Watkins plans parking enforcement

Jul 22, 2009 at 01:00 pm by Observer-Review


WATKINS GLEN   ADVERTISEMENT

Watkins plans parking enforcement

WATKINS GLEN–The village of Watkins Glen will hire a civilian to write parking tickets in the business district.
The village board Monday approved the proposal by Police Chief Tom Struble.
Parking enforcement has been handled by a part-time police officer, Struble said.
Using a civilian to enforce the village’s two-hour downtown parking limit will cost less than assigning a police officer to the task, said Trustee Nick Kelly.
The parking enforcement person will work 20-30 hours per week, but the rate of pay for the job has not been set, Struble said.
“It will be less than a part-time officer makes,” he said.
The village officials also approved the appointment of Christopher Cady of the Horseheads area as a part-time police officer. Struble said that brings to eight the number of part-time officers, who are called in as needed. The village also has six full-time officers.
Hiring a civilian to monitor parking will not result in a reduction of the number of part-time officers, Struble said.
The civilian enforcement officer will write tickets on downtown streets as well as in the two village-owned lots on Third Street and Fourth Street. The Third Street lot, which had no time limit, was recently converted to two-hour parking at Third and Franklin streets.
The trustees also voted Monday to raise the pay of part-time officers from $13 an hour to $15 an hour beginning with their 10th year of service.
In other action Monday, the board authorized borrowing $845,000 toward the cost of a new water intake facility on Seneca Lake. Village Clerk Donna Beardsley said a federal grant of $300,000 for the project has been approved.
The village also clarified its policy on brush and tree limb pickup. Limbs longer than 10 feet and larger than four inches in diameter will not be accepted. Small brush must be placed in paper bags. All brush must be placed at the curb.
“Some large trees have been cut down and dragged to the street,” said Mayor Judy Phillips. “It’s more than we can handle.”
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for 8 p.m. Aug. 17.
  $element(adman,groupads,SchuylerRight1)$

$element(adman,groupads,SchuylerRight3)$
Sections: Additional News