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Deep divide over taxes drags out budget talks

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<p>PLYMOUTH &#8212; Parking meters are coming to Main Street in the next few weeks.</p><p>Councilman Gary Kochinski said last year the borough was informed by the Department of Agriculture that it would need to either remove or repair parking meters along the street. The meters had not been used in several years.</p><p>Kochinski said the decision was an easy one, with the meters being shipped to Meter Products in Paterson, New Jersey, to be refurbished.</p><p>&#8220;We spent $11,000 on (refurbishing) the meters, and we would have had to spend almost that much on removing the meters,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;re anticipating making about $7,000 a year on proceeds from them.&#8221;</p><p>Kochinski said the money would be used to pay for about 50 extra shifts for police officers.</p><p>&#8220;This is a win-win situation,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It will also address concerns people are parking on Main Street, not moving their cars for long periods of time.&#8221;</p><p>More than 100 meters will be installed.</p><p>Other areas such as Eno and Carolina streets, and Center, Girard and Gaylord avenues, will not have meters, although the areas previously had them, according to Kochinski.</p><p>Several residents have questioned why the borough started putting the meters up, but haven&#8217;t yet finished.</p><p>Kochinski said the borough&#8217;s Department of Public Works &#8220;hit a snag,&#8221; in attaching the devices to the poles.</p><p>&#8220;We should be getting the equipment in to finish the job any day,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Resident Rob Bozek doesn&#8217;t like the idea of new meters.</p><p>&#8221;I think it was a terrible idea,&#8221; he said when responding to an informal survey on Facebook. &#8220;The meters cost like $10,000 to have refurbished. That&#8217;s a lot of quarters in the meters just to break even.&#8221; </p><p>Bozek also questioned where the borough would get funding to maintain the meters. </p><p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t imagine it will help any of the local businesses either,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It can only turn away potential customers.&#8221;</p><p>Kochinski said local business owners have said they look forward to the increased order the meters will provide at little cost to their customers.</p><p>&#8220;With a two-hour maximum, parking will only cost 25 cents for half an hour,&#8221; Kochinski said. &#8220;That will be just a dollar to do two hours of shopping.&#8221;</p><p>Koschinski also wanted to assure residents it will not be necessary to put money in the meters during the Kielbasa Festival on Aug. 12 and 13.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve bought covers for the meters,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So participants will be able to park for free during borough-sponsored events.&#8221;</p><p>Borough officials also said that after the parking meters have been installed, there will be a two-week grace period when residents do not have to pay to park.</p><p>&#8220;We want to be really fair,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;re not trying to cause a problem for residents. We just think it&#8217;s a good move.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Parking meters sit in the Plymouth Borough building ready to be installed on Main Street. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_TTL070216ParkingMetersPlymouth1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Parking meters sit in the Plymouth Borough building ready to be installed on Main Street. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Geri Gibbons</p><p>ggibbons@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Geri Gibbons at 570-991-6117 or on Twitter @TLGGibbons</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Parking meters headed to Plymouth borough’s Main Street