Free meter parking in Port Jeff until April 15

Drivers wasted about $700 in quarters in Port Jefferson parking meters last week, village officials said at the board of trustees meeting Monday night.

The village’s annual “meter holiday,” originally slated to end on March 15, was extended through April 15.

Though signs are posted on streets and on each meter announcing the extension of the meter holiday, drivers are not heeding the signs, said village treasurer Donald Pearce.

Cloth hoods have been ordered and will be placed on meter heads to deter the paying parkers, according to the village.

The parking meters were installed four years ago, and the village has had a meter holiday from fall through spring for the past three years. Traffic in the oceanfront village is lower in those months than in summer.

The board had voted to extend the holiday through April 15 to assist local merchants who said business was hurt by the difficult winter weather.