Middleburg Police Chief A. J. Panebianco reported to Town Administrator Semmes that it would cost roughly $75,000 to upgrade the town's current and often problematic phalanx of 178 battery-driven parking meters, using a combination of new and improved standard and double-headed meters.

Giving the meters the capacity to handle credit cards would raise the initial cost to just over $138,000, plus a $980 per month maintenance fee to keep the credit card wireless communications functioning, plus a 10 cents per transaction fee to handle credit card processing.

Panebianco also investigated replacing the 178 meters with 13 centralized "pay stations:" eight of them spread along Washington Street, three on Madison Street, and one in each of the Town's two parking lots. The pay stations are solar powered (our current meters require battery replacement roughly every six months) and accept coins, credit and debit cards.

The centralized pay stations issue paper "receipts" which parker post in their windshields.

Replacing the 178 existing meters with 13 pay stations would cost roughly $104,000 plus a $585 per month maintenance feel.

A council decision on what, if anything will be done is still pending.