When it meets on Nov. 4, the Scarborough Town Council is expected to approve a $17,000 expenditure to install a parking meter that would control on-street parking at Higgins Beach next summer season.

During a meeting on Oct. 7, a majority of councilors approved adding the words “metered parking” to the ordinance governing the parking rules at the beach.

Now Town Manager Tom Hall has come back with a proposal recommending that the town purchase a solar-powered, multi-space meter to better monitor and enforce the 1-hour public parking spots on Bayview Avenue.

This recommendation caps months of debate about how to best control what some see as problem behavior at the beach, which includes abuse of the free, 1-hour spots on Bayview, which were initially designed to provide short-term parking only.

It was 2011 when the town first designated 13, 1-hour, on-street parking spots on Bayview. Two of those are for handicap parking only, and a third spot is reserved for a 5-minute drop-off of beach gear and people.

Many of those who’ve been pushing the town to make changes to the rules at Higgins Beach to deal with a variety of issues, including changing in and out of wetsuits, tailgating and more, have also called for the elimination of the on-street parking.

However, councilors have been clear that they want to continue to provide easy public access to one of the region’s most popular beaches. To that end, earlier this month the council asked Hall to do research and come back with a recommendation regarding metered parking.

According to a report by Hall, which was provided to the council prior to its meeting on Wednesday, buying, installing, servicing and monitoring the multi-space meter would cost $16,825 for the first year.

The meter itself costs $7,500, the monthly service fee for five months would total $325, the cost to install the meter is estimated at $500 and additional staffing to monitor the meter would cost the town $8,500.

What the council will have to decide is whether appeasing fed-up residents of Higgins Beach is worth the cost.

In his memo to the council, Hall said that, “Generally, the (on-street) spaces have worked well, serving the intended purpose of providing short-term, convenient parking opportunities proximate to the beach.”

While he acknowledges the desire to keep the on-street parking spots, Hall also said the council has made it clear that “there is a desire to enhance enforcement capabilities to ensure that abuses of the time limit are reduced and the intent of short-term, convenient access is achieved.”

He said that a lack of enforcement has been “a consistent theme in these discussions” and added that the “installation of a parking meter has been identified as an important component of enhanced enforcement.”

And although some councilors have mentioned expanding the metered parking solution to the public parking lot on Ocean Avenue, Hall is not recommending that action at this time.

“Management of the lot presents several unique challenges and costs that unnecessarily complicates the immediate issue of better management of the on-street spaces on Bayview Avenue,” Hall said in his memo.

In addition, Hall said that, “By pursuing the installation on Bayview Avenue (only), it will provide a great opportunity to have some experience with this approach before integrating (metered parking) town-wide.”

He is recommending a multi-space meter for Higgins Beach, “given the limited number of spaces and the fact that they are contiguous.”

Based on his research, Hall is recommending that the town purchase a CWT Compact unit by Cale America, which he described as being “low profile” and one that could be easily removed during the winter months.

While the town could lease the meter for $230 a month, Hall is recommending an outright purchase.

The meter would work by requiring the vehicle owner to input their license plate number and then receiving a ticket that would indicate the time it was issued, as well as the time the permission to park would expire.

Hall said, “to guard against shuffling among the spaces,” the meter would be programmed not to issue another ticket to the same vehicle until at least another hour has elapsed.

Along with making it a violation to park beyond the allotted time, Hall said the council should also make it a violation for anyone to park in the on-street spots without displaying a parking ticket.

To monitor the metered parking spots, Hall is recommending that the town expand its use of reserve officers. The new schedule would be to have a reserve officer monitoring the beaches from 5:30 a.m.-9 p.m. on weekdays, and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights from May 1 through Sept. 15 each year.

A full season of expanded hours would cost the town approximately $18,500, which Hall said could be considered in the 2017 budget request. In the meantime he is seeking a budget amendment of $8,500 to cover the cost from May 1 to June 31 of 2016.

Even with the additional cost to the town, Hall is recommending that the metered parking spots remain free for now, arguing that fine revenue could help offset the cost of the metering program.

He’s also recommending that the parking violation fines remain at $40, which is higher than most surrounding communities.

The town of Scarborough could install “a low profile,” solar-powered, multi-space parking meter like this one at Higgins Beach.Courtesy image