Cedarhurst has parking meter fee rescinded

Since February of 2016 Cedarhurst residents have been able to use Sentry Mobile, a mobile app, to pay for and monitor the village’s parking meters.

On Aug. 14, app users received an email from Municipal Parking Systems, the company that installed and maintains the meters, that announced a 30-cent fee on all transactions would be instituted on Sept. 1. Then on Aug. 15, another email was sent to disregard the first message.

The additional 30-cent fee incited an immediate backlash from app users. At Monday’s village board meeting, Mayor Benjamin Weinstock said the board was unaware of this fee before it was announced. “We never approved it, we have no intention of approving it,” he said.

Village officials said that they contacted Municipal Parking Systems about the fee, and had the Minneapolis-based company rescind the additional 30 cents. The first email reported that the fee was going to be implemented because the program’s Beta testing had been completed.