Pleasant parking tabled (2/17/04)

Portland City Council members will continue to discuss parking problems on Pleasant Street after the matter was tabled Monday.

Council members voted 7 to 1 to table the issue until the March 1 meeting to allow additional time for city residents to voice concerns about eliminating parking on Pleasant Street.

Council president Glen Bryant cast the lone opposing vote saying that he "wanted to bring (the issue) to a vote to see where everyone stood."

Bryant told the council at Monday’s meeting, he recently talked to residents living on the west side of the 100 block of Pleasant Street between Votaw and North streets.

"Most of the people I talked to were not in favor of (eliminating parking)," Bryant said, adding that those residents had limited off-street parking behind their homes.

Councilman Bill Gibson said he also had several calls concerning this issue.

"(The callers) were definitely not in favor (of eliminating parking on Pleasant Street),” Gibson said. He added that possibly moving the current no parking zone back about 50 or 75 feet from Votaw Street would allow vehicles more room to turn onto Pleasant Street and could alleviate some of the problem.

Mayor Bruce Hosier said that he received four calls on this issue, with two callers in favor of eliminating parking, one caller neutral and one caller opposing the change.

Portland Fire Chief Mike Thomas told the council at its Feb. 3 meeting that the fire department faces two problems when driving fire trucks on Pleasant Street. The street is narrow, and it’s difficult for them to maneuver the blind turn onto Pleasant Street from Votaw Street.

He added that firefighters often travel from Franklin Street, where the fire station is located, onto Creagor Avenue to Votaw Street rather than turn onto Pleasant Street.

“We need to figure out what our bottom line is,” Councilwoman Linda Kennedy said. “I personally feel that our bottom line is the emergency vehicles.”

Bryant added, “I feel that our main concern is our citizens.”

Kennedy added that she agreed with Bryant.

Also Monday, the council unanimously denied a request from the Portland Eagles Lodge, 320 N. Meridian St., to create a disabled parking spot on the 100 block of West Arch Street.

In other business, council members approved expanding the city's participation in the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund to include Portland Police Chief Robert Sours.

City clerk-treasurer Barbara Blackford said Monday that the police chief's pension is normally covered by the police and fire department’s pension fund. Sours, a former retired city police officer, is currently drawing retirement money from that pension fund.

Council members approved Monday including Sours in the city’s PERF, Blackford said, adding that the change will be effective in July due to state regulations.

Also, Hosier expressed his excitement following the John Jay Center for Learning receiving the deed to the Weiler Building located in downtown Portland.

"I am very excited, and I give credit to everyone involved in that," he said.[[In-content Ad]]