From:
To: Mary Gourley
Subject: Requesting Removal of Consent Calendar Item
Date: Sunday, October 4, 2026 8:26:34 AM
Dear Mayor, Council Members and City Manager,
We are writing to request that the City Council remove agenda item five from the Consent Calendar for the upcoming October 6th meeting. This item is for a grant to study the traffic design and flow in the south end of town, including public engagement and a parking study.
We think this should not a be a Consent Calendar item because it includes a parking study.
When has this Council discussed the need for a parking study and decided that this is a priority? What is the point of a parking study? Are we considering spending money to build more parking lots, or are we looking to reduce parking in downtown? Some Planning Commission members have suggested that parking be moved from downtown to satellite parking lots served by shuttle buses. Is this really want people would want? Or would we fund a parking study simply because people complain there is not enough parking downtown? We hope not.
We came close to losing our main City owned parking lot with the formerly proposed Pine Grove Square development project on Burnett, sometimes called the Hopmonk lot. The parking study for that project was completely inadequate because it didn't include times when it was used the most, which is the dinner hours. Unsurprisingly, the conclusion of that study was that the loss of this parking lot would have had marginal impact on parking in our city. As most people have noticed, this parking lot is often completely full now.
If this grant gets awarded, the cost to the City would $32,390. If we choose to continue down the road with the two-way street option, this is just the very beginning of big spending. It is important to keep in mind that the consultants stand to gain with more studies being funded.
Should funding another parking study be a priority of the City? Due to the complexity and inadequate analysis, this item should be pulled from the Consent Calendar for discussion.
Thank You,
Steve and Lisa Pierce