Paid Parking Update February 9th
On Thursday Feb 5th, Kyna Fletcher (Executive director of Vancouver Phoenix Gymnastics Club) and I met with Jordan Lypkie the city’s project lead for the paid parking pilot program. We advocated very strongly on behalf of our position that members of PIBC and VPG ought to be treated in the same manner as patrons of the Hillcrest Community Centre. We all occupy city buildings, we all provide programming that enhances the health and well-being of Vancouverites, we all provide a public good through what we do. In addition, we pointed out that the decision to exclude us would hit our members harder than many who use the community centre – seniors on fixed incomes and young families are not well placed to pay for parking.
Jordan listened to our concerns and acknowledged that consulting us prior to launching the program ought to have happened. He also took our concerns about the impact of paid parking on our members and on the viability of our clubs seriously. But it was evident that it was unlikely that we would get the city to include us in the 3 hrs free parking at this stage of the roll out of the pilot project.
Jordan confirmed this in an email he sent to us on Friday Feb 6th, which acknowledged the points we made yet said, “we are compelled to manage parking at this busy site by limiting the extent of free parking to what was determined for Feb. 17th.” What this means is that as of Feb 17th members will be required to pay for parking.
However, all is not lost. Jordan goes on to say “The pilot is designed to gather information on use, impacts to services and allow for adjustment if necessary to ensure access to recreation. Let’s keep in touch on how it plays out in the next few months.” So, there may still be a chance to convince the city that PIBC and VPG members ought to be accorded the same treatment as community centre patrons. The board will continue to advocate on our behalf, and I would ask you to continue to let the Mayor, the Park Board chair and 311 know that we believe we are being treated inequitably and ask them to reconsider this decision.
In response to my argument that we needed enough subsidized parking passes for our volunteers so that we could keep our club up and running, the city has decided to allocate 40 passes per month to us. The board met on Sunday Feb 8th where we discussed this situation and passed this motion:
Passes be allocated monthly according to the following priority:
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member volunteering as a league convener and/or a monitor (for at least one slot per week for the month)
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board members
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members volunteering as newsletter editor, Bowlr Admin
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if passes remain, allocations to members engaging in 10 hours or more of volunteer work for the club (school groups, kitchen, tournaments as officials, markers, kitchen staff, organizing committee etc.)
Passes will be allocated monthly in the priority listed above and the procedure that will be used is as follows:
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Parking pass coordinator receives information from the directors responsible (Games andMembership mainly) about the members who are volunteering that month. This will allow us to streamline the process. However, for Feb we will go with the list of volunteers that we have already compiled, so if you’ve already emailed me about wanting a pass and what volunteer role you are currently doing, there is no need to email me again. If you believe you should be considered for a pass based on one of the above categories and haven’t emailed me yet, please send me an email at president@pacificindoor.com
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Parking pass coordinator enters the relevant information into the Easy Park Portal and providesthe treasurer with the list of members who will have passes that month.
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Treasurer pays Easy Pass and invoices members for their passes
For February and March, I will be the parking pass coordinator and am grateful that Anil Khan will help me as we set this system up. The new board which will be elected at the AGM on March 8th will determine who the parking pass coordinator will be going forward.
Some important points:
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parking passes will cost members approximately $40 per month – passes for February will be pro-rated since they start on Feb 17th
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parking passes are not transferable – they will be linked to your car license plate so you will not be given a physical pass
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the expectation is that a member who has been allocated a pass will undertake their volunteer role/task for that full month. If you know you will be a way for a portion of a month, it would be better to inform Eric or Lisa of that so that we can find someone else who will cover the full month since passes aren’t transferable
I’m grateful that we got enough parking passes to allow us to keep our doors open and I’m also grateful to the many volunteers who show up from early in the morning until late in the evening to keep our club open and to those who work behind the scenes doing the many tasks required to keep the club running. I am sorry I couldn’t get any movement from the city on providing all members with the 3 hrs of free parking. We’ll keep try!!
Mary Ann Gilles
President