Parking fees not raising funds for network

While a pay-as-you park system has been installed at CLSC Lac St. Louis in Pointe Claire, the local public health network will not be seeing one cent of monies collected.

The parking meter system was installed by the private property owner of the building in mid-November and that corporation will collect and keep all the funds, according to West Island Health and Social Services Centre (WIHSC) spokesman Louis-Pascal Cyr. “The landlord decided to put the parking meters up,” he said. “The main reason is because people would park there and then take the bus. So there was no space for (CLSC) clients or staff.”

The CLSC is the sole tenant at the 180 Cartier Avenue building. The WIHSC plans to keep leasing the building, which is conveniently located just south of Highway 20, Cyr said.

Meanwhile, the meters have raised the ire of at least one regular client of the CLSC. Pointe Claire resident Marna Pennell, who has reduced mobility, said the parking machine is not located between the handicapped parking spots and the main entrance, making it harder for her to use. “It’s a long way to go to pay,” she said. “I think the owner (landlord) decided to make some money.”

Pennell said if there was an ongoing problem with bus or train users parking at the CLSC, leaving their cars there all day, tickets could have been issued to solve the problem.

She added the north-side parking lot at the CLSC is now restricted to staff, eliminating two handicapped reserved spaces for the public.

Pennell, who has had three appointments a week at the CLSC for a few months, mentioned she is only upset with the new parking system and is grateful for the “wonderful” medical care she is receiving at Lac St. Louis.

The WIHSC also operates the Lakeshore General Hospital, which has paid parking but is a publicly-owned property. The network also runs the CLSC Pierrefonds but it owns the Gouin Boulevard building. There are no plans to install parking meters at that CLSC, Cyr added. <@Cp>Chronicle, Jacques Pharand<@$p>