The DMDA would manage those parking spaces during selective hours, charging a fee for parking. The money generated would be used to build a several-story $4 million to $5 million parking deck off Mill Street by the old Pullman railcar and Krystal restaurant.
DMDA Chairman Tom Browning, who presented the proposal to the DMDA members during Thursday's meeting, said the idea came from discussions he's had with Councilman Van Pearlberg. The proposed parking deck would not be the typical unattractive concrete structure often found in cities, but one that would covered in brick, with a garden on top, he said.
The garden idea came from Councilwoman Holly Walquist, he said.
The DMDA unanimously voted to bring back a formal proposal to next month's meeting to present to the City Council. The motion was made by member Roger DeBoy, with members Dave Reardon, Carey Cox, Johnny Fulmer and Browning all voting in favor.
Mayor Bill Dunaway and Cobb Board of Commissioners Chairman Sam Olens serve on the DMDA, but were absent for the vote. Browning said Dunaway is opposed to the idea; however, he said the mayor a "lame duck" who will soon be replaced in the upcoming election.
Reached by phone, Dunaway pointed out the two-hour limit parking spaces around the Square are currently free. The Square used to have parking meters, but those went away in the 1950s. Dunaway said turning the city's parking spaces over to the DMDA is simply unacceptable.
"No city council, no mayor, would ever give up parking around the Square to another elected body. It would be wrong," Dunaway said.
Dunaway said the city is currently in negotiations on the topic of whether to partner with the county on the parking deck that government is building just off the Square, next to City Hall at 191 Lawrence Street, the site of the former Fulton Federal Savings & Loan.
One of the needs for the 500-space county deck is attributed to the new seven-story Cobb Superior Court building under construction on Haynes Street directly behind the existing Superior Court building. The new Superior Court building is expected to open in March 2011, with the new parking deck to open one month prior, Olens said.
The county already has an 840 space parking deck, with 200 spaces reserved for the public, at Waddell and Cherokee streets.
While Dunaway said city officials are still thinking about whether or not to participate in the county's new parking deck, Browning said the DMDA will not be participating in the parking deck because it's not in a convenient location for merchants and shoppers.
Olens, meantime, believes the city and county have reached an impasse on the city participating in the county's new parking deck.
"I am proposing that we move forward without the city," Olens said.
Browning much prefers building the DMDA's own parking deck by Krystal, where everyone can find it. And by giving the city the Kennesaw House, the Marietta Museum of History can expand to the first floor, as it wants to do, he said.
The city funds the Marietta Museum of History a total of $240,023 annually. Of that amount, $60,272 comes out of the general fund for the museum director's salary and benefits, and $179,751 is paid for with tourism funds. The museum also uses the city's old water system building on Sessions Street as storage free of charge, said City Manager Bill Bruton.
The museum leases the top two floors of Kennesaw House, which is the famed old hotel where Andrews' Raiders stayed before instigating the Great Locomotive Chase. Bruton said the museum pays the DMDA $40,599.96 per year for rent or $3,383.33 a month.
The museum and DMDA have been in negotiations for some time now about it expanding to the first floor of Kennesaw House, which is currently vacant.
On a related topic, the DMDA also discussed the re-plumbing work being done at Kennesaw House. DeBoy said the DMDA held an emergency meeting Sept. 1 at Kennesaw House to address the problem plumbing, electing to hire Sundial Plumbing of Marietta, who was recommended by Dunaway, to fix the problem for an estimated $50,000. The plumbing should be finished by the end of next week. DeBoy, who is a developer, said his company is replacing the torn out walls from where the pipes where fixed "at cost" for an estimated $8,400. DeBoy said he did not believe it was a conflict of interest for his company to be conducting work for the DMDA, a board he serves on.
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Charging fees to the customers doing business on the Square is certainly not a good idea but I don't believe that is what Mr. Brownbing is proposing.
The majority of the free public parking available is taken either by county employees or lawyers and other participants in County Court. Go there at 8 in the morning and watch the parade of folks walking from the parking areas to the courthouse and it becomes apparent that is true.
Also, thank you Holly Walquist for the ideas for the look of the deck. Keep your great ideas coming.
And he said this with a straight face? The only attractive parking deck is one that is underground and cannot be seen. And Holly seems to be agreeable with any goofy plan as long as she can put in a few plants....hmmm.