Close to $300,000 collected by Northern Bruce Peninsula’s paid parking program last year is going to be put towards upgrading public washrooms in Tobermory.
Council recently approved the purchase of washroom units that were proposed by the Tobermory Chamber of Commerce to be financed by the Paid Parking Reserve, costing around $151,500.
Northern Bruce Peninsula started its paid parking program in 2017, installing 10 parking meters in the Tobermory area. The municipality installed an additional two meters in 2018.
Aside from the new public washroom units, Northern Bruce Peninsula staff are also in the process of establishing expenses that will be attributed to paid parking in all areas of the municipality.
Northern Bruce Peninsula CAO Peggy Van Mierlo-West says the funds they receive from the paid parking go towards infrastructure improvements and by-law enforcement, “what we do is we work with the Chamber of Commerce and they provide us with some recommendations of what infrastructure improvements are required in the area.”
According to Mierlo-West, this year the chamber informed council about the need for improved washroom facilities, to which the CAO says they “are looking at doing that this year.”
Last year, there were discussions about improved areas for picnics, but Mierlo-West says council deferred those recommendations: “We believe that there is a little bit more discussion with the chamber regarding that.”
None of these expenses will have any implications on the current budget.
In 2020, the municipality was able to bring in over $60,000 from parking tickets, over $290,000 from paid parking, and almost $3,000 from parking passes.
The report also notes some of the highest collection areas between July and October being the Bay and Brock parking meters having collected over $61 thousand.
