Parking Kiosks Create a Stir

Update on Downtown Parking Kiosk Rollout

Reading, MA — After several local business owners described the impact on their businesses as a result of the rollout of the new kiosks in the upper Haven Street and Brande Court parking lots, the Select Board held a “robust” discussion on the issue.

Assistant Town Manager Jayne Wellman presented some facts about engagements with the kiosks, noting that there were 369 total transactions during the week of September 23 and 498 during the week of October 1. “I don’t want to undermine what our business owners are telling us,” Wellman added.

Select Board members Melissa Murphy and Christopher Haley shared that they spent the past Friday in the Upper Haven lot speaking with residents and business owners about the kiosks as well as explaining the system to parking lot users. Murphy suggested that the kiosks “are terrible.” She indicated that they are not user-friendly, there are no directions as to how to use them, they are hard to find due to poor signage, and that they are “daunting” for seniors to use. She also shared that business owners report losing customers over the issue. Haley echoed Murphy’s sentiments while also sharing that the kiosk rejected his credit card, as the system mistakenly did not accept American Express.

Haley reminded the board that he had been on the committee that recommended the kiosks as an aid in creating parking turnover in the two lots at the behest of business owners. He also countered some of the “noise” around town, suggesting that the kiosks are a “money grab” by the town. Haley pointed out that the town will likely lose money on the system. 

“[The kiosks] are nobody’s fault; we did what we did with the data we had,” Haley stated. He then shared that the rollout was not what it should have been, noting some of the same observations as Murphy. Haley and Murphy recommended pausing the program for the fourth quarter and using the time to better prepare residents and businesses before bringing them back.

Deputy Police Chief Christine Amendola offered the observation that the core problem the kiosks are attempting to solve, employees parking in the lots for extended periods of time, would likely return if the program were paused. Select Board member Mark Dockser also called for improvements to be made but suggested that these improvements could be made while continuing the program and securing more data. Member Karen Herrick sided with Dockser while sharing that the increase in available parking has encouraged her to spend more time downtown.

“I would like to make [the kiosks] better instead of abandoning ship,” Dockser added.

Select Board chair Carlo Bacci, who visited Haley and Murphy on Friday, also agreed that a pause was needed. “Unless you have owned a retail business, you cannot understand how difficult it is,” Bacci declared.

While the board did not have a vote scheduled on the issue, it encouraged town staff to develop strategies for improvements in the program. A vote on the issue will be scheduled for the board’s October 15 meeting.

Pickleball

Recreation Administrator Jim Sullivan presented a proposal, which was unanimously recommended by the Recreation Committee, to place between six and eight pickleball courts off of Range Road adjacent to the location that has been proposed for a new Center for Active Living. Sullivan reported that continuing to use the tennis courts at Memorial Park for pickleball is “not sustainable.” He noted that the current courts have been at eighty percent or higher capacity over the past several months and that residents registering to use the courts need to do so as soon as the registrations are open as they fill so quickly.

Sullivan also noted that both the Symonds Way Exploratory Committee and the Reading Center for Active Living Committee (ReCALC) included pickleball courts in their recommendations to the board. He shared that the next step would be for the Select Board to set aside the land for the courts, which would allow the Reading Pickleball Players Association (RPPA) to continue raising money to support the courts. Eileen Manning, from the RPPA board, shared that the organization has already raised $120,000 and has another $55,000 pledged towards its $200,000 goal.

Dockser pointed out that ReCALC considers pickleball courts to be complementary to its plans for a new center and noted that courts could also be an acceptable cap for any contaminants found on the site. A survey for contaminants will be conducted during October.

Wellman also suggested that $80,000 in unused or encumbered American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds could be used for design work for the project. “[Pickleball courts] meet the spirit of what these ARPA funds were intended for,” Wellman suggested. “It is a responsible and ethical use of the funds.”

The board took no action on either the ARPA funds or the allocation of land as it chose to wait for the results of the contaminant survey.

Multi-unit tiered Water Rates

Chief Financial Officer Sharon Angstrom reported that the town’s accounting software, MUNIS, was capable of splitting water bills for large multi-family buildings into individual bills, which could result in a solution to the suggested inequities in the multi-tiered water rates as experienced by residents of those buildings. Dockser raised concerns that a commercial user in a mixed-use building could unfairly benefit from Angstrom’s proposal. He raised the Postmark building on the corner of Haven Street and Sanborn Street as an example, where the commercial business in the building, the new Post 1917 restaurant, accounts for 45% of the building’s water usage, but under Angstrom’s plan would have a lower water rate than other large water users in town, due to being connected with over fifty residential units. 

Angstrom suggested that the only solution might be to require commercial tenants of mixed-use buildings to have separate water meters from the rest of the building. After some discussion on the issue, Town Manager Matt Kraunelis suggested that the staff “regroup” and come up with an updated proposal to the October 29 Select Board meeting.

The board voted 5-0 to close the November 5 state election warrant. It also voted 5-0 to approve an alcohol pouring permit for the New England Barrel Company, which is proposing a new business at 1 General Way. 

The Select Board adjourned at 11:40 pm.