Minutes 08-21-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Clifton suggested they put a speed bump if they are going to raise the arm. He is concerned about waiting until they have a problem as it would involve a pedestrian. Commissioner McKee asked that they do look at other alternatives as he does not feel they need to have a fee for parking at this time. Commissioner Jacobs agreed and suggested they have bold signage saying free parking and possibly telling people to stop at gate. People who are conditioned to think there will be a charge will still have that impression if the arm is down. He said this is an indirect economic development boost for downtown Hillsborough and feels they need to make it as clear as possible that someone can get in and out at no charge. Mr. Clifton confirmed that all the pay machines were gone so no one could pay if they wanted to. He agreed they would put up more signage about the parking being free. Chair Pelissier agreed more signage was necessary as safety is of the utmost importance. The fact the deck is being used more indicates a fair amount of the public does understand that it is free. Commissioner Hemminger stated she liked the free parking and the arm. She feels when the arm is down, pedestrians feel safer that no one is coming through to hit them. She suggested they write free parking on the arm. She also asked what was in place for monitoring the deck and referred to the notation that someone would tow cars that were left overnight. She asked if the $22,000 per year quoted included someone walking through and checking that type of thing in the deck. Mr. Clifton replied that their Staff periodically maintains the deck now although it used to be contracted out. He said they may want to consider security cameras in the future. Commissioner Gordon agreed they should have the arm but with signage explaining the parking is free. With regard to the fee structure, she understands going with the guidelines they have for now. The Manager reiterated to her, however, that any fee structure change would require a comprehensive look at all the parking provided by the County in downtown Hillsborough. She believes they should do that because on heavy court days there are prime parking spots near the courthouse and there is some parking that could be charged for whether it be in the deck or some other prime parking spaces. Commissioner Gordon added they don't have good evidence for changing the policies they have now, but they should look at a fee structure perhaps in the context of the next budget to see if it makes sense to charge for prime parking areas. Commissioner Yuhasz said there had been some discussion about improving the sidewalks at the Weaver Street crossing and to improve access to the courthouse from the parking deck. He feels they should not make any changes to the parking until that is completed. Chair Pelissier said she did not want to charge fees right now. She does not believe Hillsborough is of the size or ready for that. She believes some of the pressures they had by the courthouse was because there was a fee in the parking deck and people were avoiding it. Now that it's free, they need to wait and see. Commissioner Jacobs said he would like to know how much the parking deck is actually being used. Long term, there will be more and more parking, but if it's half used, for example, they may want to consider closing off the upper deck after the Staff leaves for community events or some other use besides empty parking spaces after 5:00. The art community may want to use it for events. He suggested some type of usage flow study as to what's going on in the deck and then revisit that. Chair Pelissier said she did not hear a majority of Board member saying they wanted to look at a fee structure at this point so they directed the Manager not to look at fees for the time being. e. Interlocal Aqreement with Town of Chapel Hill in Support of Business Incubator Steve Brantley, with Orange County Economic Development, said his office had prepared the abstract summary regarding the interlocal agreement with the Town of Chapel Hill in support of a business incubator. The draft agreement provided to the Board advances Orange County's effort over the past year to establish a long desired innovation center in the community and serve entrepreneurial start up businesses. The goal is to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit locally and provide for an attractive and suitable environment in which to retain promising home grown firms for the long term. Mr. Brantley said Orange County and the Economic Development office contracted in 2011 with the University of North Carolina to conduct a commercial real estate study of the county with a specific focus on ways to support the growth and retention of entrepreneurial companies. This consultant study