The board of trustees was asked Monday night to add Eagle Street to the growing list of residential neighborhoods with two-hour parking to thwart hospital employees who continue to monopolize on-street spaces during the workday.

Rick Jagels, a member of the village's zoning board of appeals and a resident of Eagle Street, attended the board meeting with his wife, Kathy, and told the board that as much as it meant an inconvenience to neighborhood residents, he wanted to see the time limit for parking.

"We reluctantly request two-hour parking even though it limits our use," he said.

Jagels has spoken out before about the impact of Bassett Hospital employees parking on residential streets, particularly during the ZBA's review of the hospital's $52 million facilites managment plan earlier this year.

On-street parking by hospital employees has shifted in recent years from one neighborhood to another as streets were designated two-hour parking zones in an effort to address the congestion.

The use of Eagle Street by hospital employees came as a result of time limits on nearby streets and has reached a level which makes parking unavailable to residents and their guests and hampers snow removal.

"It makes negotiating our driveway difficult at times," he told the trustees. "I think it's a bigger problem than Eagle Street."

Police committee chairman Stuart Taugher told Jagels that two-hour parking on Eagle St. had been discussed at their last meeting following the presentation of petition from a number of residents on the street asking for the time limit. The committee did not approve the change because, in part, they believed hospital employees would simply move on to the next street, Taugher said.

Taugher did encourage Jagels to attend the next police committee meeting where the matter would be addressed again.

Jagels said Tuesday that life on Eagle Street had changed drastically from what it was 17 years ago.

"I can't tell you how much different the street was when we moved here," he said.

"We had parking on both side of the street and it was rarely a problem," his wife added.

In the meantime, the planning board is waiting for Bassett Healthcare to return with a proposal to address employee parking as part of their facilities management plan.

Last month hospital vice-president Joe Middleton had written to the board saying they hoped they would be able to have the parking proposal in September.

"The preliminary engineering review should be completed in early to mid-September. Upon completion, Bassett will select an option or options to develop additional parking to address current and future needs at the main campus location," Middleton stated in his letter.

It now appears it will not be done in time for the next planning board meeting September 24.

Hospital spokesperson Leslie Raabe said Tuesday that Lamont Engineers, who had been retained by the hospital, had not completed its work on the proposal.

The hospital had planned to use the site of tennis courts at Bassett Hall for a new parking lot to address concerns about hospital employees parking. Middleton told the planning board at the time that the hospital planned to create 75 additional spaces, but the tennis courts would have to go.

Parking was not originally part of the first phase of the project, but the hospital had agreed to address the issue during the planning board's review and reassured the board it was committed to solving the parking problem.