Long-term parking on Union Street will stay at $2 per day — for now.

Brunswick councilors adopted a fee increase to $5 last August, but reduced it back to $2 following public outcry. It was slated to change to $5 on May 1, but debate at a recent meeting halted the change again, opting for further discussion at this week’s meeting.

On Monday, Town Manager John Eldridge told councilors he felt the $2 daily fee had done its job, raising money for other parking initiatives. He raised concerns about raising the fee by $3.

“I’m just afraid (of) the $5 pushing more people out onto the street and onto other lots,” he said.

Daily fees hadn’t started being collected in the long-term parking lot for train and bus users until Jan. 8, after the parking kiosk was installed. The machine allows drivers to pay and enter their license plate numbers, which police download and use to check for vehicles in the lot that haven’t paid the fee.

The kiosk had collected $5,545.80 as of the end of April.

The council voted 6-3 — with councilors Jane Millett, Suzan Wilson and Christopher Watkinson in opposition — to keep the daily fee at $2 and revisit the matter next January.

dmoore@timesrecord.com