Main Street Parking Follow-Up

Two meetings took place at Gillett City Hall to help the community move forward as the 2-hour parking ordinance is enforced

THURSDAY’S MEETING

A special meeting was held an hour before City Council’s normal meeting time to give Gillett Citizens a chance to voice their concerns regarding the 2-hour parking ordinance. The Gillett City Council met with a packed room at last Thursday’s meeting. Mayor James Beaton reiterated that several businesses asked the city to enforce the law, and that this current council did NOT implement the law. The ordinance is over 60 years old, and the city has no choice but to enforce it when citizens ask about it.

Business owners brought up the concern of customers’ parking options-particularly of those who come out of town to patronize the Gillett establishments. The following suggestions were made by some in attendance:

• Purchase the empty lots on Main Street and creating parking spots at those locations
• Extend the parking limit to 3- or 4-hour parking instead of the current 2-hour limit
• Establish a parking pass that businesses can hand out to customers to place on their vehicle’s windshield
• Extend parking on North and South Lake Street, which currently has 2-hour limits as well
• Adding short term parking spots on Main Street

When a citizen asked about Handicapped Parking on Main Street, Public Works Foreman Shane Rank informed the crowd that it was not feasible to add it. The reason for that is by law Handicapped Parking spots need to be four feet larger than a standard parking spot, and there is not enough room on Main Street to add spaces of that size. Mayor Beaton also pointed out that because Main Street is also a county road (County BB) the county would have to be contacted if any street changes needed to be made. The county is responsible for the street, but the City of Gillett is in charge of the parking.

MONDAY’S MEETING

The committee met four days later to let the spectators know what was decided in regards to the parking. The committee believes that the biggest problems with the Main Street parking are apartment tenants for properties that do not have parking. The tenants have a tendency to park on the street instead of in the back of their buildings or another suitable location. The council plans to remedy this by sending letters to landlords of Main Street properties asking them to remind their tenants of the parking ordinance on Main Street and they should park in a different location. When a person asked about turning the former laundromat lot into parking, Shane Rank let those in the room know that because of DNR regulations regarding contaminated property like that lot there are limited options for what the city could do to make that lot ready.

It was important to the mayor to utilize an option that would not cost the City a lot of money, so they decided on a parking pass option. Options like changing signs and lots would involve higher spending, which could pose a problem since the 2019 budget was set in October 2018. (Replacement parking signs would cost $70.00 each!) With the parking pass, the city would make passes available to businesses that request them. A pass would be effective for the day, so if you wish to go to multiple places on Main Street, you would just need one pass. The passes would hang on the rear-view mirror like ones used for disabled parking. For businesses that will be having multiple people at their establishment-like the funeral home or my craft store-the owner can just call the Gillett Police Department and let them know what will be happening so they don’t hand out warnings or tickets.

The city is planning to work with this method for a few months, send the letter to the landlords, and revisit the option of using the old laundromat property to see if restrictions would be the same now as years ago. If you have any other questions about the ordinance, please call City Hall at 920-855-2255 or the City of Gillett Police Department at 920-855-2125.