By Rich Cholodofsky

Published: Friday, January 25, 2013, 12:01 a.m.
Updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Westmoreland County is going into the parking meter business.

Starting in February, the county will offer its inspection services to the dozen municipalities with parking meters.

A change in state law enacted last year requires each municipality to conduct its own parking meter inspections, which are mandated every five years.

“It won't be a money-maker for the county. Our goal here is to provide a service for the municipalities,” said Scott Sistek, director of the county Department of Weights and Measures.

Until this year, the state was responsible for parking meter inspections, although it contracted Westmoreland County to act as its field agent.

Sistek said each of the 12 municipalities with meters can hire the county to conduct the inspections or retain its own certified staffers to meet the requirement.

There are about 4,000 parking meters in Westmoreland County, with the most — 800 to 1,100 — in Greensburg and Latrobe. Other communities with meters are Scottdale, Trafford, Ligonier, Mt. Pleasant, Irwin, Jeannette, West Newton, New Kensington, Vandergrift and Monessen.

County commissioners on Thursday approved a new ordinance that details how the inspections will be conducted.

The ordinance calls for the county to charge towns a flat fee of $85 to inspect the first 175 meters. The county will assess a 55-cent fee for each additional meter inspected.

Those fees will increase in 2018 to $100 for the first 175 meters and 65 cents for each subsequent meter.

If a meter does not pass inspection, a red rejection sticker will be placed on the meter, which must remain out of service until it is fixed and re-inspected by the department.

The ordinance will go into effect on Feb. 1, the start of the first annual license period.

Rich Cholodofsky is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.

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