POMEROY — Changes are coming to some parking meters in downtown Pomeroy and we’re not talking quarters or dimes.

Parking meter rates are staying the same though how motorists feed those meters will be different. Also, some spaces will be taken away and others added. Pomeroy Police Chief Mark E. Proffitt said starting this week, motorists will pay parking meters on Court Street (the side facing the Court Street Grill) on the driver’s side, not the passenger side of their vehicles. At the Court Street and Second Street intersection, the loading zone has now been made into three parking spaces for motorcycles - meters for these spaces will be in place soon.

Proffitt said the addition of spaces for motorcycles adds more parking for the cyclists without compromising pedestrian crossings or turn lanes. A new parking space, complete with meter, will also be added on Second Street near the Peoples Bank drive-thru. Other spaces are also being “eyed” to add additional paid parking downtown, Proffitt said.

There will be two to three meters taken out along Sycamore Street with the curb being painted yellow to prevent parking. Proffitt said this area has seen some accidents at the intersection of Sycamore and West Main Streets and the parking meters are not heavily used.

Proffitt said the parking meters will also be “groomed” downtown, meaning, the poles will be painted to look more appealing (at least aesthetically) and arrows will be placed to alert drivers of which meter to pay. Pomeroy has also been repainting curbs and parking spaces downtown.

Parking meters, fines and parking passes bring in sometimes as much as $3,000 plus a month to Pomeroy’s general fund. This year, parking meters, tickets and passes are predicted to bring in $26,500 and as of April 30, $7,229.45 had been collected. This means by the end of April, parking meters had brought in 27.28 percent of its predicted income with another seven months to go - Pomeroy “frees” the meters between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day for holiday shoppers.

However, parking meter fines pale in comparison to revenue generated by Pomeroy Mayor’s Court which is predicted to generate $190,000 this year. As of April 30, $39,399.59 had already been collected which is 20.73 percent of its expected revenue for 2011.