Daily Parking Fee Added to St. Agnes Lot

After finalizing a new ten-year lease with St. Agnes to use the parking lot on the corner of Front Street and Clinton Avenue, the village plans to charge residents and commuters $4 per day to use it in addition to the annual residential parking fee.

According to village spokesman Jeff Kluewer, this is the second ten-year parking lot lease between the village and the church.

"The first lease was entered into in order to provide additional commuter parking closest to the train station," Kluewer said. "The village needed more commuter parking."

Under the old lease, however, anyone with a residential parking permit could park there, "which meant the village was losing money," Kluewer explained. Under the new system for the parking lot, commuters and residents will still have to purchase the residential parking permit for $150 per year, but also pay an additional $4 per day to park there.

The village will use machines to accept the $4 payment, Kluewer explained, but it is still deciding on which machines to use.

The new lease begins on Sept. 1. According to the terms, the village will pay St. Agnes $62,750 throughout first two years of the lease, $64,500 in years three through five, $66,500 in years six through eight, and $68,500 in the final two years, totaling around $655,500 over the ten-year life of the agreement.

"The village controls the lot except after 4 p.m. on Saturday and all day Sunday, when the lot is open to the public," Kluewer said.

This allows parking for those attending mass services on Saturday evenings and on Sundays, said Harry Larson, business manager for St. Agnes.