Joliet Helps Keep Penny Parking Alive And Well In Sycamore
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Officials in Joliet are helping another suburb keep penny parking a way of life for a few more years.
Far west suburban Sycamore is one of the few places left where a penny still buys you a legal parking space, but Sycamore Police parking enforcement officer Giovanni Serra said it's getting harder to maintain their penny parking meters.
"No one makes the timers for these anymore," he said.
As Joliet replaces its own aging meters with modern digital ones, officials there have agreed to donate nearly 600 surplus coin-operated parking meters to Sycamore.
Serra said Sycamore will gladly accept the donation. He said, unlike other cities, Sycamore doesn't see parking as a source of revenue.
"The city's not looking to make a fortune on this thing," he said. "They're trying to keep everything kind of nostalgic, and just kind of make it a quaint city to be in."
Joliet's donation will keep Sycamore's penny meters going for at least five more years. Even at just a penny for 12 minutes, Serra said some people don't feed the meters.
"We do have people that don't pay the ticket, because they think it's like Barney Fife out here," he said.
The ticket for not feeding the meter in Sycamore carries a fine of only $1.