Derby Alderman David Lenart’s logic was simple.
When someone shows up to a public meeting with a chunk of concrete big enough to kill a man and says it fell off the crumbling, city-owned parking garage, there is only one course of action — close the place, immediately, before someone gets hurt.
With Lenart’s logic in mind, the Derby Board of Aldermen voted 5 – 4 Thursday to close the Derby downtown parking garage on Thompson Place, pending an engineer’s study to see whether the 40-year-old structure is safe.
The Aldermen took the action against the advice of corporation counsel Kevin Blake, who went as far as asking the Aldermen to rescind their decision to close the garage. Blake wanted to research the matter.
The Aldermen declined.
There is no plan in place to find alternative parking for the 200 or so vehicles that use the Thompson Place garage every day.
The closure was a major surprise Thursday, especially to members of the Derby Parking Authority, who came to Thursday’s meeting in an attempt to build support to fund the roughly $7 million in repairs needed at the 39-year-old garage.
As part of the public relations effort, the parking authority supplied Alderman Carmen DiCenso with a heavy piece of concrete that had broken loose from inside the parking deck on Thompson Drive.
DiCenso put the slab of concrete in front of him at the Aldermen’s table as a way to highlight the repairs needed at the garage.
While the parking authority’s goal was to get the attention of the Board of Aldermen, they were in shock after Lenart put forth a motion to close the facility.
Lenart made the motion after listening to an engineer from the parking authority detail a long list of problems at the garage, ranging from failing plumbing to falling concrete.
Listen to the audio clip below to hear the engineer, Richard Marniki, talk about the 88,000 square-foot facility:
The engineer concluded that parts of the garage should probably be off limits to the public.
Lenart said the Aldermen had to use the same “abundance of caution” they used to close O’Sullivan’s Island in January to close the parking garage. The statements made Thursday identified a liability, leaving no choice but to close the garage, Lenart said.
Ultimately, DiCenso, Alderman Art Gerckens, Ron Sill and David Anroman voted with Lenart. The other Aldermen shared concerns about the condition of the parking garage, but doubted whether the Aldermen even had the ability to shut the garage.
The situation angered parking authority director Leo Moscato, who asked sarcastically whether the displaced cars could park at Derby Storm Ambulance and Rescue Corps.
Lenart is the chief of the city’s ambulance service.
Lenart said protecting the public from a potential structure collapse was more important than any headaches the closure may give Moscato.
Moscato told the Aldermen they haven’t been reading the reports he’s submitted to the Board of Aldermen. Those reports included concerns about the structure. The Aldermen said Moscato hadn’t been to an Aldermen meeting in two years.
Immediately after the vote, Moscato told two reporters he was planning to open the garage Friday morning since the Board of Aldermen didn’t specifically name a closing date.
However, Moscato seemed to be backing off that plan as of 11:30 p.m. Thursday, saying he was going to post letters to distribute to motorists.
NOTE: The garage was indeed closed Friday morning, with part-time workers turning away customers. Click here for video.
“You have to put signs out there,” corporation counsel Kevin Blake said after the vote (watch the video above).
The Derby Parking Authority, the agency that runs the parking garage, has been complaining about the poor condition of the garage for years.
The millions in repairs were supposed to be part of a referendum last year, but the city apparently lacked the political will to move forward with the referendum in an election year.
At a parking authority meeting last month, minutes indicate members of the parking authority were also concerned the garage was a liability.
From the minutes:
“(Parking Authority Chairman) Mr. Moore indicated that he has had conversations with Mayor Dugatto regarding the garage renovations.At this time she does not seem to support the need for a referendum to seek the funding necessary to rebuild the structure. Members felt that the conditions in the garage were greatly underestimated by elected officials and the public and they suggested that a walk-thru of the facility be done pointing out the serious deterioration. Mr. Moscato will prepare letters to be sent to the Mayor, Board of Alderman, and other key officials requesting that they attend a walk thru. Members expressed serious concerns about liability and indicated that a formal request should be made to the Building Official and Fire Marshall to have an inspection made of the structure. Mr. Moscato will forward the request.”
The parking authority has been collecting the chunks of concrete for several years, and trotted a few pieces out during a meeting in 2010.
