Motorists visiting Jim Thorpe will soon pay a little more to park in the Carbon County Parking Lot on weekends.

On Thursday, the Carbon County Commissioners voted to advertise an updated ordinance that would increase parking fees from $12 for all day parking to $15 for all day in county-owned lots. RV and trailer fees will also increase from $25 to $30. Weekday rates of $8 for the day will remain the same.

Commissioners’ Chairman Michael Sofranko said that the increase still puts parking in Jim Thorpe as one of the cheapest around when it comes to tourist destinations.

He added that one other change in the ordinance is sign postings that will limit the county’s liability in the event something is taken from a vehicle or forgotten.

The commissioners noted that the increase will help provide some extra funds to complete projects without having to go back to the taxpayer.

Sofranko said that there are some liability issues along sidewalks within Josiah White Park and in front of county office buildings and around the train station that will be addressed using the extra revenue.

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein pointed out that there have been three lawsuits recently regarding someone falling on a county-owned sidewalk due to it being too narrow or other obstacles.

Sofranko said that in addition to sidewalks, the parking revenue this will generate is used to pave parking lots at Mauch Chunk Lake Park as well as in the county-owned areas, cover projects within Josiah White Park and the train station and offset salaries for maintenance department when they are doing repairs or projects for the parking lot.

“Carbon County taxpayers pay enough,” he said. “Not every taxpayers uses it (Jim Thorpe), so this is a way to get money to help do those repairs and upgrades ... but you’re not going to see it on the real estate tax.”

Carbon County’s parking lot, located in the center of downtown Jim Thorpe, is one of the few lots to park in when visiting the borough.

The approximate 400-space lot routinely fills to capacity on weekends during events and in the summer.

The ordinance now has to be advertised for 30 days before official action can be taken place.

The commissioners expect the increase to be adopted and put into effect by the summer.

Electric charging stations

In other parking matters, the commissioners said that there have been discussions regarding electric vehicle charging stations, however no action on moving forward with installing any in the lot has reached the board’s meetings.

When asked about adding charging stations now that people are driving electric vehicles, Nothstein said that Jim Thorpe recently held a meeting regarding this topic, however it was not well attended.

He pointed out that there is no funding available to install these stations, which could cost upwards of $50,000 per charging station.

Nothstein said there are questions on return on investment and the time frame to install something like this if and when funding would be secured is approximately three to six years.

Sofranko said that if this was a definite project the county wanted to pursue, he suggested contacting other municipalities and working together to bundle projects to get the best price.

He added that the county Council of Governments, which is a group of municipalities within the county that work together to help keep costs down for a variety of services the each town needs.