By Cynthia Williamson, Special Writer
LAMBERTVILLE — Quarters would no longer be a commodity in Lambertville under a plan to upgrade parking meters throughout the downtown business district.
The City Council introduced an ordinance at its meeting March 21 that would authorize spending $60,000 to replace the current meter heads with ones that are digital.
A public hearing on the ordinance is set for April 18 at the Justice Complex, starting at 7 p.m.
If the spending proposal is adopted, the digital meters also would accept nickels and dimes.
Currently, parking meters are designed to accept only quarters.
”They’re much more user-friendly,” Mayor David Del Vecchio said.
The City Council may have to amend its parking ordinance to reflect the use of nickels and dimes, Mayor Del Vecchio said.
Currently, a quarter will buy 20 minutes of parking time.
The hours of operation would not change. With the exception of most holidays, meters are in effect Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
”Our meters are old and they’re unsightly,” Mayor Del Vecchio said.
”Rather than burden our normal operating budget with fixing them as they need repair, it made more sense to upgrade the meters at one time,” the mayor added.
The proposal also includes money to purchase a new cart to be used to collect money from meters.
The only drawback to the digital meters is that they require a nine-volt battery to operate. The batteries have to be replaced annually, Public Works Director Paul Cronce said.
The proposal calls for placing two meters on a single pole; thereby, reducing the number of poles along streets. There are currently over 300 parking meters in the city.
The metal cylinders also would be encased in a sleeve or covering that would be more in step with the city’s historic character.
”What makes it nice is that they’ll be in-line with New Hope,” Mr. Cronce noted. “Not only will they function better, but they’ll look better, too.”
Lambertville Chamber of Commerce Vice President and business owner Amy Coss said she had written a letter to City Council requesting that it replace meters that had been broken or damaged during the snowstorms. She also was hoping they would “look into the new technology out there,” such as digital meters.

