Forget nickel-and-diming it.
The bill to replace vandalized parking meters in downtown Trail has well surpassed the $25,000 mark at this point.
City taxpayers were already on the hook to cover at least 30 downtown parking meters that were either damaged or broken-beyond-repair a few months ago.
Those costs will keep climbing because another 21 were vandalized this week.
RCMP Sgt. Mike Wicentowich confirmed Trail police had just received the city’s report on Thursday afternoon.
“We will be seeking video surveillance and investigating the matter,” he said.
During the most recent governance meeting, Corporate Administrator Michelle McIsaac updated council on the matter.
“The cost for the replacement of the damaged meters was significant, resulting in the parking meter parts budget of $20,500 being overspent by $26,000 at the end of July,” she said Aug. 20. “The matter is under review by the city’s property insurer.”
The first spate of meter vandalism occurred the weekend of May 4 to May 6 and the second, from May 11 to May 13.
Police confirmed they were following leads, and looking to identify a younger male and female who were pushing a baby stroller in the downtown around the time of the incidents.
Municipal cameras are situated throughout the city core, so police were screening video surveillance for clues.
So far, no arrests have been made.
McIsaac asks everyone to be watchful and to report any suspicious activity to the RCMP.
As Chief Administrative David Perehudoff reasoned following the first rash of vandalism “if anyone is caught and charged, there’s no recourse in terms of financial recovery.”
“You can’t get blood from a stone, so to speak,” he said. “Taxpayers are going to be on the hook for a significant expenditure because of this desperation to pick up a few dollars worth of coin.”
He suggested council start thinking about the bigger picture in terms of paid parking.
“It’s been well over 10 years since we did the major retrofit so now we are getting to a point where the meters are getting to the end of their useful life,” Perehudoff said. “And if this whole issue around theft is going to be prevalent we’ll have to look at other options … including moving away from meter heads and posts and installing centralized kiosks where you can pay by card.”
