Aug 11, 2014 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – Waynesburg Borough Council adopted a new ordinance Monday increasing the fines for parking violations.

Council discussed increasing the parking fines for several months. The fines have not changed since 1986, and council felt the existing fines were insufficient to discourage violations.

In May, council adopted an ordinance increasing the fines, but after learning the ordinance had not been advertised the required 60 days and the proposed fines were incompatible with the borough’s computer invoicing program, nullified the ordinance.

The ordinance adopted Monday, which will take effect in 30 days, increases the fine for violating the two-hour parking limit in the unmetered area of the business district from $5 to $20.

Motorists who violate the two-hour limit and are ticketed will be ticketed again every two hours if the vehicle is not moved. The two-hour limit will only be enforced from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The ordinance also increases all other fines that previously were $5 to $20. This includes fines for parking too far from the curb, failing to park within the marked parking space, parking on the sidewalk, parking facing traffic, parking in a permitted area and parking on streets scheduled for street sweeping.

The fines for parking in a loading zone and in a no parking zone will be $40; and parking in a handicapped zone and in front of a fire hydrant will each be $50. Meter violations will increase from $5 to $10.

All fines must be paid within five days of the date they were issued. Failure to pay within five days will result in a doubling of the fine.

No comments were received from the public regarding the ordinance. Council adopted it without discussion.

For some violations, fines included in the new ordinance were higher than those that were proposed in the ordinance adopted in May.

In the ordinance adopted in May, the current $5 fines for violations, including parking too far from the curb, failing to park within the marked space and parking on the sidewalk or curb, were to increase to $10 and meter violation were to remained unchanged.

In other business, council discussed a time schedule for moving ahead with the borough’s sewage improvement project with engineer Bob Dengler of Gannett Fleming.

Gannett Fleming was hired by council to review the work of the borough’s previous engineer, Fayette Engineers, and to come up with additional options for the borough in regard to the system. In June, council voted to notify Fayette Engineering that it was to halt work on the project.

The borough is required by the state Department of Environmental Protection to develop a plan to address overflows in the borough sewer system caused by stormwater infiltration into borough sewer lines.

The DEP required the borough to address the issue by December 2015.

Dengler said the firm will continue to monitor flow from flow meters installed in the borough sewer lines for the next three months and then develop a new revised long term control plan for the system, which it hopes DEP will approve next fall.

Gannett Fleming earlier met with DEP to discuss the borough’s plan. The borough will probably have to seek an extension on the December 2015 deadline, Dengler said later. He said, however, he believed DEP would approve an extension.

Council voted to have an engineering consulting company complete additional flow testing at four sites in the system for three months at a cost of $12,000, The use of company, which has experience in such work, was recommended by Gannett Fleming.

Council voted to accept the resignation of Eric Rush, who has represented Ward III. Rush is moving to Ward II. He asked to be appointed to a vacant seat on the Waynesburg Zoning Hearing Board, which council approved.

Council discussed what the borough should do with the building at the Midtown Auto lot. Council held a special meeting last week to consider putting a new roof on the building but made no decision.

Councilman Dar Fitch spoke in favor of replacing the roof. He said the building has a strong foundation and once a new roof is constructed the building could be rented to others as it is.

Councilman Mark Fischer said he didn’t believe the borough needed another building to maintain and if it were rented to others would require the borough to provide parking to the tenant, taking away from the number of spaces now leased in the lot.

Fitch made a motion to replace the roof, which failed. Fischer made a motion to tear the building down and use the space for additional permit parking, which also failed.

Other members of council said they would like more information on the borough’s needs as well as what can be done with the lot, which reportedly has buried gas tanks and restrictions on its use.