Contact: Joe Farris
An ad hoc committee formed at Mississippi State to study university road and parking needs and the parking fee structure is at work on recommendations that will be presented this fall to the university community. Initial discussions were begun this spring with the University Parking and Traffic Committee.
The ad hoc group chaired by Associate Vice President for Business Affairs Gaddis Hunt is expected to recommend to the president a prioritized list of parking and street improvements, as well as a revised fee structure for faculty, staff and student parking decals.
The study is a first step in implementing goal VII.A.2. of the recently adopted document on Priorities and Goals, FY 2000-2004: "Roads, streets, and parking lots will be upgraded in keeping with the adopted assessment document. Street and parking improvements will be financed in part by developing a better approach to parking fees."
Recommendations on improvement priorities and parking fees likely will be submitted to the president this month, Hunt said. President Malcolm Portera said that campus open meetings to discuss the proposals will be scheduled for early in the fall semester.
No general increase in parking decal fees will be instituted during the coming academic year, although construction on parking and street improvements could begin by this fall, with fee changes to be implemented in the fall of 2000.
Preliminary discussions have revolved around adding several hundred parking spaces and significantly upgrading streets and parking lots throughout the campus over the next five years at a cost in the range of $8 million. Funding for the improvements would come from existing sources as well as decal sales, Hunt said.
Preliminary discussions also have explored a stratified parking fee system that would allow staff and students to ensure more convenient parking by paying a larger fee.
Such a system could include individually reserved spaces located anywhere on campus and available to faculty, staff or students for a premium decal price. A second-level permit, also available at a premium, could give faculty, staff, or students access to a restricted parking lot where an available space would be guaranteed, Hunt said.
A basic decal would be valid for any unrestricted faculty or student parking area. The cost of different types of decals would be determined in part by indications of the potential demand for the different levels of parking.