November 2, 2005
Members Present: Lori Bernard, Paul Bixby, Herb Cihak, Ralph Davis, Craig Edmonston, Gerald Golden, Reggie Houser, David Martinson, Bill Mock, Gary Smith, Susan Stiers and Julie Trivitt. Also attending were Jose Lopez representing the Traveler, Andrew Endicott from ASG, Blake Lawrence from RIC, Robbie Jones from ASG parking and Transit Chair and Elaine Quinn, acting secretary.
A motion was made to approve the minutes of the September 14th meeting. It was seconded and the motion passed.
Report on Current Parking Status - Gary Smith
1. We currently have about 11,600 parking spaces on campus, the most we have ever had.
2. Transit started the school year with a shortage of drivers but since that time they have hired and trained twenty-six for both full-time and part-time positions. Because of the additional new staff, on October 17 Razorback Transit was able to return to having four buses run on Saturdays and on the night routes.
3. Lot 79 was completed. It is across from lot 76 on Lindell Avenue. The land was purchased by Chi Omega and donated to the University. We built the lot and Chi Omega will get free Resident Reserved for twenty years, after that the sorority will have to pay the going rate for Resident Reserved.
Old Business
Faculty/Staff Parking Issues: The Staff Senate has been working on different parking proposals pertaining to cost and availability. One proposal from two years ago even went to the Chancellor’s Office but died due to inactivity. It suggested increasing the number of tiers for Faculty/Staff permits from two to six. Currently those earning more than $30K pay the higher rate for a parking permit than those earning less than $30K. The proposed six tiers would have had breaks at $20k, $35K, $50k, $75K, $100K, and $100K+. Paul said that 79% of employees purchasing Faculty/Staff permits earned less than $50K when that proposal was developed. There are no Faculty/Staff parking spaces close to Walton College and Kimpel Hall. Gary said the Transportation Plan suggested a zone parking plan which would let the employee park according to choice, the closer you parked, the more you would pay. The debt service for Harmon Avenue Parking Facility is about $1.5 million a year. There was discussion by several committee members about how the Harmon Deck made such a ‘zone plan’ difficult in that portion of campus because it holds the only parking places in the area or zone. When a suggestion was made to allow F/S parking on the top floor of the deck, Gary said that enforcement of another permit type would be prohibitively expensive. Discussion also centered on freshmen and sophomores not being able to have cars on campus which would open up more spaces. Representatives from ASG said the Student Senate had also been discussing the option of freshmen and sophomores parking remotely.
There was a question about why deck parking fees were not consistent with the amount of time required to park, go to a class, and return. Current rate is $1.10/hr and the deck charges $1 for 54 minutes. The campus wide meter rate is $1.10 per hour and normally increases at a nickel per year. This means a person is charged $2 for parking in the deck for an hour. Gary explained that an hourly rate of $1.10 would require a lot of staff time collecting and restocking change in the pay stations so the $1 for 54 minutes was set to only deal with whole dollars. It was suggested that one solution would be to charge $2 for first two hours of parking and sign accordingly.
Progress is being made with Payroll in regards to employees being able to have twelve payroll deductions for their permits. Julie Trivitt asked about signs for HAPF that would show cost for hourly parking. Gary said new signs showing the hourly rates have been ordered. She also voiced concern over parking for graduate students.
New Business
None at this time.
The meeting was adjourned.