Island Park to implement new electronic parking system on Feb.1

In a bid to improve the fiscal health of Island Park, village officials are installing a new electronic parking monitoring system for all municipal parking fields, with visitors paying for parking through an app on their phone.

The cost for parking will be $1 an hour, paid through the ParkMobile app. The app will allow visitors to even extend their parking session. For drivers who don’t own a Smartphone, a phone number will be available for them to pay for parking.

The system, scheduled to begin as a pilot project on Feb. 1, represents a strategic approach by the village to test the waters and gauge resident feedback and help elevate the village’s bond rating.

Island Park Mayor Mike McGinty emphasized that the electronic parking system is a response to the village’s ongoing quest for additional revenue without unduly burdening residents. By using technology, Island Park aims to address parking challenges while simultaneously contributing to its fiscal health, he added.

“The village is always looking for more revenue,” Mayor McGinty said. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult, whether it’s this municipality or a township or county or the state. Expenditures keep rising, and it’s very hard for revenues to keep pace. Financial institutions need to see that we’re looking for new revenue sources to increase the fiscal health of the village or improve the fiscal health of the village, and this is one way in which to do it.”

The decision to implement the electronic parking system has been part of ongoing discussions among village board members. Currently residents are not required to pay for parking within municipal lots. McGinty emphasized that all decisions are made with careful consideration and a commitment to the wellbeing and the village’s fiscal health. Village projects an estimate to take in $50,000 to $100,00 in revenue from the new parking system.

During a Jan. 18 village board meeting, Island Park residents and business owners asked questions and expressed concerns about the new electronic parking system.

Resident Carol Burnett said she was worried that the parking lot of the Island Park Public Library, which is not a municipal lot, would be overrun with drivers parking there after the new system is implemented.

“What’s to keep people from parking there,” Burnett said at the board meeting. “I use that lot all the time, like many senior citizens, to go into the library to take exercise classes or other classes they have. People will go in there, so that is not fair to the people who use the library.”

Jessica Koenig, the library’s director, said she would keep an open mind about the new parking system and the potential impact on the library’s parking lot.

“I think we’ll just have to wait and see how it’s going to be,” Koenig said. “I think it’s a nice compromise that they’re still able to have the option to park on Long Beach Road.”

Currently, residents are allowed to park up to two hours on Long Beach Road.

Residents also expressed concerns about not being able to pay with cash under the new system.

Addressing potential concerns, Mayor McGinty acknowledged the possibility that residents might opt to do business elsewhere due to the new parking system. However, he stressed the new system would have minimal impact on users, and urged residents to consider the convenience and benefits of supporting local businesses.

“For veritable pennies, you’re coming into Island Park, taking advantage of a local business, which is a good thing for property values, for that local business to thrive, and for the village to thrive,” McGinty said, “versus a two-mile, three-mile drive into Oceanside, where you are going to have to pay for parking as well.”

One of the driving forces behind the project is to maintain the village’s excellent municipal bond rating, which currently stands at an “A.” An improved bond rating holds the promise of better interest rates on existing bonds, potentially providing the village with significant financial advantages, McGinty said.

The mayor also emphasized past decisions ensuring the wellbeing and fiscal viability of Island Park, including an initiative with PSEG to redo all electric distribution lines and transmission lines to make them more resistant to the weather.

“Island Park regularly lost electricity, and now there’s only been one point at which we lost power, and that was Dec. 23, two years back, and they had their power restored within an hour and a half,” McGinty said. “That pilot project worked. We’ve looked into other things, we’ve looked at the possibilities, and we’re trying to make Island Park a better place.”