Village Upgrades Parking Meter System

New parking meter consoles became operational in the downtown business district on March 23, as village officials promised to make paying for parking a little bit easier.

The new consoles eliminate the previous zoned system where parkers had to make sure that the color on their spot corresponded to the correct console; parkers can now use any console in the lot. The new consoles also accept not only coins, but dollar bills, debit and credit cards.

“We have done this for the convenience of our residents and visitors,” Mayor Fran Murray said in inaugurating the new system.

The consoles are programmed to allow a seven-minute grace period before a space becomes liable for a ticket.

“We’re not lurking around waiting for violations,” said Bob Nugent, the supervisor of the police aides who write the parking tickets. When an enforcement agent enters a lot, an array on a laptop computer shows the spaces where no one has paid. If the space is occupied, then a ticket is written.

The Village has installed 14 of the new consoles: seven in parking field No. 1 (from Morris to Park Avenue between Sunrise and Merrick); three in parking field No. 7 (on the North side of Merrick Road, opposite the post office); and four in parking field No. 8 (south of Merrick Road, east of Park Avenue and north of Lenox).

The units not only communicate with each other, but also with a computer at the Department of Public Works which can be used to program the consoles from a central location. If something goes wrong with a console, it automatically sends a message to the DPW computer and to the cell phone of the highway supervisor.