Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-08-14 DTPC MINCOPIES TO: All commission members. THE I I I I L I M P L A C E Of M I N N!$ D T PARKING COMMISSION MEETING August 14, 2008 MEETING MINUTES MEMBERS PRESENT: Mike Rice, Kevin LaCasse, David Korte, Chief John Gannaway, CSO Dennis Pasket, Bill Turnblad, Bill Surna (Carl Walker Parking- Operations Specialist), Torrey Thompson (Carl Walker Parking Structural Engineer), and Denny Wallace (Ramp Project Manager from LSA Design) DISCUSSION PARKING RAMP: (Bill Turnblad) As of two weeks ago, we were 50% to 75% complete on construction drawings. We have from the Civil Engineering people, come up with a more efficient way of doing on -site utilities which for us is important because it's a cost saver. We also have changed how the bridge comes off the hill as there was a weird angle on the bridge (see plans). The only down part is we loose some parking on one side of the bridge, but we'd still have two -way traffic in and out. We will have over 300 parking spaces in the ramp. Target date for sending out construction drawings for bid is September 9 and that would bring the bids back by around October 14 The council would be able to look at awarding a contract for the project on October 21 which would give a November 1 start date. We still think that it will take about ten months to construct which means it won't be done for Lumberjack Days next year, but there should be enough done to put the command center on the top floor. INTERIM PARKING PLAN: Bill is still in the middle of negations with a couple property owners who he'd like to lease spaces from (see map handout). We will be loosing 44 spaces owned by the Lowell Inn when construction begins. We're trying to accommodate most of those somewhere within tie radius of the furthest space from his front door. What we'll do is to asign 23 parking spaces far the Lowell Inn (one space for each guest room). We may be able to lease six spaces from the old Washington Federal Savings and Loan (the Chestnut Building) with a cost of about $200.00 a month. If the council agrees to this then Myrtle Street can stay open for the public rather than for the Lowell Inn. There is a small eight -car parking lot just south of the Rivertown Commons that will go away once the ramp is started. To compensate for the lost eight spaces, we're suggesting eight spots right in front of the apartment complex on 2 Street during construction. The city lot with almost 30 spaces will be out of commission during construction. The commercial parking space for Stillwater Mills on Main is vacant and what they have said is that of their 73 indoor parking spaces (first level with access off Mulberry) they have offered to lease us 45 spaces at a rate of $42.00 per space per month for permit parking only. More discussion is needed on this issue. DISCUSSION ON FINDING PARKING SPOTS: On- street parking could be hard to enforce. The problem won't be severe in the winter months but it will be in the spring and summer time. Dennis Pasket suggested maybe using the lot on 2 and Mulberry as private parking. This area gets used for St. Croix Prep as parent pick -up. The city does own about ten spots in the back of Johnny's TV. We could put this as a private lot. The city has a lease with UBS. This lease needs to be looked at more closely. John said he would be willing to try signage on 2 in between Myrtle and Commercial on- street. He would rather not have it on Myrtle. Regarding the parking. spots in front of Rivertown Commons, who uses those spots? Maybe having them park on 2" Street. The spots were assigned to residents and it's full most of the time. There are a few major businesses in that area and we could advise them that we have those ten spots available. Regarding the Desch building, we used to have an agreement with them, but it has been terminated because it was a waste of money because the lot wasn't used. We need to find a staging area for equipment for building supplies. When we find a staging area and have an interim parking plan then we should have a meeting with business owners in the area to let them know what we're thinking. DISCUSSION WITH DESIGN FIRM: Bill Surna, with Carl Walker, asked if there had been a supply /demand study done and he was advised that it was a seasonal demand and he was also advised how many spots Stillwater has available and how many people actually come to Stillwater. He was advised of the total number of parking spots that are in the pay lots. Someone asked about parking around the Zephyr. Dennis Pasket advised that that lot is mainly used by the people who own condos across the street. That lot is pretty vacant most of the week. He advised that people won't walk two blocks (because of the hills) to park in the ramp for $5.00 a month. Because of the levee, we will be loosing some spaces downtown also. In order to get an informed decision, we would need to do a survey as to what people would be willing to pay to park in the ramp. Bill Surna suggested focus groups or tag a survey onto our website to find out what people would be willing to pay. We're going to have to look at all of the parking downtown to get the big picture regarding the parking issues in Stillwater. When 'discussion first came up about the parking ramp, we did a very rigorous inventory of downtown spaces public and private, lot and on street. Bill Surna thinks the best way to do this is to hammer out what the scope is going to be beforeit becomes a proposal. The question of how many permits we sell a month and does it differ from summer to winter was asked. The number of parking permits does change from summer to winter depending on the situation and Bill Sdrna asked what a parking permit will get you, which Dennis Pasket answered. The question came up if there would be a lot of resistance in getting rid of the free parking and was advised that from some areas there will be. Kevin advised that we used to have more pay lots but we found that we really didn't generate more revenue from them so now we only have two and we discussed how one pays to park in the pay lots and who maintains them. The parking ramp will be used for major events (which is every weekend in the summer) and it will be jam packed. The ramp will most likely be run differently during event times. We discussed the different parking permits, what to charge, what days/hours the permits are good for, etc. We discussed that we wanted a gated ramp with an attendant and will it generate enough income to have an attendant on duty and what would this attendant do. -4 What would be the starting point of the effort that needs to be undertaken to come up with a solution for the ramp. We need to look at the entire parking system; collect data, look at financials, observe where the hot spots are, and then establish some overall goals for the ramp. We need to do some physical observation and establish goals and objectives with the parking commission. From the goals and objectives and financial information, we can generate a number of scenarios for the system and focus just on the structure. Without the goals and objectives it's pointless to start changing the way our parking system works just yet. We discussed what events are coming up for Stillwater. Bill Surna asked if we normally take occupancy counts for our parking lots, which we don't normally do. Bill Surna wanted to know what occupancy levels for all of our parking lots at different times of the day which would be helpful. He was given estimates and if he needs a more accurate count, Dennis Pasket can have a CSO do it. AGENDA: Parking ramp Levee project