After a recent recommendation from the village of Mamaroneck’s Ad Hoc Parking Committee and more than two years of analysis, four out of five members of the Board of Trustees plan to vote to install single-space smart meters on Mamaroneck Avenue.
Trustee Keith Waitt, a Democrat, said the decision is long overdue.
“My frustration is that we haven’t moved past second base on this one,” he said. “We [heard] the public’s request for single-space meters and that’s what we’re going to go with.”
Trustee Victor Tafur, a Democrat, echoing sentiments by Waitt, said that after some additional input from village staff, the board will bring the matter to a vote.
“What’s missing is a little bit of analysis on how it will be implemented and rolled out,” he said. “After that, it will be put to rest.”
Earlier this month in a memo addressed to Village Manager Rob Yamuder, Mary Shiffer, capital projects manager, said the village will also mull the deployment of a mobile app payment system for parking on Mamaroneck Avenue that would help reduce the village’s credit card merchant fees; costs that could total up to $100,000 annually.
The app, according to Shiffer, would not necessitate the installation of new smart meters—the village currently utilizes coin-operated meters on Mamaroneck Avenue—and could be implemented with a significantly lower price tag to the village by cutting several costs associated with credit card usage, the purchase of new meters, and corresponding smart-meter technology.
According to the memo, fees associated with smart meters’ transmission of information to a parking management system, as well as credit card information from its built-in card reader, can cost between $5 and $10 per transaction and total anywhere from $7,200 to $28,800 annually per Shiffer’s analysis.
Waitt said that he views the mobile payment app as an additional payment method as opposed to a complete replacement for purchasing single-space smart meters.
However, Trustee Leon Potok, a Democrat, said he is less certain about putting his full support behind single-space smart meters, standing as the only village board trustee to voice concerns over the proposal.
“I don’t want to say we’re committed to one path,” he said. “It’s possible that we’ll look at the numbers of what it costs [and] decide not to buy the single-space meters.”
In the past, Potok has shown reticence toward moving forward with the parking committee’s recommendation of single-space smart meters, urging the village to study the deployment of multi-space meters instead. A study conducted by the parking committee last year, however, saw overwhelming public disapproval for multi-space meters that were derided as not user-friendly and time consuming.
Potok said that the village staff is set to present cost breakdowns of single-space smart meters to the Board of Trustees at an upcoming work session.
Last year, Maria DeRose, the chairwoman of the parking committee who is also running this year for trustee as a Republican, said the total costs of purchasing single-space smart meters—one of which would have to be installed in each of Mamaroneck Avenue’s 240 spaces—would hover around $245,000.
Mayor Norman Rosenblum, a Republican, also showed his support for purchasing single-space smart meters on Mamaroneck Avenue., but said the matter has been stalled by partisan politics. “The potential of slowing it down and it being a political issue is certainly there,” he said.
Potok refuted Rosenblum’s claim of partisanship.
“That’s silly,” he said. “ We’re looking to make an informed decision, and we’re waiting on staff to make an informed decision.”
Shiffer could not be reached for comment as of press time.
