Borough Police Recommend New Parking Marchines

The Chatham Borough Council discussed the possible purchase of new machines to purchase parking machines for the .

The parking meters are 5 years old and are owned by the borough, according to Officer Robert Sweetin, and he said "they've come a long way since then." No, Sweetin said, the time has come to replace them.

As the borough's Traffic Safety Officer and the liaison to the parking task force, Sweetin fields complaints from commuters who use the train and checks the machines. He told the council the time has come to update the machines.

"We're woefully behind," Sweetin said. "The technologies have changed."

Current machines can take up to 45 seconds to process a credit card payment for the parking machine. Sweetin proposed replacing two of the five machines with new machines that can process a credit card payment in 8 to 12 seconds.

Sweetin also said the machines will be able to accept phone-in payments from commuters in 2012, for a slightly elevated fee. Sweetin said the fee amount could be in the neighborhood of 35 to 45 cents, but the exact fee amount is currently undetermined. The new machines would also continue to function even when cash gets jammed, which often happens when users put in wet or worn bills.

Sweetin said the improved turn-around time and the ability to pay by telephone will have a drastic impact on morning commuters.

The machines, Sweetin said, are available from the same vendor the borough bought the current machines from 5 years ago for $10,250 each. They come with a 1-year warranty on parts and Sweetin said they would entail "no additional costs in what we have for the back office, the way we communicate with ... the machines."

The funds for the machines is available, according to Council Member Jim Collander, and would bring to Chatham the kinds of machines now found in towns like Hoboken.

Sweetin also proposed taking the two remaining machines and making them compatible with smartcard payments. Residents would still need to swipe their cards each day.

"I think you'll be quite satisfied," Sweetin said. "It's like anything, though, when you're working with a machine ... but it's far better to work with something when it's already working better for the public."

The council agreed that two new machines and three smartcard machines would be best, but no formal action has yet been taken to approve the purchase.