Paid parking will remain until mid-November under contract termination terms

By Mike Lednovich/Editor

FERNANDINA BEACH - The City’s paid parking program is expected to remain in operation until mid-November because the city’s contract with its parking vendor requires 90 days’ notice before cancellation, City Manager Sarah Campbell told city commissioners.

Campbell outlined the termination process at the end of Wednesday’s City Commission meeting, after commissioners voted 4-1 to end the controversial downtown parking program as soon as possible.

“We didn’t get into the termination clause of the one parking agreement in our discussion earlier, but I do have it handy,” Campbell said during her city manager’s report.

“The city is required to give 90-day notice of cancellation, so we will provide that notice to the vendor tomorrow, but that puts us at about a mid-November termination of the program as a whole,” she said.

The commission’s vote followed Tuesday’s referendum election, in which approximately 75% of voters supported an ordinance restricting the city’s ability to operate paid parking without voter approval.

Although commissioners directed Campbell to terminate the program, the city must comply with its existing contractual obligations before parking fees and enforcement can end.

Campbell said the termination will also require the city to cover several contract-related expenses. Those costs will be paid from the city’s Parking Special Revenue Fund rather than its general operating fund.

The city must pay 90 days of the parking manager’s salary, capped at $16,250, and 30 days of the parking enforcement officer’s salary, capped at $16,900.

The combined maximum cost for those two obligations is $33,150.

The city will also owe prorated expenses for parking signs. Campbell did not provide an estimate for that cost, and a city staff member said the signs were covered under a two-year arrangement.

“We have some prorated costs related to signage, but again, because that fund was accruing, we would pay for those expenses out of that fund,” Campbell said.

Paid parking operations, enforcement and revenue collection are expected to continue during the 90-day notice period.

“I assume that we’ll continue to have revenue for the next 90 days at a minimum,” Campbell said.

The precise termination date will depend on when the vendor receives the city’s formal cancellation notice. Campbell said the notice would be delivered Thursday, placing the anticipated end of paid parking around the middle of November.