Manhattan City Commissioners unanimously approved an amendment Tuesday to the contract for license-plate recognition equipment in the Downtown parking garage.
The IPS contract amendment cost $63,414 to be paid from the General Fund, increasing the total contract amount to $154,562.00 in one- time fees and $43,368 in annual recurring software fees.
The commission has agreed to charge for parking in the garage, but no exact rate has been set. City officials are considering a two hours of free parking, with $2 charged per hour after that, up to a maximum daily fee of $10.
Parking Services Manager Adrienne Tucker says that will provide city officials with a revenue stream for maintenance and upkeep.
“There has been no maintenance done on that garage since it was built, no power washing, no cleaning. Those are the things that deteriorate a garage,” she said.
Commissioners will seek to approve an ordinance and fee resolution next month and come up with a rate structure for the downtown garage by August 1.
Commissioners on Tuesday also provided consensus to grant the Aggieville Business Association’s request to change employee registration for the Aggieville parking garage because of more planned construction which will eliminate over 100 parking spots in the coming months.
An increase in Aggieville construction beginning this summer will eliminate over 100 parking spots in the district. Aggieville employees would be allowed to register their license plates and granted free parking in the garage Monday through Friday, 8 to 5 p.m., continuing until all Aggieville construction wraps up in 2028. Employees would be able to buy full-time or part-time monthly passes at new lower rates.
“I would wholly support the change in rates for the Aggieville garage. It’s reasonable for us to support that,” said Commissioner Susan Adamchak.
In order to recoup some of that lost revenue, the city would eliminate the free 2 hour parking on evenings and weekends. Instead the new recommendation would include:
• $0.25 first 15 minutes
• $0.50 first 30 minutes
• $1.00 first hour
• $2.00 per hour after first hour / $10 daily max
Commissioners will look to finalize an ordinance at a future meeting with plans to take effect by August 1.
