System could ease Naperville parking downtown

Parking in Naperville may become a little easier by the end of the year.

The city council gave preliminary approval Tuesday to allocate $150,000 in grant money for parking guidance systems for two downtown parking decks.

"It'll help our visitors and shoppers who frequent the downtown, direct them to parking easily and get them to their destinations more efficiently, said Anastasia Urban, project manager with the city's transportation, engineering and development department.

Both the Van Buren deck and Central Parking Facility at Washington Street and Chicago Avenue would get systems that would alert drivers as to how many spaces are available at each facility.

The grants would fund half of the estimated $300,000 total cost for the systems. City councilmen will still have to give approval of the total expenditure later this summer. The systems could then be in place by the end of the year.

The grant money is part of nearly $1.4 million the city is receiving from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009. The grants are to be used to reduce fossil fuel emissions and overall energy use as well as making transportation or building improvements that will conserve energy.

The city received feedback from Naperville for Clean Energy and Conservation, residents and councilmen before allocating the grants Tuesday.

City officials said the parking deck guidance systems fit the criteria for the grants.

"Get cars off the street quicker, a little more efficiency in not only carbon footprint but also people's time," Councilman Grant Wehrli said.

The council also agreed Tuesday to allocate $698,760 of the grants to a residential home energy audit program.

Through the program, residents 55 and older who live in homes built before 1980 would be able to eligible to receive an energy audit and matching grants for improvements they undergo to make their homes more energy efficient.

Roughly $20,000 of the money going toward the audit program will be used for marketing and education about energy issues.

"I think we get more bang for the buck for educating people and also have on the city's Web site things they can do," Councilman Doug Krause said.

Other grant allocations approved Tuesday include

• $278,440 to provide interest free loans for businesses undergoing projects that will lessen their energy use;

• $235,000 to provide grants to businesses making energy improvements;

• $30,000 for LED lights at Fire Station 10.

The city will send the proposed allocations to the Department of Energy for final approval.

Among the projects that did not make the city's cut were funds for parking deck lighting upgrades, redesigning the city's data center, replacing windows at Naper Settlement's Pre-Emption House, a design study of traffic management systems and battery backup for traffic signals.