City council sides with Lafayette residents

MARENGO — Residents of Lafayette Avenue successfully petitioned the Marengo City Council not to prohibit parking on their street.

The City Council voted 3-2 not to prohibit parking on both sides of Lafayette Avenue between West Main and West May Streets as requested by Compass Memorial Healthcare.

“We need parking on one side or another,” said Nicole Folkmann during a public hearing Monday evening.

“You can fit two cars side by side in the driveway,” Councilwoman Jenni Olson told Folkmann. But Folkmann has three vehicles, and moving one out of the way to get to another is inconvenient, Folkmann said.

When her children start driving, she’ll have more cars to move, Folkmann said.

But her children are only 1 and 6 years old now, said Olson. It’ll be 10 years before they’re driving. Lafayette won’t look the same then, she said.

The city council has discussed widening the street, and the hospital’s concept drawing for its finished campus alters Lafayette to line up with the entrance to its main parking lot.

Lafayette is only 38 feet wide at the south end but only 33 feet wide at the north end by May Street, according to a map provided by the city.

When Lafayette is widened, the city can allow parking on the street again, Olson said.

Restricted parking will create a problem during holidays and family gatherings, said Folkmann. Where are friends and relatives supposed to park?

When the American Legion occupied the building at West May Street and Lafayette Avenue, people parked in the hospital lot, Olson said.

Folkmann doubted that the hospital wants residents parking in their lot all the time.

The problem right now is that May Street is closed because of hospital construction, said Marengo Mayor Adam Rabe.

The hospital created this problem and the hospital should fix it, said Jim Peterson, who lives on Lafayette. The hospital should open up the east end of May Street so people coming from the east wouldn’t have to use Lafayette, Peterson said.

“The hospital brought up this request,” said Rabe, but it’s a city issue because it has to do with public safety, he said.

No parking areas are not unusual in Marengo, said City Administrator Karla Marck. “We’ve got traffic flows comparable to [Highway] 212. We’ve got growth.

“We need people to come to this town, and we need to continue to invest,” Marck said.

The hospital is growing and building the economy of Marengo. The city is not supposed to make laws for two people, Marck said.

“You can fix the issue by widening the intersection,” said Councilman Travis Schlabach. That would only cost about $8,500, he said.

Why should the city spend that money when it can solve safety issues for free by prohibiting parking? Rabe asked.

Councilman Bill Kreis suggested putting asphalt down on the right of way on the west side of the street, making it wide enough that the residents can park in front of their homes.

The council can’t make a decision because someone is inconvenienced, said Olson.

Just because residents could park in front of their homes when they purchased the homes doesn’t mean the city has to allow it for as long as they own the homes, said Councilman John Hinshaw.

Situations change and ordinances change with them, he said.

The hospital created the problem by making Lafayette its main entrance, said Schlabach. “They said they’d take care of it,” he said, but now they want the city to take care of it.

The parking ban isn’t for the construction period only, said Schlabach. It’s forever.

“No it isn’t,” Hinshaw said.

“We know [Lafayette] will change in three to five years,” said Rabe. He also noted that temporary parking is available in the lot across the street from the residences in question.

That lot is intended for employees of the hospital, said Compass Chief Executive Officer Barry Goettsch, but after hours and on weekends, residents could use it.

Goettsch said the hospital will invest in changes to Lafayette as its construction projects continue. It won’t leave all the expense to the city.

The problem isn’t so much the residents on the street as the trailer from a resident of another street parking there and creating congestion, said Schlabach.

“The whole concern is very valid,” Schlabach said, but he’s not willing to take parking away from the residents.

“I think we should make it as safe as possible and minimize the quagmire,” said Councilwoman Karen Wayson-Kisling.

Following the public hearing, Hinshaw moved to approve a parking ban on both sides of Lafayette. He and Olson voted for the change. Schlabach, Kreis and Wayson-Kisling voted against it.

(Edited to correct the spelling of the name of the Compass CEO.)