City gets A+ for responding to questions

LETTERS

On occasion I will send an email to Mayor Chris Spearman, asking specific questions regarding concerns I may have about expenses or changes that effect most citizen in this incredible city we alive in. I will be the first to criticize the mayor, city council and City administration when I see things I don’t like or agree with. I also know the mayor and city council take a lot of flak when citizens do not like what is happening in their city. I must, however, give an A+ to the mayor and City administration for always getting back to me, very promptly and with useful information, based on my questions.

Recently, I sent a request for information regarding our new downtown parking meter system. Like a lot of my fellow citizens, my initial impression was not very good but after my third attempt, I am good. Here are my questions and the response from the City: Dear Mr Orich, I am in receipt of your recent email enquiry with regards to our Parking Meter replacement project. Here are my responses to your questions:

The total cost of the new parking system in downtown Lethbridge? - We had an approved budget to $2 million and until June 26, 2018 a total of $1.42 million have been spent on the project. There are a couple invoices in process so the total amount spent on this project will be approximately $1.62 million.

What is the payback time on our investment and what savings we will see with this system? - We had presented evaluation of different system options at the project open houses and City Council (attached FYI). We estimate an annual net of approximately $624,000 so we can calculate a payback period of three years for the capital expenditure.

What is the cost of the removal? - $33,687 (included in the project budget)

Will the City have to paint parking lanes for each parking space and what will the annual cost of that be? – Yes, we are planning to get all the angled parking stalls painted in July/August 2018. A one-time cost of line painting is $7,640. In future lines will be painted as needed and I expect painting every three years; all the above costs are included in the total project budget.

Two-hour parking issue? This is being resolved within the current week; you will hear (a) public announcement soon. Ahmed Ali Transportation Engineering Manager City of Lethbridge

Barrie Orich Lethbridge