Council in process of tying up deal for multistorey

Seamus Enright

Cavan County Council is in the process of tying up a deal for the multi-storey car-park in Cavan Town after being given the green-light by the Department for Environment to draw down a long-term loan to purchase the property.
The €4m loan over a 30-year period to buy the car-park outright was secured towards the end of June, and sees the local authority fulfil a controversial contractual obligation which has forced it to buy the loss-making car-park from owners, the nine person-strong Virginia Consortium.
As per a “watertight” legal deal, Cavan County Council became liable to honour the agreement after the dissolution of Cavan Town Council, who through its company, Glassell Ltd, signed off on the lucrative deal for the Elliott’s Construction built car park back in 2001.
It means that for the next three decades at least, Cavan County Council will hand over up to €100,000 in principal loan repayments annually, and a further €100,000 in interest payments. The remaining €2.68m sum after the loan payment will be provided for from existing Council coffers and paid parking fees.
The seven-level off-street parking property has sustained losses of over €5m in rent and running costs since opening in 2001, and by the end of 2015, will have cost the Council over €12m.
However, eliminating the cost of annual lease payment by purchasing the car park could potentially claw back something, possibly up to €300,000 per year against the expect loan repayment.

Validated parking
The deal comes as recommendations have been made by an elected member aimed at increasing use of the facility.
At the recent meeting of the Council’s elected members earlier this month, a proposal was placed on the agenda by Sinn Féin Councillor suggesting that a scheme of validated parking that would see customers park for free providing they can prove a minimum level of expenditure in local businesses. The car-park has a general usage capacity of just over a third.
Cllr Greenan said there was an “appetite for free parking” in the town, something he feels could be borne out, and badly affect the town centre, once the long-awaited Tesco superstore at Tullacmongan is completed.
He said: “If a person parks for two to three hours and realises a minimum expenditure with local businesses in the town, and the person staff in the multi-storey can see that money is spent, say €20, then there is a benefit in letting them park there free of charge.”
While Cllr Greenan admitted that some “fine-tuning” to the proposal was needed, he said: “The thinking is to get bigger use of the car-park and bring a boost for local businesses as well.” The idea was greeted with support from fellow party member Paddy McDonald.
Responding, Director of Services Joe McLoughlin said there was merit to what was being proposed, and while he thought a sum of €20 was too low - “it’s easy to spend €20 these days”. Any adoption of the plan would have to be assessed against the potential loss suffered by the authority.