Vandalized Freeport meters run up OT costs

A spate of vandalism on Freeport parking meters has pushed the village past its overtime budget for the employee charged with maintaining them.

The village trustees unanimously voted to transfer $7,500 to cover the overtime budget at a contentious meeting on the subject Monday night.

Freeport budgets $6,000 in annual overtime for Joseph Vetere, a village employee whose tasks include collecting money from the meters and fixing them when they break.

But Vetere, who has a base annual salary of $55,000, already has clocked $7,600 in overtime for the fiscal year that began in March, village officials said.

Vetere's hours have been extended because vandals have tampered with many of the village's 500 or so parking meters, such as by jamming multiple coins in the meters' slots, village officials said.

The trustees voted to expand the overtime budget to $13,500 by transferring money from an unused line in the public works department's budget.

"As you can imagine, with one person walking the entire village collecting all the money, there's time when he needs overtime to repair or fix the meters," trustee Jorge Martinez said.

Before the trustees voted, resident Steve Malone questioned the transfer. He said the village's parking meters should be able to sustain themselves without budget transfers.

The parking meters garner about $220,000 per year in coins, village officials said.

"That's a revenue source, not an expense," Malone said.

Another resident, Peggy Lester, said the village should instead appropriate money to fix potholes on her street, Nassau Avenue.

Lester continued talking after Mayor Andrew Hardwick told her to stay on the topic of parking meters. Hardwick then had her escorted from the building by a police officer.

Lester was not charged with a crime, village officials said.