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After a number of weeks of free-for-all parking around the square, scofflaws were sent scurrying to outlying parking lots after the Liberty Police Department again assigned a parking control officer to the enforcement task.

According to Capt. David Tedesco, those who overstay the two-hour time limit get two warnings during the year. The third parking infraction comes with a $25 citation.

Tedesco said some merchants expressed concern that parking spaces around the square were being abused, prompting the renewed enforcement. A former traffic control officer resigned earlier this year and the city briefly toyed with the idea of not filling the position, he said.

“It’s apparent that we have to have parking enforcement so we can keep parkers moving so people can conduct business,” Tedesco said.

Vicki Vance, program manager for Historic Downtown Liberty Inc., a group that markets and promotes the downtown business area, said HDLI is always concerned with parking.

Although Clay County employees are often blamed for taking up short-term parking spaces around the square, Vance said she did not know if that was the case.

“It was obvious when they didn’t enforce the parking that someone was parking in those spaces,” Vance said. “I don’t know who was taking up all the parking spaces because we didn’t run their license plates, but I have my suspicions.”

Presiding Commissioner Ed Quick said once it came to the county’s attention that some county employees might be parking all day around the square, they took action. He said County Administrator Alexa Barton e-mailed department heads and asked that their employees park in surrounding parking lots.

“With the amount of business that goes on around the square, there just aren’t enough parking spaces on the square,” Quick said.

Quick said at this point there is also no move to explore building a joint parking garage. The county has approximately 475 employees that work in the downtown area.

“There’s no way we could afford to build a parking garage. We just couldn’t

justify it, and it’s not necessary when there’s parking a half block away,” Quick said.

Bill Riggs, who stops by the book store for a cup of coffee most mornings, said there has to be a way so that people who return to the square in the afternoon are not cited for patronizing downtown businesses.

“I know parking is a big headache,” Riggs said. “But something is wrong when you can’t stop by in the morning and then come back later without worrying about getting a ticket.”

Tedesco said if HDLI had ideas for making improvements to the parking situation, the city would be willing to listen.

Liberty Editor Angie Anaya Borgedalen can be reached at 781-4941 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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