PARKING: Cd'A has a problem
My name is Mark Newman. I am a certified activity director at Royal Plaza Retirement Center, 2870 Juniper Drive, Lewiston, Idaho. As part of my duties I provide for my residents three big outings each year. This year started off with the cruise on Lake Coeur d’Alene on July 17. We were scheduled for the 12:30 cruise and arrived a half hour early. I had 14 residents (my eldest will celebrate his 100th birthday in October) and three staff including myself. Upon arrival I paid for our tickets and went back to the bus to unload my residents. My boss, who drove her Ford pickup truck which carried my residents’ walkers and the food, parked in front of the bus while we unloaded and our nurse started to take the residents down to the boat.
At this point my boss in her pickup and I in our Royal Plaza bus proceeded to find parking in our very crowded lot. We circled for about 5 minutes until I encountered the parking “policeman.” I stopped and asked where there was any overflow parking. I then asked if I could park in the museum lot next door. He said my bus would probably take up two spots but I could go down the street two blocks and park in a graveled area for free.
In the meantime my boss was still circling looking for a place to park. I left the lot and went next door to the museum parking, found a spot that was not blocking anyone else and paid for a four-hour stay even though I only needed two hours at the most. I was the appointed staff to pay for any parking expenses and came with cash in hand ready to do so.
August 2013 was the last time I brought residents up for the hour and a half cruise and at that point there were small metal boxes with a tiny slot where money could be pushed through for parking. I did not realize this system had changed until I tried to find my boss’s truck and the number of the space she was in so I could put the money in to cover the parking fee, as I was the designated person. When I did find her truck in spot 64, I noticed that there was an envelope on her windshield — a parking ticket. Five minutes had not elapsed from the time I parked my bus and made it over to her truck.
I tried to find the parking “policeman” to explain that I was the designated person to pay for parking but he had conveniently disappeared. I went to the new electronic paying device and three couples were there trying to figure it out. They let me try, hoping that I would have better luck than they did, and for 15 minutes I tried to pay with my debit card which was accepted at the museum parking lot but the device would not complete the transaction. Halfway through it would take us back to start.
At this point I looked at my watch and it was 12:28 and the cruise would start at 12:30 so I said to the people around me, I cannot wait anymore; I will have to take my chances. I’m sure the parking “policeman” saw my boss get out of her truck and go directly to the boat, as she was instructed to do because our residents are our first concern, as I was to pay for parking. The parking device was apparently broken and there was no one attending it to help visitors in case of such an occurrence.
I was very disappointed that we should be treated in such a manner. I have to wonder how many other people were fleeced out of $20 that afternoon (and the ticket payment was mailed off immediately) because the payment device was broken. If “fleeced” is too harsh a word I do apologize, but that is what I feel happened. Because of this experience I do not know whether I will bring residents back to the cruise again. If the city of Coeur d’Alene wants to continue to make revenue from its visitors, it would be wise to do a better job of accommodating visitors’ needs as this is not going to encourage anyone to come back, or recommend this site to anyone they know.
Little suggestions: Try enlarging the parking area for the cruise, and fixing your devices that are set up to accept payment for the parking or I will not be the only one left feeling “fleeced.” Word of mouth can be the best or worst advertising, as this has left a bad taste in mine.
MARK NEWMAN,
ADC, AP-BC
MARY EGELAND
Administrator
Royal Plaza Retirement Center
Lewiston