The Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee approved staff’s recommendation to pursue a five‑year hardware‑as‑a‑service agreement with Flash Parking (or a comparable vendor) to modernize equipment in city parking garages.

Will McDonald of the parking department told the committee the existing garage equipment is more than nine years old and lacks current license‑plate recognition, credentialing and validation features. The proposed contract would replace equipment citywide with low‑touch plate‑based access, layered credentialing for residents, employees and businesses, and a full warranty over the contract term. The parking director said the hardware‑as‑a‑service option spreads cost, preserves flexibility and allows the city to reevaluate technology at the end of the five‑year term; staff said the difference between purchasing the equipment outright and the HaaS arrangement is minimal (about a 1% difference over five years).

Staff estimated the contract value at roughly $4,000,000 over five years (about $30,000 more per month than current equipment maintenance) and said the expense will be borne by the parking enterprise fund rather than the general fund. The committee approved returning the item to the full commission with a favorable recommendation while retaining the item for a more detailed discussion of procurement and contract structure.