Repairing Vernon's vandalized parking meters will cost a pretty penny | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Repairing Vernon's vandalized parking meters will cost a pretty penny

The clock faces from numerous parking meters were damaged or removed in November 2015.
Image Credit: City of Vernon

VERNON - Fixing over 100 damaged parking meters will cost the City of Vernon a big chunk of change.

A total of 148 meters were vandalized over the course of several nights, leading to the arrest of Mitchell Szekely, 34.

The city’s bylaw department believes some of the vandalism was the work of a different individual, however there wasn’t enough evidence for an arrest, the city’s protective services manager Clint Kanester says. 

“We had two different groups that were creating issues,” Kanester says. “The one individual was caught, the other one has now stopped.”

With roughly 15 per cent of the city’s approximately 935 parking meters damaged, Kanester says repairs won’t fully be completed until the new year. The damage is estimated at $25,000 to $30,000, but that doesn’t account for the lost revenue the meters would normally be collecting, or the staff hours required for repairs. 

A number of broken pieces were retrieved and are salvageable, but many parts will still need to be ordered, Kanester says.

Members of the public won’t get ticketed for parking at out of order meters, however they are expected to abide by the regular two hour limit. Bylaw officers will be out chalking vehicles, Kanester says.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

News from © iNFOnews, 2015
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