Staff writer
MONONGAHELA - The centrally located Monongahela Manor is close to businesses, but that proximity comes at a cost: Parking is at a premium at the Washington County Housing Authority's high-rise.
Monongahela Manor may have 76 apartments, but it has just 42 parking spaces.
Residents and the housing authority board, in a powwow last week, tried to come up with some solutions, but expansion of the parking area two years ago didn't alleviate the clogged lot.
Parking stickers are issued only to residents, said Stephen Hall, housing authority executive director.
"I think all residents should be sent a notice to tell their relatives and friends that they are not allowed to park in our lot," Emmeline Trunzo told the board.
The housing authority tried a gated lot at its high-rise in California, but someone disabled the mechanism, so it's unlikely to try that option in Monongahela.
The lot is also short on parking spaces for the disabled, said Gary Roule, asking that more spaces be allotted for handicapped parking. That would actually decrease the number of spaces in the already-cramped lot because spaces for the handicapped are wider than regular parking spaces, Hall said.
Another disabled resident claimed he fears he'll be run over as he walks through the lot.
Although free parking is available between the high-rise and the river from which the complex takes its name, tracks used by long freight trains bisect the two. A motorist who parks on the other side of the tracks runs the risk of not being able to reach her vehicle as trains are passing.
Moving on to another topic, a resident also asked that the building's security system be updated to include a camera allowing apartment-dwellers to see who's pressing the buzzer for admittance.
Hall promised to contact the local cable company about adding the security feature.