Sunday, April 27, 2008

Council, vote NO on the Parking Authority

Will the logistics and hard facts regarding the creation of a Parking Authority in Phoenixville finally mean the demise of the proposal?

Will the detailed examination of this venture by Councilman Senley be taken into consideration?

http://councilmansenley.blogspot.com/2008/04/want-free-parking-play-monopoly.html

Will the public sentiment against the authority be weighed?

Councilman Jeff Senley's blog, http://councilmansenley.blogspot.com/ announced the agenda for Monday's April 28, 2008 continuation of the Phoenixville Borough Council Meeting which begins at 7 p.m.

Under Public Hearings from the agenda:

- D. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE #2127 SIGNIFYING THE INTENT OF THE PHOENIXVILLE BOROUGH COUNCIL TO ORGANIZE A PARKING AUTHORITY PURUSANT TO 53 PA.C.S.A. CHAP. 55, “PARKING AUTHORITIES”, AS AMENDED AND SUPPLEMENTED; SETTING FORTH IN FULL THE ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION, APPOINTING AND FIXING THE TERM OF THE FIRST MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF SUCH AUTHORITY; AUTHORIZING THE AUTHORITY TO ADMINISTER, SUPERVISE, AND ENFORCE ON-STREET PARKING REGULATIONS; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF THE ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION; AND REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES INCONSISTENT WITH THIS ORDINANCE.

Will we, the taxpayers of Phoenixville be saddled with the potential of a 50 year risk and liability?

Here is the notice of preparations for taking YOUR TAX DOLLARS to finance the start-up of an authority.

Under the Finance Committee meeting agenda:

- VII. New Business

a. Review of Parking Authority Startup Funding

Councilman Senely's review of the costs is probably conservative due to the fact that certain costs for a parking garage cannot be factored until other facts are known. Please, don't overlook reading his report. To date, it's the only credible public tool to gauge costs.

Which brings me to this.

The Parking Authority is an issue unto itself.

The parking garage is yet another.

However, the consideration for a Parking Authority is driven by the call for a parking garage made obvious by comments made during Council public participation and in published media. Therefore, a leap can be made to the conclusion that if a Council Member votes for the Parking Authority, in essence, the vote becomes a vote to ultimately build a parking garage.

There's no changing that fact.

So, the question becomes will Council, by a majority vote, give life to a proposal which, by Councilman Senley's report, is financially unsustainable for our borough?

As a municipality we have other options to solutions for the parking problems.

What we need now is commonsense leadership in deliberations and on the Council vote.

A yes vote on a Parking Authority flies in the face of known facts and figures which may prove to be financially disasterous and fiscally irresponsible.

Council, vote NO to the Parking Authority.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You asked "So, the question becomes will Council, by a majority vote, give life to a proposal which, by Councilman Senley's report, is financially unsustainable for our borough?"

Karen. You've lived in this town long enough to know this answer. This is PHOENIXVILLE we are talking about. One step forward, three steps back.
I heard the parking authority members are already hand-picked. how that happens without a vote is a mystery, but not in PHOENIXVILLE.

Karen said...

I'm hoping, Anonymous 9:44 p.m., that the outcome is not an already preordained conclusion.

You're right, though. I've lived in Phoenixville all my life, and I've seen this town taken to the brink on more than one occasion.

A couple of times Council actually DID jump into poorly considered plans.

I can only hope they learned much from them.

With a lifespan of 50 years the decision regards an authority will affect generations of Phoenixville residents.

GENERATIONS.

Awesome responsibility.

They can't enter into this lightly.

On the appointed members, under law, the Council President has the ability to appoint whomever he chooses.

Makes one wonder what our state representatives were thinking when they passed that law.

Why would they put that authority in the hands of one person?

In my mind there is not one good reason to persue this proposal.