Montclair Township Councilors held an in-depth discussion at the October 19 council meeting about operational plans to resolve the pressing issue of the many non-functioning parking meters throughout town. Council determined, based on information and recommendations provided by the Parking Utility and township management, that the problem will be successfully addressed by implementing the following:
The Parking Utility has begun removing the 120 individual meters in the Valley Road, Maple Plaza, and Grove Street surface lots and will replace them with pay station kiosks – statistics show that kiosks traditionally suffer less vandalism than individual meters. The kiosks will allow patrons to pay by credit card, coins, and mobile app. The 120 meter heads that will be removed from the individual meters will be used to replace non-functioning meters throughout town.
Moving forward, individual meters in the remaining surface lots will be removed and replaced with pay station kiosks. By removing these meters from all surface lots, the Parking Utility will gain up to 500 meter heads in total that will be used to replace non-functioning meters.
Individual meters will also be removed and replaced with pay station kiosks in Watchung Plaza and the South End Business District.
The Parking Utility leadership team is currently pricing out new, more efficient, and technology adaptable meters from companies in the marketplace. Many of the Township’s meters stopped functioning when the internet service provider upgraded its broadband cellular network, affecting Township meters using older technology.
Separately, the Council also took action to review all ordinances to ensure excessive penalties are removed with regard to serving time in jail.