Street conditions and downtown parking concerns were raised to members of the Jamestown City Council this week. Pictured is East Second Street in the city. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

The owner of a Jamestown building believes more focus should be made to the city’s downtown area when it comes to street conditions and parking.

Peter Miraglia with Chautauqua Music brought up several concerns to the Jamestown City Council. He said his wife severely sprained her ankle recently after accidentally stepping into a sunken manhole cover.

“We’ve been avoiding them all summer, and she just happened to pull up in front of one,” he told council members during their meeting Tuesday. “(She) was unloading the car, forgot about it and fell.”

Miraglia previously reported the covers, which he said are well-below the street surface, to the city Department of Public Works. He said the problem has only gotten worse because of street repaving efforts that have created a deeper crater.

He’s worried that his concerns are not being communicated to the right city department.

“I kind of blame myself. … I worry about apathy,” he said Tuesday. “In my younger days, I probably would have been on the phone more, and I kind of blame myself for not really pursuing that. … I should have kept calling until I got some action. Again, street is re-paved, circles around them. You’re thinking that something is going to happen but nothing ever did. No barricades, nothing.”

Miraglia brought up another downtown-related concern to the council. He also criticized the city’s parking system in which some spots require payment and others are considered “free zones.”

The system, he said, is hurting businesses that are trying to draw customers downtown.

“It’s convoluted. It’s backwards,” he said of the city’s parking. “You’re writing more tickets than you are getting parking revenues. That’s a problem.”

He referenced the city’s proposal last year to raise downtown parking meter rates to 50 cents for a half hour. Mayor Eddie Sundquist proposed a similar hike during his first year in office.

City Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At Large, asked Miraglia whether he believes the city should do away with paid parking.

Miraglia suggested a study be conducted to review the city’s current parking system. He said it’s “grossly unfair” that some streets have three-hour free parking zones while other streets do not.

Any increase in parking rates, he said, will fall on businesses and customers. He also believes there’s more parking spaces than there is demand during the week, which would negate the need to pay for a space.