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Council declines golf-cart pilot for now, directs staff to pursue parking metering and wayfinding
Summary
After reviewing two private proposals for a golf-cart circulator and lengthy discussion about costs, equity and usage, Milford council decided not to proceed with a three-year golf-cart contract now and asked staff to explore metered parking, improved signage and parking information in the Milford On The Go app.
Milford City Council and staff discussed a proposed downtown golf-cart circulator and competing vendor proposals on April 15 but decided not to proceed with a three-year contract at this time.
City Manager Benjamin Gunderson presented two vendor proposals — one from "Guest" and one from "Locomotive" — that proposed three-year contracts with the city owning the vehicles after the first year and a mix of exterior/interior advertising to offset costs. Gunderson said proposals would operate four carts in a defined geofence to improve accessibility and reduce vehicle use in the downtown core.
Council members raised concerns about cost, geographic equity and likely use. One council member noted that residents living on higher terrain would be unlikely to use a cart service that could not reach their neighborhood without driving down; others said the service benefits restaurants more than retail and expressed concern about committing to a three-year contract without data showing demand.
After discussion, Gunderson summarized council direction: “So we'll say no on the on the golf carts for now, and and then what I'll do is I'll look into, I've worked with, parking meter companies before, so I'll have a very easy time to move in that direction, and then I'll bring that to council, and we'll go from there.” The council discussion also identified several near-term alternatives: metered parking in targeted lots (25 Main and Harvest Market were named as candidates), better wayfinding and signage to underused lots, adding a parking tab to the Milford On The Go mobile app, and reminders to private property owners (for example, Baker Heating and Cooling) that some lots are not for all-day parking.
No formal ordinance or contract was adopted for the cart service; council directed staff to pursue parking metering options, improve wayfinding, and return with recommendations. Gunderson said staff would prepare meter options and bring them back to council for consideration.
