Joliet OKs automated system for Ottawa Street parking deck

The city of Joliet has approved automation to replace attendants at its Ottawa Street parking deck.

“We still have someone in that deck taking dollars from people,” City Manager Beth Beatty told the City Council on Tuesday. “It’s really time to upgrade the deck.”

Beatty’s comments came as a couple of council members questioned the $267,000 contract with FlashParking Inc. for a new “parking access and revenue control system.”

Automating the Ottawa Street deck is one more step by the city as it changes parking downtown.

The city is moving toward free parking on downtown streets, although the date on which parking meters will be eliminated has not yet been announced.

“It’s a little more complicated than just saying we have free parking,” Public Works Director Greg Ruddy told the council.

The city plans to set a two-hour limit on free parking. That means signs will have to be posted, Ruddy said. The city also will have to put into place a “mobile license plate reader” it decided to purchase in August to check on how long vehicles park. Motorists parked for more than two hours would be cited.

“We still have someone in that deck taking dollars from people. It’s really time to upgrade the deck.”

—   Beth Beatty, Joliet city manager

Ruddy previously said free street parking should be in place before the end of the year.

The new automation system at the Ottawa Street parking deck should be in place by early 2025, according to a news release put out by the city after the council approved the system.

The council voted 7-2 for the FlashParking contract.

Council member Larry Hug voted no, saying more consideration should have been given to another bidder who offered a system that cost $95,000 less, but which city officials said did not offer all the features of the FlashParking system.

Council member Joe Clement also voted no, saying the city should not even be in the parking deck business.

The city in 2021 sold its one other parking deck on Scott Street to real estate developer John Bays, who replaced parking attendants with an automated payment system.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy said he favored the FlashParking contract over a lower-priced system that city officials said used older technology.

D’Arcy said the city should “have the newest and the best to move forward in this process.”

The council issued a news release within minutes after the council vote, extolling the benefits of the FlashParking system.

“Technology upgrades include the installation of new automated entrance and exit gates, and license plate-reading cameras to allow monthly permit and prepaid reservations to enter and exit the garage automatically without pulling a ticket or utilizing a pay station,” according to the release.

The staff memo attached to the council meeting agenda said there were five proposals but did not name the other bidders or their proposed contract prices. It only provided details on the FlashParking bid.