if that study has the necessary information then the money should not be spent. The parking arcade is one of two possible sites for a new parking garage. The other is on Melilli Plaza next to Washington Street. The council is also set to discuss switching the site of the garage from the arcade to Melilli Plaza.