On the Agenda: Parking Payment Methods and Council Pay

Remember the decision by Phoenixville Borough Council to change the parking prices in borough lots?

Well, it hasn’t happened yet. At its Feb. 8 meeting, council voted to change the price of parking in borough-owned lots from $0.25 per 15 minutes to $0.25 for a half hour, reducing the price by 50 cents an hour.

During last month’s discussion, despite the change passing by a 5-1 vote, council members expressed concerns about whether or not parking kiosks should still accept credit cards at the lower parking rates.

Borough Manager Jean Krack said he’d look into the fees, but noted that changes to the pricing would likely be made within seven to 10 days from Feb. 8.

In that time, the issue of whether or not credit cards should be accepted hit the finance committee, which deferred any action to the council floor. The discussion is on Tuesday night’s agenda.  

Krack confirmed that there is a per transaction charge and a percentage charge. Additionally, each time the software is changed on the kiosks to reflect changes, the borough will be charged $350, which covers changes to all the kiosks. If the pricing change was made on all the machines, followed up by another change to reject credit card use, it would cost the borough double.

“I want to make one change to the software,” Krack said several weeks ago.

Also on the Tuesday agenda, council will tackle the issue of council pay. An ordinance is listed, providing for council member compensation and noting that there would be no additional pay for the council president.

At last month’s discussion on council pay, it was stressed that the ordinance would cover council members seated after 2011. The amount decided on for the ordinance was $150 per month for each council member.

The topic split council at the February meeting. During a vote on whether or not to pursue an ordinance on council pay, the vote was a 3-3 tie, with Mayor Leo Scoda serving as tiebreaker. Dana Dugan, Council President Richard Kirkner and Michael Speck voted for moving ahead with drafting an ordinance, while Dave Gautreau, Marc Reber and James Evans voted against the move. Council Vice President Kendrick Buckwalter abstained due to a previous lawsuit.

The meeting will start at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening in Phoenixville Borough Hall. Check out the full agenda on the borough’s Web site.