The recent decision by the Tamaqua Police Department to not refund parking tickets if the meters were found to be nonfunctional does not sit well with many residents, some of whom showed up at Tuesday night's council meeting to express their concerns.

Council, however, had also done its homework. Council President David Mace said he reviewed the log the borough keeps tracking each meter and what repairs it needed.Over the past 15 months, Mace said there were approximately 250 entries. Out of those, 62 of the repairs were due to "obvious, intentional vandalism."Mace said this included the meters being jammed with items such as gum, pieces of wood, slugs and other nonmonetary items. An additional 45 repairs are what Mace called "probable" vandalism, combining for a total 40 percent of the repairs needed being related to vandal activity. Mace and Police Chief Rick Weaver said this number has been on the rise.Mace did say that 64 of the repairs involved changing a battery, something that is required with the electronic meters that have been installed recently in the borough, and is expected as part of normal wear and tear. Mace said the borough does inspect and repair the meters regularly, but relies on public reports to know if there is a problem sooner. Borough manager Kevin Steigerwalt said the borough has a dedicated water and parking meter resource who repairs meters on a daily basis, if needed.Weaver also clarified his statement and said that if meters are determined to be out of service due to a normal maintenance issue, that tickets would be refunded.The measure of not refunding tickets where vandalism is obvious or suspected is meant as a deterrent to those who intentionally vandalize meters to get out of paying for parking.Resident and activist Andrew Leibenguth said he had performed his own survey and found 16 meters out of the borough's over 200 meters to be nonfunctional. "I feel like this decision is an attack against the town, it hurts innocent victims," he said.Resident Rich Shupp said he had recently parked downtown and put a quarter in the meter, assuming he would get the 1 hour of parking that the meter advertises per quarter.However, the meter only allotted him 12 minutes, suggesting that even some meters that appear operational may not be working correctly."This is going to leave a bad taste in people's mouths," he said.Resident Beth Kester said she lives in a metered area and is on a fixed income."If I put money in the meter and it didn't work, I wouldn't be able to afford ticket after ticket," she said.Councilwoman Kerry Dowd-Lasky made the statement that "vandalism hurts innocent victims, too."Instead of being upset with the police for enforcing the tickets, residents should be more upset that vandalism is on the rise in the downtown area," she added.Councilman Micah Gursky said the parking meter enforcement is a subject that comes up frequently and council is always willing to discuss alternatives to meters.However, at this point, other parking systems, such as chalking tires, could require more extensive and more expensive enforcement or would not provide a system that encourages turnover of parking spaces in the business areas.At this time, the chief's in-house policy of not refunding tickets in cases where vandalism is determined or suspected will continue to be enforced.Residents are encouraged to notify the borough if they find a faulty meter and are warned that if they park at a nonfunctional meter, they do run the risk of being ticketed.