Committee not in favor of redesign that would add minimal slots
By Kellen Olshefski
SLN Staff
While parking is at a premium at Matheson Memorial Library, members of the City of Elkhorn Municipal Services and Utilities committee opted against a redesign of the lot last week that not only carried a hefty price tag, but only produced one additional parking stall.
The committee first took a look at the item at its Aug. 22 meeting, voting in favor of directing City Engineer Paul VanHenkelum to explore area for additional parking and refine the plan – adding two way traffic and a sidewalk between Wisconsin and Washington streets – based on the committee’s suggestions.
At that meeting, Matheson Memorial Library Director Lisa Selje said parking has been an ongoing issue, noting she thought the library has lost customers because of the issues and accidents in the parking lot because of poor design.
VanHenkelum said by relocating the book drop and dumpster to accommodate two-way traffic through the lot, the net loss and gain of parking lots would be pretty much neutral. Furthermore, he said the redesign of the parking lot would cost upwards of $75,000 to $100,000.
“This doesn’t add any net parking, it makes it function better, but it’s $100,000,” he said.
Alderman Hoss Rehberg said not only does the redesign not solve parking issues, but he doesn’t believe the current design is a major safety concern either, noting there’s only been two accidents in the parking lot within the past year.
“Two accidents in one year to spend $100,000 to gain one parking spot, I don’t know,” he said.
With angle parking proposed on Court Street along the south side of the library property at an estimated cost of $50,000, Rehberg said while he doesn’t necessarily agree with it, it would be a better option than redesigning the parking lots to the tune of $100,000.
Rehberg said with angle parking throughout Elkhorn’s downtown and families visiting numerous businesses with few incidents, putting stalls on Court Street wouldn’t be a major issue.
City Administrator Sam Tapson said while he doesn’t disagree with the comment about angle parking everywhere else, from a vehicular point-of-view, angle parking is a “bit of a nightmare.”
“It is difficult to exit stalls, in my opinion when I drive in the downtown area, and I’m not sure it’s a really good choice,” he said.
Rehberg said he wasn’t advocating for angle parking, however, if they’re looking to solve the parking problem, it’s a better option than the redesign.
“I reviewed this in great length today and besides acquiring land and coming up with a place to create more parking, this is the only option I see,” he said.
Rehberg noted he doesn’t have a problem with the redesign, however, he doesn’t feel it’s something the city should pay for.
