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Posts published in “Day: December 8, 2008”

Going fast . . . expired!

parking meter

Spokane's ad

REPORT Combine one part local government badly in need of more revenue, with a consumer willingness to buy - it would seem - damn near anything, and the city of Spokane has come up with a natural:

Ever wanted to charge your teen-age son for parking on your sofa all day? How about that co-worker who parks in front of your desk when you’re on a deadline? Or, your spouse who continually parks his or her junk on the kitchen counter?

The City of Spokane has the answer: A parking meter.

Just in time for holiday shopping, the City is surplusing old mechanical crank-style parking meter heads. For the low price of $35 including tax, you can get your own parking meter to set up on your desk or next to the living room couch. It’s also a great gift for the person who has everything—or for your favorite college student.

“These gems are going to go quickly,” says Dave Shaw, who heads up the City’s parking meter operations. “We’ve already gotten some orders from the public, and we are anxious to hear how citizens plan to display these classic artifacts.”

The City has been replacing old parking meter heads throughout downtown over the last several years with digital ones. The City has a total of approximately 2,800 parking meters installed in downtown, around the County Courthouse, and around the hospitals.

To purchase a parking meter, citizens should go to the City’s Street Operations Building, 901 N. Nelson, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Available are meters ranging in time periods of 30 minutes to 10 hours. They are sold as-is and in the same condition they were in when removed from the street. City employees can show buyers how to mount them to a steel or plastic pipe for display purposes. The City can accept check, money order, or cash in the exact amount of $35.

And they're selling fast; the Spokesman-Review says that two-thirds or so are sold already . . .