Portland council changes course

Portland has reversed on requiring reverse-angle parking and, at least for now, on annual golf cart registration.

Portland City Council met Monday and tabled a vote on an ordinance requiring golf cart drivers to annually or temporarily register their carts prior to driving them on city streets. It also chose to eliminate a requirement for reverse-angle parking on Main Street.

Both measures were approved by council on first reading at its Oct. 19 meeting.

Portland Mayor John Boggs said after the meeting that golf cart registration will be presented at a future council meeting. Ultimately, he said the city needs the revenue stream from the registration fee to fund a full-time code enforcement officer.

“I want to be fair about it, but I want to make sure we have registration and we have some income from it,” the mayor said.

Tom Zimmerman of the Vintage Motor Bike Club and Al Confer and Chris Englehardt of the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Association were among the dozen or so who attended the council meeting. It was the first in-person council meeting of the month after the Nov. 2 meeting was held via Zoom.

Zimmerman and Confer, who represent organizations that hold annual shows in Portland, voiced concerns over the proposed requirement for temporary registration of golf carts.

It was initially introduced as a $35 fee, the same as the proposed annual registration fee of $35 (though Boggs said at Monday’s meeting that keeping both rates the same was a mistake and temporary registration should cost less).

“Whatever the council decides, I need to let our membership know,” Englehardt said.

He added that Tri-State requires campers and show attendees to provide proof of insurance for any vehicle, including golf carts, driven on its Wayne Street grounds.

Some council members said they would like to see the ordinance proposed again next year while others proposed creating a flat rate for registration — temporary and annual — or not requiring registration at all for out-of-towners during the show, similar to how the city vacates other ordinances during the week of the annual Tri-State Antique Engine and Tractor Show in August.

“For as much economy they bring to the city … does it make sense to charge them?” said council member Janet Powers.

“I would like to get through this crisis before we get to another mandate we have to enforce,” said council president Kent McClung. “I think people are tired of being told what to do, and I would be happy with people wearing their masks and driving their golf carts without a sticker this year.”

As for reverse-angle parking, Boggs said he commends anyone who tried parking at a reverse-angle — which is still available to try as the parking spots are still painted along Main Street — but he will respect the wishes of the city residents, who overwhelmingly opposed reverse-angle parking, Boggs said.

He said reverse-angle parking spots along Main Street will be repainted within the next month by Milestone Contractors.

A measure that would have made it a traffic violation to not park at a reverse-angle was removed from an ordinance proposal by council Monday. The rest of ordinance was left unchanged from when it was approved on first reading in October.

The following changes are now in effect, among others:

•The base fine for a parking violation is now $25, raised from $2.

•Once the appropriate signs are installed, Water Street from Meridian Street (U.S. 27) to the east city limits and Meridian Street from Main Street to Second Street will become school speed zones

•The west side of Court Street between Main and Walnut streets is for official parking only while the east side is a 15-minute loading zone

The mayor recognized it will take time for these ordinances to be enforced and said warnings will be issued instead of fines until 2021.

Boggs said code enforcement is needed across the board and that new ordinances and existing ones such as blight prevention and other traffic ordinances can only be enforced with money earned from golf cart registration fees.

“Our intention is compliance, not to make money,” Boggs said.

In other business, council members Don Gillespie, Michele Brewster, Mike Aker, Matt Goldsworthy, Dave Golden, McClung and Powers:

•Amended the city employee handbook to extend the deadline to use 2020 vacation and holiday time from the end of the year to March 31.

•Learned Boggs participated along with other Hoosier mayors in a conference hosted by Aim, formerly known as the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, last week.

•Heard from Boggs that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has completed its chemical inspection of the former site of Sheller-Globe South at 510 S. Bridge St., a needed step so the city can sell it to John Goodhew of Goodhew’s Roofing and Metals for $52,500.