M E M O R A N D U M. PARKING COMMISSION Friday July 31 st, 2015, 8:00 a.m. City Commission Room AGENDA

Transcription

1 PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT rd Street North Fargo, North Dakota Phone: (701) Fax: (701) planning@cityoffargo.com M E M O R A N D U M TO: Parking Commission Members FROM: Joe Nigg, Planner DATE: July 27, 2015 RE: July 31 st Parking Commission Agenda Parking Commission Mission Statement Manage, provide, promote and maintain safe, convenient, accessible, attractive and reasonably priced parking facilities that will meet the need of downtown businesses, employers, residents, students, and visitors. Visit for additional Downtown Fargo parking information. 1. Approve Order of Agenda PARKING COMMISSION Friday July 31 st, 2015, 8:00 a.m. City Commission Room AGENDA 2. Minutes Regular Meeting of June 26 th, 2015 (Attachment 1) 3. Review Request from Restaurant Technology Services LLC for additional Parking Permits (Attachment 2) 4. Discuss 2016 Budget and Capital Items (Attachment 3) 5. Consider removal of gates at 3 rd Street lot (Attachment 4) 6. Update from Interstate on Various Items (Attachment 5) a. Enforcement b. Digital Pay Station Implementation c. Street Fair 7. LinkFM (downtown circulator) Update (Attachment 6) 8. Interstate / Operator Report (Attachment 7) 9. Updates (Attachment 8) a. 4-hour concept implementation 10. Other Issues or Public Comments Parking Commission meetings are broadcast live on cable channel TV Fargo 56 and can be seen live by video stream on They are rebroadcast each Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., Friday at 9:00 a.m., and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. People with disabilities who plan to attend the meeting and need special accommodations should call the Planning Office at or TDD at Please contact us at least 48 hours before the meeting to give our staff adequate time to make arrangements. Minutes are available on the City of Fargo Web site at

2 BOARD OF PARKING COMMISSIONERS MINUTES Regular Meeting: Friday: June 26, 2015: The Regular Meeting of the Board of Parking Commissioners of the City of Fargo, North Dakota, was held in the City Commission Room at City Hall at 8:00 o'clock a.m., Friday, June 26, The Parking Commissioners present or absent were as follows: Present: Absent: Chairperson Commissioner Mike Williams, Margie Bailly, Brian Hayer, Randy Thorson, Tracy Walvatne None Chairperson Commissioner Williams called the meeting to order. Item 1: Approve Order of Agenda Member Hayer moved the Order of Agenda be approved as presented. Second by Member Walvatne. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried. Item 2: Minutes: Regular Meeting of May 29, 2015 Member Thorson moved the minutes of the May 29, 2015 Parking Commission meeting be approved. Second by Member Walvatne. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried. Item 3: Presentation on Validation Program: APPROVED Andy Renfrew, Interstate Parking (IP), announced beginning Wednesday, July 1, digital pay stations will be operational at City-owned parking facilities on NP Avenue and both 2 nd Avenue North lots. Mr. Renfrew noted the most significant changes for customers parking in these two lots are the conversion to a pre-pay system from the existing postpay program; and the elimination of the onsite-parking attendants in these lots. He stated the changes will also affect the existing POP (Plenty of Parking) validation program, and staff is currently training the participating businesses on the new program. Board discussion followed concerning parking rates in the various facilities. Mr. Gilmour noted that each year the Parking Commission reviews and finalizes a rate schedule. Mr. Gilmour also noted that the Parking Commission has been working to implement a series of strategic rate increases over a 3-year period ( ). Member Walvatne moved to continue incentivizing the validation program with a 25% discount and to set the hourly rates of $1.50 per hour and a $7.50 daily maximum for hourly parking within the 2nd Avenue N (north lot), consistent with the current rate

3 Parking Commission June 26, 2015 Page No. 2 structure for the Civic Ramp and 2nd Avenue N (south lot). Second by Member Bailly. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried. Item 4: Review On-Street (4-hour) Time Zone Concept Phase II: APPROVED Planner Joe Nigg presented an overview on the background and current status of the 4- hour time zone concept and the second phase of implementation. He referred to several documents included in the packet, highlighting feedback staff received following the June 11th and 16th public input meetings. Mr. Nigg noted that overall the feedback was positive regarding the 4-hour concept. Mr. Nigg stated that other feedback received related to the need for improved signage that more effectively communicates on-street parking restrictions as well as negative feedback on relating to the City s re-parking ordinance. Additionally, Mr. Nigg stated that there was discussion at the public input meetings on whether Broadway and adjacent 90 minute time zone corridors should be changed to a 2-hour limit; especially if the intent is to try and simplify the system. Mr. Nigg referred to the proposed tentative implementation schedule included in the packet, and stated staff would like to complete implementation of this phase by late July or early August. Board discussion ensued concerning further review and public outreach on feedback and issues heard during the public input meetings; specifically the proposal to change existing 90-minute zones to two-hour parking and pursuing signage changes to more effectively communicate parking restrictions. Mike Hahn, President and CEO of the Downtown Community Partnership, shared feedback he has received from downtown retailers regarding the discussion on changing existing 90-minute on-street parking to two-hour parking. Mr. Hahn stated he would like to hold additional public input meetings prior to making any changes. He requested the Board further review this item before making any recommendation. Further discussion by the Board focused on the Phase II component regarding the implementation of the proposed 4-hour time zone changes and potentially looking at utilizing temporary signage. Member Bailly moved approval be recommended to the City Commission of the proposed 4-hour on-street time zone changes as presented within the staff report. Seconded by Member Walvatne. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried. Item 5: Presentation on mysidewalk.com Nicole Crutchfield Planning Administrator Nicole Crutchfield introduced and briefly explained this new program that replaces MindMixer, the online platform previously used for the public to communicate and share ideas with the City and staff. Item 6: Downtown Transit Circulator Update

4 Parking Commission June 26, 2015 Page No. 3 Joe Nigg presented an update including the daily ridership data collected since the route began on Monday, June 1, Mr. Nigg noted additional promotional brochures and materials will be available to the public pre Street Fair to bring attention to this transportation alternative. Chairperson Commissioner Williams added a bus wrap is currently being developed that will cover and identify the circulator from other City buses. Item 7: Interstate/Operator Report Andy Renfrew, IP, presented the May operations report. Item 8: Updates a. Pay Station Implementation Andy Renfrew referred to the timeline in the packet, noting the official launch date on July 1 of the digital pay stations at the NP Avenue and 2nd Avenue North (south lot) parking facilities. Mr. Renfrew stated attendants will be available at these locations the entire week to assist customers with this transition. Joe Nigg added IP would like to install canopies/awnings over the digital pay stations. Tony Janowiec, Interstate Parking, stated IP will pay for this item and will coordinate with the Parking Commission to make sure they see the design prior to finalizing. b. Enforcement/Parking Ticket Issuance Mr. Nigg stated the City Commission has approved two ordinances which provides the city with the authority to write tickets for illegally parked vehicles in City-owned off-street parking lots. He noted IP will be responsible for enforcement and the tickets issued will look different from the city-issued on-street parking tickets. Mr. Nigg added the first citation would be a warning ticket followed by a ticket and fine of $15.00 with a $5.00 late charge, the same fee schedule used for the City-issued on-street parking tickets. Item 9: Other Issues or Public Comments Commissioner Williams stated the City Commission approved at the Monday, June 22, 2015 meeting, based on a recommendation from the Finance Committee, the issuance of up to $12 million of taxable parking revenue bonds for parking facility system expansion. Tony Janowiec from Interstate Parking spoke about the importance of ramp placement to maximize usage of the facility and to catalyze future building in the downtown core. The time at adjournment was 9:18 a.m.

5 MEMORANDUM PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 200 Third Street North Fargo, North Dakota Phone: (701) Fax: (701) TO: FROM: Parking Commission Joe Nigg, Planner Attachment 2 DATE: July 24, 2015 RE: Parking Permit Request Restaurant Technology Services LLC / Xerox The City has received a request from Restaurant Technology Services LLC (RTS) for additional parking permits (hangtags) above the amount they pay for, based on some unique components of their operation. RTS is a subsidiary of the McDonalds Corporation and they provide IT support as well as help desk services for thousands of restaurants. They are located in the Dakota Building at 51 Broadway. RTS operates 24/7 and until recently they rented a total of 200 spaces from the City. In the last few months they have increased their number of employees at this site and as a result they are now renting a total of 225 spaces. Forty (40) of these spaces are within the Main Ave lot and 185 are within the 4 th Street lot. They are currently paying the monthly rate for all 225 spaces. Pursuant to the attached , RTS submits that they are only using approximately 125 of these spaces at any given time. They are comfortable paying the full monthly rate for the 200 spaces, even if they are only using 125, however they want to be able to receive additional permits above the 200 permit threshold at no cost to ensure each employee has a hangtag and has access to the lot. Although potentially problematic from a management standpoint, the practice of allocating additional permits above the number that has been paid for is not an entirely new situation. Based on prior agreements, the YMCA has 80 key fobs to the Island Park Ramp (IPR) and they pay for 40; and Red River Dispatch has 38 key fobs to the 3 rd Street lot and they pay for 10. For reference, the existing lot statistics are shown below. Lot Spaces Total Monthly Rented Capacity Rate 4 th St $56 Main Ave $53 The Planning Department is suggesting that the requested permit flexibility be extended to RTS under a few specific conditions: 1. The contract between Interstate/City of Fargo and RTS is amended to document the terms of this agreement; 2. Interstate/City of Fargo has the ability to periodically audit the number of RTS permits in each lot and adjust base invoicing accordingly, if necessary; 3. The maximum number of hangtags issued to RTS shall be 250 (assuming base payment on 200 permits); 4. At which time the updated contract is finalized and signed the additional permits will be provided and the invoicing adjusted accordingly (i.e. no reimbursement for the 25 permits over the last month+ ). Recommendation. To authorize Interstate Parking and City staff to amend the contract with Restaurant Technology Services LLC to allow the issuance of additional parking permits under the corresponding conditions outlined above.

6

7 TO: FROM: Parking Commission Jim Gilmour, Planning Director Joe Nigg, Planner MEMORANDUM PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 200 Third Street North Fargo, North Dakota Phone: (701) Fax: (701) Attachment 3 DATE: July 24, 2015 RE: 2016 Budget The Planning Department would like to have a general discussion with the Parking Commission on the 2016 budget and potential parking related capital items. Attached is the proposed rate structure for 2016 based on discussions at previous meetings. In 2014 the Parking Commission approved a slight increase in the rates at a majority of the city facilities and also established a 2-year plan to increase rates based on the following rationale: (1) additional revenue will be needed to pay for an additional ramp; (2) additional revenue needed to pay for a new operator [Interstate Parking]; and (3) strategic increases should help balance supply and demand.

8 % Change 2014 to 2016 GTC $ $ $ % Civic Ramp $ $ $ % 2nd Ave. S. $ $ $ % 3rd Ave. $ $ $ % NP Ave $ $ $ % 2nd Ave. N. $ $ $ % 4th St. $ $ $ % 3rd St. $ $ $ % IP Ramp $ $ $ % Main Ave. $ $ $ % Increase Percent Increase 2016 Increase Percent Increase 2016 Increase Parking Spaces Annual Increase GTC $ $ $ % $ % $ $ $ 28, Civic Ramp $ $ $ % $ % $ $ $ 18, nd Ave. - S Lot $ $ $ % $ % $ $ $ 1, rd Ave. $ $ $ % $ % $ $ $ 3, NP Ave $ $ $ % $ % $ $ $ 10, nd Ave. N. $ $ $ % $ % $ $ $ 15, $ - 4th St. $ $ $ % $ % $ $ $ 18, rd St. $ $ $ % $ % $ $ $ 15, $ - IP Ramp $ $ $ % $ % $ $ $ 13, Main Ave. $ $ $ % $ % $ $ $ 4, TOTAL $ 131,772.00

9 TO: FROM: Parking Commission Joe Nigg, Planner Andy Renfrew, Interstate Parking MEMORANDUM PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 200 Third Street North Fargo, North Dakota Phone: (701) Fax: (701) Attachment 4 DATE: July 24, 2015 RE: Removal of Gates at 3 rd Street (Machinery ROW) Lot For the past several months the gate arms and related infrastructure at the 3 rd Street (Machinery Row) surface lot has not been working consistently. As a result, the gate arms have been left in an up position on a regular basis. The technology and infrastructure is very outdated (nearly 15 years old) and we are no longer able to repair or find parts to keep the system running. As such, the Planning Department and Interstate Parking is recommending that the gates be removed and the lot transitioned to hangtags. From an enforcement perspective, the City does have the ability to write off-street parking tickets based on recent ordinance changes approved by both the Parking Commission and City Commission. Interstate Parking will be monitoring this lot to ensure parking spaces are only utilized by renters. As the Parking Commission is aware, at least currently, enforcement will be handled on-foot by Interstate Parking. Long-term, the possibility remains that Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) technology could be used to handle off-street enforcement within off-street city facilities. If supported by the Parking Commission, Interstate Parking would start the transition process immediately and it would be completed in early August. To note, the Island Park Ramp (IPR) is operating under a very similar situation and in the near future the Parking Commission will need to address the access control infrastructure at this facility as well. Recommendation. To authorize removal of the gates at the 3 rd Street lot and to transition the lot to hangtags.

10 TO: Parking Commission FROM: Interstate Parking DATE: July 24 th, 2015 RE: Project Updates Enforcement We have begun enforcement per the policy and things have gone well so far. We have issued over 70 warnings to first-time offenders and three citations in the past few weeks. We have hired a full-time ambassador that will focus on patrolling our lots during the day. Digital Pay Stations We began using the pay stations on July 1 st and have had good success. We were able to work with all of the former POP program users and provide them with validation codes to offer their customers. In August we will begin to try and expand the validation program to more businesses. Revenue for July is on-par with June at the NP Avenue lot and we ve seen an increase at the 2nd Avenue lot. A side-by-side comparison is attached. Permanent signage and awnings have been ordered and have included proofs of what they will look like. Street Fair Our first street fair experience went well though not without some hiccups and key learnings. At the top of those learnings was to take better care of our contract parkers. We moved parkers from Main Avenue, 3 rd Avenue, and US Bank to the 4 th Street lot. The lot came full in the late morning and I was not present to redirect a handful of people. We also sold RDO s contract spots in the Island Park ramp, this was an item I missed when training that attendant. Both of these items were immediately corrected and Friday went much smoother. The pay stations were put through a stress test of sorts on Thursday and Friday morning and worked great. While we were happy to use our new pay stations for event parking, I have decided that a cashier is probably a better option. Friday night and Saturday we transitioned to a cashier but were still able to use the machines for customers that wanted to use a credit card. I have attached a breakdown of revenue by lot by day for review and also attempted to compare to the two previous years. I ve attempted to identify the revenue attributable to the Street Fair though this is not exact. It s also important to note that the LinkFM route saw over 600 riders each day. Interstate Parking Company 502 NP Avenue North, Parking Office, Fargo, ND (701) NDinfo@interstateparking.com

11 Interstate Parking Company of Indiana LLC 710 N Plankinton Ave Suite 803 Milwaukee, WI P (414) F (414) E INinfo@interstateparking.com

12 2 nd Avenue: South Lot JUNE JULY Average daily revenue in June was $85. Average daily revenue in July has been $104. (Excludes the Street Fair (July 15 18) and Tedx (July 23))

13 NP Avenue Lot JUNE JULY Average daily revenue in June was $106. Average daily revenue in July has been $98. (Excludes the Street Fair (July 15 18) and Tedx (July 23))

14 This example is in Duluth but is representative of the configuration that will be used in Fargo

15 PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 200 Third Street North Fargo, North Dakota Phone: (701) Fax: (701) MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: Parking Commission Joe Nigg, Planner Attachment 6 DATE: July 24, 2015 RE: Update on Downtown Shuttle / Circulator Route (LinkFM) Ridership In late May (2015) the cities of Fargo and Moorhead finalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that established the framework for operating a downtown circulator. The intent of the service is to provide improved access to businesses and destinations in both downtown areas. A few route operational details are highlighted below: - Operating hours: Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; - 15 minute frequency; - Circulator service is fare free and free transfers to other routes are allowed; - 10 designated stop locations (6 in Fargo and 4 in Moorhead); - The route travels east-bound on NP Avenue and west-bound on 1 st Ave N. The route began operating on Monday June 1, Thus far, ridership numbers continue to be quite low (see attached) although this was somewhat expected as there were only minimal marketing and promotional efforts completed prior to start-up. A majority of the promotional materials have now been completed and they were ready pre- Street Fair as was the original intent. During the Street Fair an additional bus was added to the route which essentially created an 8 minute frequency for the circulator. As shown in the attachment, ridership was good during the 3 days of the Street Fair with a total of nearly 1,900 rides. Attached are a few other items which include a picture of the wrapped bus as well as some of the final marketing and promotional materials.

16 LinkFM Ridership Date Day Passengers Special Event 6/1/2015 Monday 52 6/2/2015 Tuesday 31 6/3/2015 Wednesday 21 6/4/2015 Thursday 28 6/5/2015 Friday 29 6/6/2015 Saturday 17 Weekly Total 178 6/8/2015 Monday 24 6/9/2015 Tuesday 17 6/10/2015 Wednesday 24 6/11/2015 Thursday 16 6/12/2015 Friday 17 6/13/2015 Saturday 4 Weekly Total 102 6/15/2015 Monday 14 6/16/2015 Tuesday 34 6/17/2015 Wednesday 43 6/18/2015 Thursday 18 6/19/2015 Friday 16 6/20/2015 Saturday 14 Weekly Total 139 6/22/2015 Monday 92 6/23/2015 Tuesday 26 6/24/2015 Wednesday 10 6/25/2015 Thursday 18 6/26/2015 Friday 157 Scan. Festival 6/27/2015 Saturday 67 Weekly Total 370 6/29/2015 Monday 39 6/30/2015 Tuesday 49 7/1/2015 Wednesday 31 7/2/2015 Thursday 34 7/3/2015 Friday 17 7/4/2015 Saturday Holiday Weekly Total 170 7/6/2015 Monday 16 7/7/2015 Tuesday 19 7/8/2015 Wednesday 11 7/9/2015 Thursday 24 7/10/2015 Friday 27 7/11/2015 Saturday Driver Error Weekly Total 97 7/13/2015 Monday 7 7/14/2015 Tuesday 19 7/15/2015 Wednesday 24 7/16/2015 Thursday 603 Street Fair 7/17/2015 Friday 708 Street Fair 7/18/2015 Saturday 663 Street Fair Weekly Total /20/2015 Monday 37 7/21/2015 Tuesday 58 7/22/2015 Wednesday 44 7/23/2015 Thursday 132 TedX 7/24/2015 Friday 19 7/25/2015 Saturday 38 Weekly Total 328 TOTAL PASSENGERS 3408

17

18 TO: Parking Commission FROM: Interstate Parking DATE: July 24 th, 2015 RE: Financial and Operations Report for June 2015 Operations Parking availability tightened in June and early July as we sold out the 4 th Street lot and GTC garage. Demand remains strong in the downtown core, with only a few spaces remaining in the 3 rd Avenue lot. Main Avenue and the Island Park Ramp continue to have space available. The actual occupancy numbers in the table below are unchanged since the June Parking Commission meeting due to a lack of new counts. Electronic Transactions Credit Card transactions accounted for 26% of all transient revenue down from 33% in May. This shift was driven by a nearly 10% drop at the NP Avenue lot, presumably attributable to NDSU being out of session. Financial Report June 1 st we moved many parkers from the 3 rd Avenue lot to the GTC garage and the revenue numbers swung significantly for that reason. Included in this month s expenses are the invoices for work related to the 2 nd Avenue North lot rehab. The Special Event Payroll at the 2 nd Avenue South and NP lots is present again this month per the contract. Interstate Parking Company 502 NP Avenue North, Parking Office, Fargo, ND (701) NDinfo@interstateparking.com

19

20

21 PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 200 Third Street North Fargo, North Dakota Phone: (701) Fax: (701) TO: FROM: Parking Commission Joe Nigg, Planner MEMORANDUM Attachment 8 DATE: July 24, 2015 RE: Updates 4-hour Concept Implementation. At the June meeting the Parking Commission made a recommendation to proceed with implementation of the on-street 4-hour time zone concept. The City Commission reviewed and approved the changes at the July 6, 2015 meeting. In general, this concept is intended to simplify the system and also make better use of underutilized on-street capacity in fringe blocks. The concept transitions a majority of the onstreet parking to 4-hour time zones other than Broadway, Roberts St, 5 th St N, 8 th St S and 7 th St S which would remain as 90 minute time zones. The initial phase (5 th Street to Red River and railroad tracks to 2 nd St) was completed in December (2014). The signage will be changed in a phased approach with install already underway. All signage should be changed by mid-august. Note that this effort does also include the clean-up of a lot of loading zone and other signage that is no longer necessary or appropriate on some of these downtown corridors.