Following a public presentation of a comprehensive parking study report by Walker Consultants on January 10, 2019, the Mayor & Council are hopeful and optimistic about the recommendations presented to address the parking conditions in the Borough of Red Bank. At the conclusion of the presentation, Business Administrator Ziad Shehady explained to the public, “We look at the recommendations in this report seriously, and with the interest of being able to implement them all as best as possible within our constraints financially and operationally.” 

A major implementation task calls for the Borough to “wean General Fund of parking revenues and reinvest parking revenues into parking.” Because of the fiscal magnitude of this recommendation, Mayor Pasquale Menna expressed his personal concern about this recommendation, but stressed that he remains openminded and has reached no conclusions with respect to how this task will be implemented. “Walker Consultants provided the Borough with an excellent and thought-provoking product. It is important to consider their recommendations holistically and work with Red Bank’s business community to find solutions in the best interest of all stakeholders. The Borough is grateful to RiverCenter for partnering with us in commissioning the study and we will be scheduling meetings with the Executive Board to discuss the roadmap ahead.” 

The Council Parking Committee scheduled a meeting immediately following the publication of the report to start the process of evaluating the report recommendations from their respective focus areas. The Committee will meet several times over the coming weeks to carefully analyze the implementation tasks in order to develop an execution plan for consideration by the governing body. Council President and Parking Committee Chairman Erik Yngstrom stated, “The Report provides the Borough with a professional look at enhancing the parking operations for Red Bank and we are eager to work out the implementation plan details collectively. As Walker Consultants said, there is a symbiotic relationship among the recommendations and we will work hard to carry them out so this report does not collect dust on a shelf. The Council looks forward to working with our professionals and administration to understand how the implementation tasks can be effected in the most fiscally prudent manner.”