Lansford Borough Council discussed parking enforcement and towing, especially during the winter months, during a lengthy committee meeting last week.

No parking signs are up in the unit block of East Water Street, and also on Sharpe Street between Kline Alley and the 200-, 300- and 400-block of West Kline from Nov. 1 to April 1, Councilman Joe Butrie said.

Vehicles continue to park on these streets, in violation, and do get ticketed, but they don’t get moved off the street, Butrie said.

“We got to work together with our police department and get these vehicles moved,” he said. “We got to step that up. You get ticketed. You don’t move. You get towed.”

Butrie has advised borough streets workers not to go down these narrow streets if they don’t feel safe doing so, he said.

If a borough worker hits a parked vehicle, it raises the borough’s insurance rates and it counts against the driver’s commercial driver’s license, Butrie said.

Extra parking

Resident Robert Gaughan pointed out issues with the borough’s parking lot next to the former Kiddie Kloes building. It’s sinking as much as 18 inches in places, which could be a backfill issue or subsidence due to a leaking combined sewer line, he said.

His home sits adjacent to the lot, which has vehicles parked there for years, as well as a collection of lawn mowers and trailers. There was a 30-day maximum for parking in that lot, the former councilman said.

Gaughan reminded council that the borough originally sought the lot as additional winter parking for residents on Kline Alley, or for residents to move their cars when the borough limits street parking.

“That’s fallen by the wayside,” he said.

Resident Denise Leibensperger felt that anyone who parks there should help pay to maintain the lot through permits.

Council President Bruce Markovich disagreed with singling out residents to pay to park in the lot.

“We can’t even get people to pay to park at a meter, and you want people to pay to park in a lot?” Butrie said to Leibensperger in a raised voice. “It ain’t going to happen.”

Paid parking failed in the 1970s, Gaughan said.

Markovich said they need to get signs up in the lot, as Butrie had suggested, and vehicles that aren’t licensed and inspected should be ticketed and towed.

Oversized parking

Resident Erin Soberick questioned rules for the oversized parking lot along Dock Street near the Sports Zoo.

It is permit parking only, Markovich said, and no one should be using it during the winter months. Butrie added that oversized vehicles should be at the Ashton Park, or pool parking lot, now.

Butrie also said it’s only for 18-wheelers. Police Chief Kyle Woodward said that all the vehicle down there now, except one, are registered with the borough to park there and oversized permits have been issued for vehicles other than 18-wheelers.

The signs at the lot also don’t say anything about towing, the chief said, and permit holders should get a reminder that they have to move their vehicles to another lot in the winter to avoid confusion.

The borough needs a policy, procedure or game plan on how to handle these transitions, Woodward said. Even if the borough wants vehicles towed, it’s not always that simple, he said.

Not all towing services are capable of dealing with large or oversized vehicles, and they’re not always available or able to tow a number of vehicles at one time off the street, Woodward said.

There are also issues with parking at Ashton Park, or the pool parking lot, with the large vehicles, he said. The borough needs to designate how oversized vehicle are to park, possibly putting up signs and assign spaces, Woodward said.

“What’s going to happen if they park and nobody can access that?” he asked. “You can’t tow them, you can’t ticket them. There’s nothing against that. We have to brainstorm.”

Butrie again said that they all have to work together, and they should re-evaluate the applications for oversized parking permits.

Garbage parking

Markovich pointed out that the borough got a bill from Tamaqua Transfer because a driver couldn’t get down one of the alleys they’re debating parking on.

“Their men had to carry the garbage down to the garbage truck,” he said. “So, we got a bill for $200 and apparently, this is going to be their policy from this point on.

“So, it’s imperative that we have to keep these alleys clear.”

Butrie pointed out that there is no parking on these narrow streets on Fridays from 1 a.m. to 3 p.m. to facilitate garbage pickup and other deliveries year round.

However, people move their vehicles back as soon as the garbage truck goes through and other trucks can’t make deliveries, because the “no parking” isn’t enforced until 3 p.m., resident Tom Vadyak said.

Vadyak also pointed out on the garbage truck route, it depends on the driver whether they’ll go down the alleys.

Residents and council also debated ticketing vehicles when the police force is undermanned.

Markovich said that years ago, ticketing vehicles in violation of parking rules was part of the job.

Woodward also noted that it’s costing the borough more money to pursue the tickets than what they collect on fine, if someone doesn’t immediately pay.

A certified letter is $10 plus a minimum of two hours for an officer in court, and the borough has spent $100 or more to collect a $25 fine, he said.

The chief suggested subcontracting out the parking enforcement. He pointed out that a local company towed a vehicle for the Veterans Day parade and the residents stole the car back without paying the tow.

“There’s a lot of logistics,” Woodward said, but credited council with discussing the issues openly. “What we’re having is a good discussion, except for a little screaming at first.

“But besides that, we all have got to work together. Hire someone to go up these roads. I don’t have the answer right now, because (the police department) is running on three people.”

Policing isn’t the same as it was years ago, Woodward said. There is more paperwork and accounting, and officers are answering calls they never did, like medical calls to administer Narcan to reverse an opioid overdose to save someone’s life, he said.

“It’s a totally different ballgame,” Woodward said.

Code/parking

Code officer Shane Monk said that he wouldn’t mind handling the early morning parking enforcement or ticketing. He came to work early to catch those who were putting out garbage and not paying, he said.

Council members wanted to check if Monk could do that type of enforcement, or if it had to be the police. Woodward believed that council could designate someone because it falls under borough ordinance.

The chief likened it to tow-away zones in town, in which an officer doesn’t have to be called, only someone designated by the borough to call to have a vehicle towed.

Council planned on checking with the solicitor.