The discussion in Mt. Lebanon about the most efficient way to handle parking continued this week, with Mt. Lebanon Parking Authority chairman Alfonso Frioni outlining the points he made in his reorganization proposal to municipal manager Stephen Feller.

Over the past year, the municipality has discussed the possibility of consolidating the authority, but Mr. Frioni said at the commission meeting Monday that consolidating would be more costly to the municipality and urged the commission to maintain the basic relationship between the municipality and the Parking Authority.

Under Mr. Frioni's proposal, the Parking Authority would:

• Return fines collected from police department-issued parking tickets to the municipality for a period of seven years. The current annual revenue amount is about $85,000. The Parking Authority would continue to process the tickets for the municipality and would charge a fee of $4 for each issued ticket. Starting Friday, tickets for meter violations will increase from $6 to $10 and tickets issued for non-meter violations will increase from $15 to $20.

• Request additional cooperation from the Mt. Lebanon Police Department with impounding and immobilizing vehicles that have outstanding parking violations.

• Relocate its operation to the former 911 center, including the offices and lounge in the lower level of the municipal building, if a suitable arrangement on costs is reached. Then the Parking Authority would list its present office at 788 Washington Road for sale and return it to the tax rolls.

• Explore and discuss the sale of its property at 794 Washington Road upon the expiration of the existing leases to return the property to the tax rolls.

In the letter, the Parking Authority also requested that the municipality guarantee and approve an authority bond issue that would refinance the existing 2003 bond issue and 2004 note owed to the municipality.

"Although the instant proposal will require that the Parking Authority make budget and revenue adjustments, hopefully, if accepted, this proposal will produce much needed revenues to the municipality and better allow both entities to continue in their respective capacities of serving the community," Mr. Frioni said in his letter to Mr. Feller.

Commissioner Dan Miller and some residents questioned the transparency and financial responsibility of the authority, while Uptown Business Association president Joe Ravita, owner of Empire Music on Washington Road, asked who would handle parking if the Parking Authority did not.

The Mt. Lebanon Parking Authority, with a five-member volunteer board, nine full-time members and 14 part-time members, was created by the commission in 1954 to acquire, construct, maintain and operate parking facilities within the municipality.

A vote about reorganizing the authority will be held Oct. 11.

Also at the meeting, the commission approved an ordinance introduced by Mr. Miller that prohibits incurring debt for street reconstruction.

Mr. Miller called it a "pay as you go measure" to stop accumulation of irresponsible debt, but commission President D. Raja said he wanted to see a solution to funding annual street reconstruction before voting on the ordinance.

The ordinance passed 3-2, with Joe DeIuliis and D. Raja opposed.

Consideration of traffic improvements to the intersection of Beadling and Washington roads was on the agenda but was removed and will be discussed at a future commission meeting. The Mt. Lebanon Traffic Board discussed requests to study the location after a woman was killed this summer when she was struck by a car while jogging along Washington across the Beadling intersection.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.