COLUMBIA, S.C. — Parking services, water and special event fees were some of the topics discussed in a Columbia City Council budget workshop on Tuesday.
"It is so packed on the weekends, there is no parking space," Columbia resident Tamar Delapp shares.
Feedback from residents like Delapp is being considered as the council tries to settle on a budget concerning parking.
"We’ve received significant complaints about backing up traffic along Main Street, Saluda, there’s some highly traveled blocks," Elle Matney with Columbia Parking Services said in the meeting.
Matney met with councilmembers to propose a $10.1 million budget, which will serve the roughly 3,400 parkers in the city each month. Some of that money will go toward Barnacles, Matney shared.
"While frustrating, Barnacle offers a way for you to get back on the road faster than a boot," a promotional video detailed in the meeting.
The city is planning to use these devices instead of towing to cut down on some of the congestion downtown. Drivers can scan a code and pay from their phone to remove it immediately instead of having their car towed or booted
"That sounds like a fantastic idea. I like the thought of that," Delapp tells me.
Matney says the city is also trying to automate ticket collection and appeals, so drivers like Greg Porsing can pay or fight their ticket online.
"I guess I try to push my luck with street parking and pay a lot of tickets," Porsing shares. "I know with the street parking you’re limited to 2 hours and you can’t reuse the same spot and I feel like that’s where I accumulate the most tickets is from that right there."
Parking lots and parking decks are making up the majority of the budget, parking services says. The council also discussed a $28 million proposed budget for water and wastewater rate management to complete projects, and a special event fee that might require residents to pay for events requiring road closures.
The council provided feedback, which will now be used to further adjust the proposed budget before it's approved.