by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
People who go to the Stearns County Administration Office in downtown St. Cloud will soon have the option of using coins or credit/debit cards at parking meters.
The new meters are expected to be completely installed by early February.
The new meters replace the 31 old ones at that site, although the non-meter permitted parking spots will remain. The cost for parking a vehicle for one hour is 50 cents.
“These are meters of the future,” said Steven Lawrence, assistant Public Works director for St. Cloud. “While they are the newest technology, users will find they are very easy to operate.”
After one year, the new meters will be evaluated for performance and customer response before any new ones are added elsewhere.
At this point, installation of meters at the Administration Office lot is a pilot project by St. Cloud, but eventually all the meters in St. Cloud, now 40 years old, will be replaced by the coin/card meters.
