ALPENA — The Alpena Downtown Development Authority board plans to invite members of the Alpena Municipal Council to a future Parking Committee meeting as discussions on paid parking in the city continue.

At Tuesday’s DDA meeting, during a discussion of parking meters, City Manager Greg Sundin, who is on the DDA board, said several council members approached him unhappy they learned about the DDA’s desire to pursue paid parking from media reports.

“No matter what council it is that I have worked with for the last 20 years, I’ve learned the one thing they don’t like is to learn things they ultimately have to vote on through third person or the media,” Sundin said. “I understand, and agree with them.”

The Municipal Council will have the final say on any parking plan in the city. The DDA board can only make a recommendation. In order to get council more involved in planning the proposed parking, DDA board President Mike Mahler said it would be wise to send each council member a letter inviting him or her to the parking meeting.

Board member Chad Esh agreed. He said it’s critical to involve council members as much as possible, so there aren’t any surprises later in the process.

“This is too big of an issue to not have them involved,” he said. “Plus, we don’t want to put a bunch of time and work into something and then have council say we don’t know enough about it and be done with it and not doing anything.”

Mahler said he and DDA Executive Director Anne Gentry have been in contact with a company who can design a parking system that will fit the needs of the downtown businesses, motorists, and the city.

He said parking meters have come a long way over the years and many can be customized to fit those needs.

“We provided to them information that the Parking Committee came up with, in terms of which lots we think we should target that make the most sense for free parking versus paid parking,” Mahler said. “We’ll put together some ideas on what type of equipment we will need to do that efficiently and effectively.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.