Resident tells board app and cash reconciliation problems led to wrongful Metra parking citations

At the Village Board's public-comment period on March 16, resident Dermet Horgan described receiving two parking citations for nonpayment while saying he had paid and urged fixes to the Metra parking enforcement system.

Horgan said he spoke with Sergeant Scanlan (he named the sergeant) and learned the village's parking hardware is "old" and the cash or lock boxes are decrepit, with many numbers obliterated. He said the reconciliation between app and cash payments fails in some cases, producing enforcement that requires drivers to prove they paid; he called that system "negative enforcement" and called for improved cash options and operational changes.

Horgan said an adjudicator recommended taking a photo of paying into the box, which he called "absurd," and urged the village to install straightforward fixes so residents are not unfairly cited. The mayor thanked Horgan and noted the concern for the town's administration; no action or timeline for changes was announced at the meeting.