Council member calls for employee parking relief, later requests batting cages review

Council Member Wigter raised concerns that downtown employees face parking costs or long walks from distant lots and said some businesses discussed shuttling employees or using paid parking. He suggested the circulator’s hours could be extended or that the CRA consider subsidizing employee parking permits so workers would not need to feed meters repeatedly.

"One of the things that we discussed... was the circuit program. Once that's an on‑demand service, in theory, the employees might be huge beneficiaries of the circulator," Council Member Wigter said. He asked Mr. Brown to consider whether the circulator hours or a permit subsidy could be included in CRA planning.

Mr. Brown replied that some employers already purchase spaces in city lots and cautioned that employee permits could occupy curb spaces that are intended for turnover. He noted the proposed circulator hours are designed for customer trips and do not run until 2 a.m., and said staff would need to explore the implications of a permit program.

Separately, the council member asked for Recreation Services to investigate whether flexible (non‑permanent) batting cages could be added to the park next to City Hall to improve safety during youth practices. Chair Nattles asked staff to include that consideration in a future budget review.

Why it matters: employee parking and circulator schedules affect downtown business operations and worker safety; the CRA directed staff to investigate options but took no immediate action or appropriation.

Next steps: staff to explore permit or circulator‑hour options and to report back; Recreation Services to investigate flexible batting cages for budgeting consideration.