EASTON, Pa. — Easton will have to tweak its budget to accommodate repairs for the 3rd Street garage, city officials confirmed Wednesday, though in the wake of this week’s parking summit, the end result could prove quite beneficial.
A bill introduced by Vice Mayor Ken Brown explained the need for the measure, as the project missed an anticipated completion last year, the remaining funding has to be bumped into the 2024 budget to help wrap up the initiative.
The bill explains that $270,000 was allotted for new parking control equipment in the garage, with repairs set to be completed in 2023, though “work done by Flash bled over into 2024, where it was not budgeted.”
“So in simpler terms, the project was budgeted last year. Not all the money was spent last year, because the project then carried over into this year, and an amendment had to be made to the budget to bring over that money from last year into this year."Easton Business Administrator Luis Campos
Out of the original amount, about $67,700 remaining has been requested for 2024, with an additional $55,900 requested from the balance “to pay for the Flash invoice and to complete the overall project.”
Flash Parking, mentioned in the bill, is a company that deals in parking management systems and cloud-based operating systems.
Easton Finance Director Mark Lysynecky the requested funds would be utilized to “transition to the new parking control system that we put in place, running new cameras, and putting in new cameras as well.”
“If you recall, the old system that we had here was a ‘pay before you leave the parking garage’ [system]. So it was like a parking meter, almost. And it didn't take very well. People didn't understand that, didn't quite grasp the concept. So this switch, we believe has been working better than the older one,” Lysynecky said.
Business Administrator Luis Campos said the bill was necessary due to budgeting protocol, which did cause a bit of confusion as the finances were presented in the bill itself, though Campos and Lysynecky were able to explain the measure to council.
“So in simpler terms, the project was budgeted last year. Not all the money was spent last year, because the project then carried over into this year, and an amendment had to be made to the budget to bring over that money from last year into this year,” Campos said.
After Tuesday’s parking summit — in which a resident mentioned the potential for problems with a ‘pay when you leave’ system presents when a person is unfamiliar with the interface — it seems these noted improvements to the 3rd Street garage could prove beneficial to the public, and possibly help alleviate some parking problems and traffic jams.
People just have to become accustomed to the updated system, Lysynecky said.
“The new system does have a ‘call for help,’ so there's a help button and a kind of walk-through. I’m just not sure that people realize the new system has that — it should be much more user-friendly, and if you do have trouble, you can call for help,” Lysynecky said, adding he is considering placing a sign on the interface, so people are aware of the option for human assistance.
