By By MICHAEL C. GUILMETTE JR. / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Meg Truesdell came before the Niles City Council Monday evening to ask the board to limit downtown parking.
Truesdell, the owner of Red Shoe Jewelry and Apparel on Main Street, requested an ordinance be enacted to limit parking in the downtown district to 15 minutes for those not actively shopping.
"What is happening is that we are having people who are not downtown customers occupying spaces for the majority of the day sometimes," Truesdell said. "That makes it hard for our customers who want to come and shop with us to get the shopping done."
She said the culprits appear to be other business owners and employees who use the street parking spaces instead of the downtown's two municipal parking lots, often times using the spaces for up to eight hours a day.
Council members, however, were apprehensive about a targeted parking prohibition.
"Whether you pass an ordinance for this or not … who's going to enforce it?" council member Dan VandenHeede asked. He suggested having the Niles City Police Department speak with the business owners and ask them not to park in front of downtown businesses.
Council member Bob Chute cautioned against a parking ban specifically for business owners and employees.
"The biggest problem is, how are we going to identify who is an owner and an employee?" Chute asked. "You can't limit your parking [restriction] to just employees or owners of the businesses downtown."
Chute added such parking ordinances have to be applied to the general public, such as the two-hour downtown parking limit that is currently in place.
Mayor Mike McCauslin ended the discussion, saying the city would take the matter under advisement and speak with Niles Police Chief Ric Huff and the city attorney about the issue.
Also at the meeting, the council approved a contract between the city and the firefighters' union following a closed session. Council members also praised Niles Fire Department Chief Larry Lamb for his efforts during the negotiations as well as his department's efforts in training and accomplishing their duties.
Council members also approved a request from the Community Development office for two public hearings related to raising fees for registering leased or rented residential buildings. The meetings are scheduled for Jan. 22 at 7:15 p.m. and Feb. 12 at 7:25 p.m.
An executive search firm, Linda Lipinski of Chicago, was hired to find qualified candidates to fill the assistant utilities department manager position. The cost to hire this firm is not to exceed $7,500.
The city also approved the purchase of $27,360 worth of firefighting gear from Apollo Fire Equipment of Romeo, Mich. Of that total, approximately $17,000 was from city funds while the remainder came from other sources, including donations.