DANVILLE — City officials want the county to sign a new parking lease that will allow county employees to be fined $25 a day for parking their vehicles in downtown spaces that city officials want to keep open for patrons of businesses and restaurants.

For years, the county has leased parking spaces in the city parking garage and other city lots from the city for employees in the Vermilion County Courthouse and its annex. The city has proposed a new five-year lease that would cost the county $38,640 annually for 230 spaces in the city parking garage at North and Walnut streets and in other city-owned lots in the downtown area.

Included in that proposed lease is clause stating that all county pass holders assigned to the leased spaces will be fined $25 any time their registered vehicles are parked in the 0-100 and 100 blocks of Vermilion and Hazel streets and the 0-100 block of North Street or other city lots not designated for county parking when the county courthouse or annex offices are open for business.

Mayor Scott Eisenhauer said the city is trying to encourage employees who have those parking spaces made available to them to use them and free up spaces in front of retail businesses and restaurants downtown.

The county board will be taking the proposed lease with the city into consideration in coming weeks.

County board Chairman Jim McMahon said he supports any effort to help downtown businesses grow and get more customers, and if the city's idea is that this will help downtown businesses to get more customers, he's all for it. However, he said he does believe it's a little harsh on county employees, and he doesn't like to see them lose their rights.

Eisenhauer said employees of downtown businesses, not just county workers, are taking up spaces along the two-block area of Vermilion and North streets, and city officials will be working with downtown business owners to designate spaces for their employees to encourage them to leave the spaces in front of businesses and restaurants open.

Shelly Larson, superintendent of downtown services for the city, handles enforcement of downtown parking, and she said employees taking up spaces on Vermilion and North streets is a problem, and she takes enforcement measures against all downtown employees, not just county workers.

On Wednesday alone, she ticketed three downtown employees for being over the time limit, which is a $10 fine for the first offense and $25 for each subsequent offense, according to city ordinance.

Larson said one downtown employee owed more than $3,000 in parking-ticket fines, and the city had to revoke the person's driver's license to get payment.

Eisenhauer said overall, parking is a concern in the downtown area.

He said in a city survey of downtown businesses, the parking situation was identified as an issue.

Greg Wilson, owner of Chart Records at 131 N. Vermilion St., said for his business, which is in the second block north of Main Street, it's not a really pressing problem, but it is annoying. He said employees of nonretail businesses downtown take up one or more spots in front of his business for at least half the day. He said it used to be all day, until the city did some parking enforcement there.

"For the retail business, we definitely need the parking," said Wilson, who added that if downtown employees are going to be parked for any length of time, they should not take customer parking.

He said he and his employees have designated spots behind his building. Wilson said there's ample parking in the downtown area, but some employees are aggravated that they have to walk more than a block or half a block. Wilson said it's more of a problem for the Vermilion Street businesses in the block closer to Main Street, which includes the courthouse and annex.

Dannielle West works in that block, and she said she and her co-workers have been ticketed quite a bit by the city for parking in the Vermilion Street spaces. West said enforcement is not as consistent as it has been in the past, and days go by with no monitoring.

"If they are going to do that, why don't they put parking meters back in?" West said. "I think the parking meters would be a better idea."

West said she and her co-workers have permits to park in the lots off Hazel Street, which is one block east. But, she said, in winter, it's horrible to walk the sidewalks when they're not cleared.

Larson said she doesn't patrol heavily every day, and allows vehicles a longer time period than the city's ordinance designates. If the city's intent was to get tough, she said, she could patrol heavily throughout the day, handing out the initial $10 fine and subsequent $25 fines on a strict time frame.

But, Eisenhauer said, the city does not enforce as heavily as it has in the past.

"And, quite frankly, we don't want it that way," he said.

The city doesn't want patrons to be locked into a certain time period when visiting businesses and restaurants downtown, he said. The city wants the public to feel they can come downtown and shop or eat in a leisurely manner, he said, in hopes that they'll spend more time, and therefore more money, while out downtown.