2021-01-14-LCC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Dawn asked if it would be possible not to use the orange and white barriers so that the messaging would be consistent with Tourism's rebranding. Jerry brought up the imminent renewal of the parking permits on March 1. Given that parking is not being enforced should we be charging permit holders $250 year? Stores are at 25% capacity now so it does not really make sense to charge for permits. Fred suggested that the 2020 permits be extended for a year. And then our attention turned to whether or not to eliminate parking meters in favor of kiosks. Pam S. : eliminate parking meters, go with kiosks and pay by app. Mike: prefers kiosks and appa to meter heads. Dick: kiosks are the future. Innessa: prefers apps to kiosks. Howard: concerned over disability access, people who don't have smartphones or are wary of apps. Jerry: will kiosks really eliminate "all those poles?" Jill noted that the Select Board is still seeking more information on this issue. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council has found a single vendor that offers all of these options. Chief Corr noted that parking is an agreement between the Town and the businesses. The LPD can make anything work. What is going to happen in the back parking lot. A personnel decision will have to be made. Then we veered back to the annual parking permits. The Lexington Center Committee voted 8 to 0 to recommend extending the parking permits (issued March 1,2020) for one year (to March 1, 2022) at no additional charge. We then discussed whether parking should be advertised as free. Chief Corr noted that the main issue was Center business employees parking in the most desirable spots in the Center and feeding the meters so as to park all day. This was a troublesome issue when he began as a patrolman in 1983. We don't want this behavior to start again. Also, LPD is still enforcing handicapped and delivery zones. Jerry noted that it seems that people are still paying at the meters. We are running about 1/3 of the usual meter collection. Multiple scenarios concerning paying and enforcement of meters were discussed. Fred suggested enforcing the meters. Pam S. suggested making the Depot Lot free, paying for meters. Howard asked if there is any data that supports the idea that paying for a meter discourages shoppers in the Center. Innessa described the Artwalk installation at Emery Park. Sandhya told us that a telephone museum, currently in Waltham, is looking to move to the Center, which, unbeknownst to us, has a historical connection to the telephone. We are looking forward to learning more about this.