Coming soon, brand new hi-tech parking met

The city’s old parking meters will be replaced sometime this summer with new ones that allow you to pay for parking via your cellphone.

By Charles Sercombe
Be prepared to pay more for parking in the city’s main business district.
The city council agreed to have all existing parking meters, many of which are currently broken down, replaced with new meters.
Instead of paying 25 cents for 30 minutes, the new fees will be a minimum charge of $1 per hour.
Another increase agreed on is for parking tickets. Instead of paying $5, you will be paying $25, which is better that the original proposal of $45.
Enforcement was going to be from 8 a.m. to midnight, but the council balked at that.
“Do we really want to be ticketed at 11 at night?” said Mayor Karen Majewski.
Councilmember Andrea Karpinski agreed, saying Hamtramck doesn’t attract the night crowd like Royal Oak.
So, the hours of enforcement were scaled back to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
A private company, Municipal Parking Services, will be installing the meters at no charge to the city, but it will collect 50 percent of parking revenue in exchange.
The company has a five-year contract with the city. If the city or the company decides to end the arrangement, the company would take possession of their meters.
Meters will be installed over the entire length of Jos. Campau and at all city-owned parking lots. That includes the lots between Evaline and Yemans, just east of Jos. Campau Ave., and the Caniff and McDougall lot.
The city is currently not charging for parking in any of its lots.
City Manager Kathy Angerer said she is seeking cost estimates to repave the Caniff lot.
She said the anticipated yearly revenue from the meters and fines will be over $100,000 per year. As of now, she said, the city receives little money from the meters.
“Having working meters allows shoppers to visit establishments to conduct business, and encourages them to move their vehicles once that business is complete,” Angerer said in a note to the city council.
Another change coming with the new meters is enforcement. The meters have the ability to take a photo of your license plate when you pull into a parking space.
There will be a five-minute grace period when you first pull in just in case you are dropping off something. But once the meter starts up, you will be responsible for paying for your parking.
If you overstay what you paid for, a photo of your license plate will be sent to the police department for review and determination if a ticket is warranted.
Don’t have any money on you to feed the meter? No problem. There is an application you can download onto your phone to pay remotely.
For those who work in businesses along Jos. Campau, there will be monthly passes that you can purchase. The cost of those passes has not been determined yet.
Installation of the meters is expected to begin sometime this summer.
Posted June 5, 2020