Rehoboth parking meter season set to end

It is a day locals in the Cape Region look forward to almost as much as Christmas: Parking meter season is about to end in Rehoboth Beach.

City Manager Sharon Lynn said the city took a last-minute hit when Tropical Storm Hermine washed out Labor Day weekend, but she’s confident parking meter revenue will meet its $2.53 million projection.

The meters are in effect throughout the weekend Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 17-18. But when they go off Sunday night at midnight, the season is over.

Bill Moffei, head of the parking department, said this summer was a breeze for the enforcement division thanks to meters installed this year that accept credit cards.

“That was the main complaint that people had. I would walk the streets and people would ask, ‘Why don’t you have credit cards?’ It’s been a big plus,” Moffei said.

He said the accepting credit cards has not only been good for customers; it has also resulted in fewer maintenance problems for his department. Now, he said, “The main issue we have is quarters getting stuck once in a while. If it was really busy, in a busy section like the first block of Baltimore, the coin bucket would fill up. The machines are new, so we don’t have any issues like we had back in 2010, 2011,” Moffei said, when old meters chronically shorted out because of rain.

Starting last year, the city went to multispace meters made by Parkeon on Rehoboth Avenue, and this year new, digital, single-space meters made by IPS Group were placed on First Street and Baltimore and Wilmington avenues.

A bonus to the multispace meters, Moffei said, is that customers could extend their time from any meter. “They don’t have to walk three blocks down, they can do it from any machine,” he said.

Another advantage to the new meters: Credit card use meant fewer quarters, and fewer trips by parking department employees to refresh the Rehoboth Avenue change machines.

“We used to fill them once a day, maybe twice if it’s a holiday weekend. This year, we could go three days without filling them. And they are still half full when we fill them,” Moffei said. “We’re using a lot less quarters.”