New Parking Fees, The Rubber Elephant

The Kruth Talks By Amber Kruth

Downtown Parking

Additions to the city’s paid parking proposal were submitted on April 6. Recent developments included defining the fees for designated lots and city streets in the Dickson Street area.

Proposed fees are: 50 cents an hour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, jumping to $1 an hour after 5 p.m. with a $5 maximum. From 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday parking would be free.

On Sundays the cost would be 50 cents an hour from 1 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday. The maximum cost would be $3. Parking would be free from 2 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.

Proposed fines for overtime parking are $10 for the first offense, $15 for the second offense and $25 for the third and subsequent offenses.

Additional violations matched the police department fines of prohibited parking at $62.50 and handicap violation of $187.50.

There are still some fine points to be worked out such as residential and employee parking. The proposal allows for the purchase of a $50-a-month frequent visitor pass. The pass would be for a specific lot and would be valid from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Go to www.nwaonline.com/faypark for an interactive parking map that shows free and paid parking locations in downtown.

The Rubber Elephant

Nomkhubulwane, (Nom-Koo-bull-wah’-nee), a life-size elephant sculpted from recycled tires by Andries Botha of Durban, South Africa, is greeting visitors at the Town Center Plaza in Fayetteville until May 18. The sculpture is touring as part of the Human Elephant Foundation project, which illuminates the balance of coexistence amongst humans and other creatures. The elephant was chosen for its symbolic resemblance of the human psyche and emotions. The project is a call for consciousness of industrial development. The motto: “for thinkers, individuals and corporates to join together … for the overall health of the planet.”

Tracking the Census

The 2010 Census has an interactive map that shows participation rates by location (http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/). Last week, Washington County was in with 63 percent. Check out what it is now. The site claims that if 100 percent of the households mailed back their forms, taxpayers would save $1.5 billion dollars. Don’t you want your slice of that pie? Fill out your census and mail it. If you haven’t received your form call 866-872-6868.