New parking permit fees coming to MERA’s non-motorized trailheads
By Garrett Christensen on Thursday, December 19th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – During a regular meeting on December 18, 2024. The Union County Board of Commissioners approved the second reading of Ordinance 2024-05, In the Matter of An Ordinance Establishing a Parking Permit Program for the Mt. Emily Recreation Area (MERA). With this approval, the proposed MERA parking permit program can move forward.
For those unfamiliar, the MERA Parking Permit Program will require parking permits for MERA’s non-motorized trailheads and implement all necessary enforcement and tracking for the permits. Specifically, parking permits will be required for the parking areas of the Owsley Canyon, Lower Igo, and Upper Igo Trailheads.
Permits will be available for $5 for day use passes or $30 for annual passes. Annual permits will also be available at a discount ($20) for active military, veterans, emergency service personnel, law enforcement, and low income. Exceptions to the parking permit system will be available for (as written in the full ordinance):
- Emergency vehicles;
- Government vehicles on official business;
- Business and delivery vehicles on official business;
- Park concessionaires and their employees;
- A person entering the park to engage in specially permitted non-recreation activities;
- Park volunteers on duty in the park;
- A person with a permit issued by another entity with which the department has a written agreement to honor their passes;
- Other persons as designated by the Coordinator
Failure to abide by the permit system could result in a fine of up to $100 per occurrence, with the option to purchase an annual pass when paying off the fine. The intention of the parking permit system is to raise additional funds for MERA’s non-motorized trailheads long term, which historically have had fewer funding opportunities compared to the motorized ones.
In addition to approving the ordinance, county commissioners also approved a contract with T2 systems for purchase of the UPsafety Parking Enforcement Software, including one handheld device and T2 Mobile Pay. The software and equipment will be used to operate the new parking permit system. $16,125.34 dollars were approved for the purchase. $13,608.10 of the cost will come from ARPA funds and pay for the first two years of the software along with an initial set-up fee. The remaining $3,516.24 will pay for the third-year use fee and be covered by fees generated through the new parking program.
The full parking program ordinance can be read at https://unioncountyor.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ORD-2024-05-MERA-Parking.pdf
