As Jim Thorpe Borough gets closer to replacing its 77 parking meters downtown with seven kiosk stations, council continues to fine tune the project.

Thursday night, council gave Police Chief Joe Schatz the go-ahead to continue the kiosk ordering process with Parkeon, after discussion about currency the machines would accept and the maximum hours drivers would be allowed to occupy a spot.Schatz said he checked with New Hope Borough, which recently installed kiosks of its own, and it takes quarters, $1 bills, $5 bills, $10 bills and $20 bills.Council, however, suggested it may not take coins, as the machines will accept credit and debit card payments.Motorists are currently allowed a maximum payment of two hours at a parking meter downtown, but that may increase to four hours with the kiosk installation.“Anything more than that and I think people are going to be camped out there all day,” Councilman Jay Miller said.Other council members agreed, noting the need to turn over customers for area businesses.After parking in a downtown spot, drivers will be directed to one of the seven kiosks, where they will pay for their time.With council’s approval, the Whoosh mobile app will allow for added time via a smartphone.“I think it’s nice if someone is on the train or somewhere downtown that they can add time from their phone and not to have to worry about running back to a meter,” Schatz said.Jim Thorpe received a $67,449 grant, funded by state gaming money, to help pay for the kiosks. The borough will cover the remaining $12,000.“From the time we fine tune everything and get them ordered, we are about 10 weeks out until we would receive them,” Schatz said.By the time training and installation takes place, it would be after this year’s Fall Foliage Festival.“This is a huge change and it’s going to take some getting used to by everyone,” Mayor Michael Sofranko said. “In the end, however, this will be much more user friendly. We appreciate the patience of council along the way in helping us get these kiosks customized.”