City Commission to consider two Paid Parking Vendor proposals

The City of Fernandina Beach took its next steps Wednesday toward possibly implementing a paid parking system in the historic downtown district, as an evaluation committee selected two companies to make presentations before the city commission.

Following a detailed review of proposals submitted under RFP 2025-05, the city's evaluation committee recommended SP+ of Chicago, Illinois and Elite Parking Services of Jacksonville, Florida to present their proposals at an upcoming city commission meeting in July or early August. The two vendors emerged as the top candidates from a field of seven companies, with SP+ earning the highest committee average score of 398 and Elite Parking close behind with 388.

Although a third firm, One Parking Inc., also scored competitively with 392 points, the company was not selected to present to the city commission after committee members voted to move forward with only the top two firms.

The five-member evaluation committee included Deputy City Manager Jeremiah Glisson, Airport Manager Nathan Coyle, Parks and Recreation Director Scott Mikelson, Downtown District Manager Lisa Finkelstein and Police Captain David Bishop.

About a dozen people attended the committee meeting along with Commissioners Joyce Tuten and Genece Minshew.

The paid parking proposals have not been made public despite the city conducting an open meeting to select the finalists. Under state statues, RFP submissions are not public until 30 days after they are received.

The committee's selection process prioritized a company's ability to deliver on performance metrics, budget transparency, and alignment with the city's needs. The seven proposals were assessed on criteria including:

• Revenue-sharing vs. expense-based models

• Resident vs. non-resident rate differentiation

• Onboarding and implementation strategy

• Use of technology (e.g., license plate readers, mobile ticketing)

• Customer service and enforcement policies

SP+ impressed committee members with a projected $2.4 million in net revenue to the city and a golf cart-based enforcement plan.

"I do believe that SP+ One Parking did some good homework here and talked about resident rates. I feel that that's very important to our community from what I've been hearing," Mikelson said.

Elite Parking, the Jacksonville-based firm operating in 15 states, stood out with a free resident parking program, robust automation, and a low 3% revenue share model.

"What I liked about Elite Parking it's a Jacksonville -based company, really strong automation and proprietary e -track services," Glisson said. "They serve 15 states. They seem plugged into our community. They were sensitive and aware to the challenges that a historic downtown coastal community would have. They proposed a free resident program in their annual permit. They had a very aggressive revenue generation model"

The move toward paid parking has been on a fast track since the city commission conducted a workshop last April to consider potential revenue streams. Commissioners agree that paid parking should focus at improving parking space turnover, managing limited downtown space, and generating funds for improving infrastructure.

The Committee members voiced strong support for vendors that understood the nuances of Fernandina Beach’s tourist economy and that offered flexible, community-sensitive pricing models.

"I think for me, the performance delivery plan was the most important section," Finkelstein said.  I liked the revenue sharing proposals. I prefer that because I think it incentivized the company to work with the city as a true partner."

Some of the proposals even extended beyond downtown, incorporating dynamic pricing and additional parking lot management, though initial implementation is expected to focus on the historic core bordered by Ash and Alachua Streets.

City staff have been directed to coordinate with both SP+ and Elite Parking, to schedule their vendor presentations at the next available city commission meeting. The commission will likely decide whether to go forward with paid parking following discussion about the presentations.

Vendor	Score	Highlights
SP Plus	398	Highest revenue, expense-only model, wide city experience
One Parking	392	60+ years of municipal experience, phased rollout
Elite Parking	388	Strong tech stack, resident-friendly features, revenue share