A recorded vote of 3-6 defeated a motion to pause the downtown Midland parking system, but it was a twisting road of raised voices and tension along the path to get there.
Coun. Bill Gordon provided the notice of motion during last night’s regular meeting of council, and read it aloud for the discussion.
“It’s quite simply that council direct the immediate pause of paid parking,” read Gordon, “to allow for a review of technical issues, user-sentiment and adoption, reimplementation options, and timing as well as budgetary impact.”
A new paid parking system in Midland’s downtown core was unveiled this summer shortly after the completion of the Big Dig reconstruction project. As the removal of the traditional coin-based meters were replaced with digital terminals during pandemic restrictions, the BIA and Chamber of Commerce successfully haggled for a temporary one-hour free grace period in parking lots.
Activation of the terminals brought misery as residents, staff, council and visitors to the town encountered a series of bugs and glitches, with growing concern and increased frustration. Gordon spoke to the concerns previously with MidlandToday.
Hours before the council meeting, Coun. Carole McGinn posted a minute-long video to her social media page, which showed a failed attempt at helping a resident with the system.
At council’s request, CAO David Denault spoke to the issues of the system. Denault reminded council that Midland could face a 3% tax levy for the 2022 budget, and with the main Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) assistance grant well below the other North Simcoe neighbours, paid parking was an essential revenue source.
New to the conversation was that the only difference between Midland and the other municipalities which had adopted the system, such as Niagara Falls or Tobermory for example, was the temporary one-hour free parking alleviation; a unique problem to the town alone which was problematic with the flow of code in software, meant to accept revenue and not bypass it.
“I come from a long history of implementing IT solutions, and this from my standpoint is going through a classic IT implementation curve,” said Denault, adding that although a large number of successful completions within the system were visible in the data collected, he did not dismiss the struggles some residents experienced.
“Any time you implement new technology, and certainly this is new to Midland just like garbage bins or roundabouts,” Denault said to the adoption of change, “at the end of the curve, the ones who struggle the most are the skeptical bunch; it’s about 15% of your population,” which he estimated to be roughly 2,000 people.
Many on council with technical backgrounds agreed, including Mayor Stewart Strathearn and Coun. Cher Cunningham.
Cunningham responded to McGinn’s suggestion that the annual December parking pause be moved ahead immediately, saying that residents already structured their shopping around the free parking and holiday season.
“Every time you change something, you confuse people,” explained Cunningham, warning against further alterations to the set plan of implementation, a remark to which Denault agreed.
McGinn’s social media post, the overwhelming complaints to the town and the mayor’s contact, Gordon’s social media presence and intent to bypass council procedure through bringing the motion forward, all contributed to raise concerns from many in the discussion.
Mayor Strathearn spoke directly to it.
“The reason we have notices of motion, is so that the questions that we’re asking staff right now can be thought about and put into a report,” Strathearn said to the gathering and presentation process.
“And we’ve just blown that right out the window by voting to turn down the procedural bylaw. Frankly, I don’t think it does the public a damn bit of good,” Strathearn added, calling it irresponsible to staff as well.
Gordon reiterated his stance about the uproar made to his social media posts and spoke to the damage to the brand name of Midland caused through the parking system, eliciting a disagreeing head shake from Coun. Jim Downer.
“Some of us might not survive this tonight,” warned Gordon. “Depending how you vote tonight, this may be your last term in office.”
Coun. Cody Oschefski took Gordon to task over the rhetoric in a passionate outburst of praise for the town’s residents.
“There’s multiple other municipalities dealing with this exact same thing,” said Oschefski, “and if we weren’t in this pandemic, the anxiety level on this topic would not be where it is today. We wouldn’t be threatening councillors saying ‘you won’t be getting back in if you don’t vote for a pause on downtown parking.’How inappropriate is that?
“It’s not the people on Facebook that are damaging our brand. It’s the leaders of our community that aren’t standing up” as Midland councillors to say they’re doing the best they can, said Oschefski. “We’re Team Midland; remember that?”
Coun. Beth Prost supported the pause, in listening to residents and staff to work together.
“Sometimes I feel coming into a meeting I’m walking into a war zone,” Prost admitted, calling out the apparent factions. “We need to work better together.”
Gordon asked for a recorded vote. Strathearn, Ross, Main, Cunningham, Downer, and Oschefski voted nay; Gordon, McGinn and Prost voted yay. The motion was defeated.
Main noted that instructions on using the parking system could be found on the parking page of the Midland website.
Oschefski publicly offered to host an impromptu, free training session at the parking terminal in front of the Midland Public Library at 320 King Street starting at 10:30 a.m. on October 7.
Council meetings are held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.
