Parking on Broadway and West Broadway in Jim Thorpe can be a difficult task, and for several residents, it just got more expensive.

Borough council adopted an updated fee schedule Thursday night that raised the monthly rate for a spot in one of two parking lots it owns from $30 to $60.The rate increase, borough manager Maureen Sterner said, is to cover the cost of plowing and other maintenance items on the lots."Vince Yaich, the borough's public works manager, and I sat down, and this is the number we came up with that we thought would cover the work that is done there," she said.The lots owned by the borough are across from the old Marion Hose Company 1 on Broadway and by the Old Jail Museum on West Broadway.The municipality leases spots to residents."I think we should get rid of the lots," said Councilman Jay Miller, the lone council member to vote against the rate increase. "That's my personal opinion. They are a pain in the rear and we don't need them. Why is the borough in the parking business unless we put up a big deck and have a parking authority?"West Broadway resident Mike Batovsky told council Thursday if it does sell the lots, it needs to offer suggestions as to where residents can park.A couple of years ago, two spots were taken away in front of the Old Jail Museum, he said, because they were too dangerous."Now tour buses park there," Batovsky said. "We do need parking in our neighborhood. If you sell that lot to someone, now it becomes commercial."As for the rate change, Batovsky said he doesn't have a problem with it if the borough invests the money in the lots."Put something into it," he said. "They look like hell. You all live in nice places. We live in the slums."Several meeting attendees suggested council try to sell the lots to the group of residents who use the parking spaces."If you sell it to a commercial entity, people are screwed out of parking spots, and we don't want that," said Councilman John McGuire.While the rate increase was passed and will go into effect, council President Greg Strubinger said the ownership status of the lots would be discussed further at a future borough workshop.