Borough Council Rescinds Additional Parking Charge, Explores Buying New Meters

by Jonathan Weaver

A local borough council approved two measures regarding town parking meters earlier this month.

Kittanning Borough Council members continued discussion about a proposed additional handicapped parking fee to ensure that only the resident is allowed to use the space.

Council unanimously approved in a roll-call vote to rescind the proposal for the additional charge that was proposed at the March board meeting.

Members held an executive session before the meeting to discuss the matter, and the discussion continued into the public meeting.

Council Member Richard Reedy maintained his stance of opposing the additional charge.

“I don’t think its right to charge a handicapped man $10 a month for something he doesn’t own,” Reedy said. 128 “Why would we want to charge a handicapped individual to park in front of his own house? I thought it was real rude that someone would compare that to someone parking downtown who pays for a private parking space,” Reedy said.

Handicapped residents currently pay $50 for a designated handicapped parking sign in front of their residence, but Mayor Kirk Atwood said that space can then be used by any handicapped person, not just the homeowner.

“The way it is is there’s no ordinance to say these things exist, so our plan is to put something in place so we can enforce this for these people,” Atwood said.

Reedy said it is the responsibility of borough police officers to enforce the handicapped parking and only allow the homeowner to use that spot.

Atwood explained the current ordinance.

“When this came up, we went to look back for the ordinance – the ordinance on the book was from 1986 and it was for 22 parking spaces in town, two of those being along Chestnut Street where there aren’t even houses anymore. So the ordinance needs to be updated,” Atwood said. “We can’t enforce anything the way it is.”

Codes Officer Tom McMillen was authorized to consider ways to update the ordinance.

Mayor Atwood approved.

“The longer we wait, the longer people have signs that simply aren’t valid,” Atwood said.

Council members also approved purchasing five new parking meters for use.

Drivers are faced with broken meters in several lots and on streets within the borough, but borough maintenance workers do not have the tools to repair the meters.

The new meters are approximately $150 each.

Police Chief Ed Cassesse was absent from the meeting, but Council Member Cindy Housley forwarded his request for new parking meters. Housley said these issues needed to be resolved.

“You can’t put a ticket if the meter’s not working properly because the meter maid can’t do her job,” Housley said. 105.30 “We definitely have to work on pulling meters that they can’t fix anymore.”

Council Member Ange Turco opposed the purchases because of the price tag involved. He recommended replacing the broken meters with some where drivers do not park at all.

Council members agreed that permit parking lots around town would not need meters. It is unknown how many meters will be removed.

Still, Housley said these new meters might only solve part of the problem.

“If there are more than five, I would suggest we pull those meters,” Housley said. “That’s not fair to the person trying to park there; the meter maid won’t know. I think we need to pull any that are non-repairable and we don’t have the parts to repair them.”