City of Naples wants to spend $300,000 on new parking meters

NAPLES, Fla. – It’s your money and Naples wants to spend $300,000 on new parking meters. City leaders say spending big bucks on solar powered meters will bring in even more money for the city.

There’s a lot of items to remember when you’re headed to the beach; from chairs to sunblock, coolers to towels, usually cash isn’t one of them.

“Let alone all of the quarters to put in the meter,” said Jen Farrell, who visited the Naples Pier from Estero.

Farrell says she likes how convenient new solar-powered pay stations are at the Naples Pier.

“It’s so much easier to just have my card,” said Farrell.

The two stations were loaned to the city for free for a month to see if people liked using them. So far, the feedback has been positive. Some visitors say the pay stations are a little confusing to figure out, at first.

“I think it will be better in the long run. It’s just learning how to use it,” said Chris Young, who’s visiting from Kentucky.

Since the test period was successful, city leaders now want to remove more than 300 old, quarter-fed meters from streets with beach access and replace them with 30 pay machines.

“It’s already big in Chicago,” said Jen Savich, who’s visiting from Chicago.

The change will cost taxpayers about $300,000. But, city leaders say they’ll recoup that money in less than four months. They estimate the new meters will bring in more than $700,000 each year, mainly because they’re more convenient to use.

“We don’t have to bring quarters everywhere and I like that a lot better,” said Estero resident Ashley Deboer.

City staff members say these new machines will send you a text warning when your meter is about to expire if you pay an extra 25 cents. City council will discuss the idea on Wednesday morning.