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Oct 31, 2024

Columbia parking meter enforcement restarts with warnings | Tn Exchange | newspressnow.com

Public Works began doing rounds on Wednesday and placed warning tickets on vehicles parked without paying. COLUMBIA — Columbia Public Works is gradually ramping up its parking enforcement after the

Public Works began doing rounds on Wednesday and placed warning tickets on vehicles parked without paying.

COLUMBIA — Columbia Public Works is gradually ramping up its parking enforcement after the Columbia City Council shifted meter enforcement to the department in the budget for the 2025 fiscal year.

Public Works began doing rounds on Wednesday and placed warning tickets on vehicles parked without paying.

The Columbia Police Department was responsible for parking enforcement before the shift in enforcement at the beginning of October.

"Now, you may see a ticket on your window, but it will be a warning citation," Public Works spokesperson John Ogan said. "The reason for that is we want to give drivers a lot of notice that parking enforcement agents are coming back."

Ogan also said Public Works is starting with warning tickets to give city services time to catch up.

"We don't want to inundate the municipal court with a lot of tickets all at once," Ogan said. "We want drivers to get used to it. We want our enforcement agent to get used to it and trained."

The city has a parking enforcement agent in training, who worked with the parking manager to issue warning tickets Wednesday. Public Works plans to hire up to three more enforcement agents for a total of four.

Ogan said parking enforcement is important.

"It ensures parking is available for everyone," Ogan said.

Carol Mckeen is a Columbia resident who typically parks her vehicle in a parking garage or near a meter.

"I do pay because I don't want a ticket," Mckeen said. "Most people that I know, when they park downtown, they park in the parking garage, which you do have to pay to get out."

Parking meters are used to help rotate parking so others can park and visit businesses.

Parking is enforced Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the downtown parking garages and Monday through Saturday at parking meters.

Originally published on komu.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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