STONE HARBOR – Stone Harbor Director of Public Works Manny Parada presented a recommendation to the borough council to rid the seaside resort of parking meters and kiosks. The plan is to have all parking fees handled through the same ParkMobile parking app used by Ocean City, Sea Isle City, North Wildwood, Wildwood, and Cape May. Currently, Stone Harbor is the only community in the county using mPay2Park, a different app that might confuse visitors who are used to ParkMobile on the other islands.
Parada said the recommendation would save the borough annual operating expenses dealing with the meter and kiosk equipment. He said using the app would avoid the capital investment that would otherwise be needed for replacement and upgrading equipment, including some of the oldest of the town’s 17 kiosks.
The Stone Harbor budget shows that the borough anticipated $420,000 in parking revenue in 2022, based on $438,000 realized in 2021. According to Parada the kiosks and meters account for approximately $314,000 of the revenue without the intake of actual coin payments handled by the finance office. The volume shows the size of the task as the borough tries to transition its residents and visitors to the use of a smartphone app for all parking fees.
Parada said those without smartphones might use the app only for parking payments. He said the company supporting the app also has a telephone interactive voice response (IVR) system that could be used by smartphone users.
According to Parada the app also provides the capability to allow police to have a quick view of legal and illegal parking on a street, which should help to streamline parking enforcement. He said the app also would allow options for controlling time limits on parking spaces.
Parada even said that the existing meter heads and kiosks retain some value and may earn the borough $30,000 or more when sold.
The presentation was a glimpse of the future, where apps provide a way to obtain and pay for services, all in this case from the convenience of the driver’s seat.
Council made no decision but was agreeable to having Parada develop the implementation plan. Council also said he need not include the usual operational funds in his 2023 budget for meters and kiosks.
After all, there’s an app for that.
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