Three hours into the meeting as the board was about to break for lunch, some of the consensus reached earlier in the morning appeared to be dissolving, as the mayor and individual board members continued to press for the options they favored.

The board scheduled the special session following more than two hours of comments from the public Monday _ many of whom asked the trustees to slow the process.

Early in Wednesday’s meeting, board members sought to reach an agreement about where paid parking would be implemented and in a straw vote decided Main and Pioneer streets would switch to paid parking during June July and August.

The vote was four-to-three, with Mayor Carol Waller and trustees Eric Hage, and Milo Stewart voting against it, saying they believed it was best to start with the Doubleday Field lot only.

Paul Kuhn, who chairs the police committee said he was opposed to Doubleday Field at this point because of concerns about where downtown employees would park.

If the village does not use Doubleday Field for paid parking now, it means the board respected the wishes of many of the people we have heard from, he said.

Kuhn said he favors putting pay and display machines on Main and Pioneer Streets.

``I think they will blend right in. I’m very much in favor of sticking with the proposal from the police committee,’’ he said.

``The plan is very, very simple,’’ said Grace Kull. ``The basic plan is so simple, I don’t know why people don’t buy into it. I think we should stick to what we came up with.’’

Jeff Katz said everyone has come to the

board with valid points, but still believes the village can use the police committee resolution as a framework to implement paid parking.

Lynne Mebust, who was the primary author of the polcie committee plan still favored paid parking on the streets.

But Stewart said he came away from Monday night’s meeting with the message to start small.

``If we can’t start with Doubleday Field, maybe we shouldn’t start at all,’’ he said. ``I don’t want to see us get in over our heads. We’ve done that before.’’

Eric Hage also favored starting with Doubleday Field.

Waller said the village should start small. She said she was hearing from residents that they wanted the board to wait and continue to research paid parking.

``I believe there are plenty of spaces for people to park _ it’s a matter of convenience. Are we here to protect convenience or do what’s best for the village?’’ he asked.

Waller said the village should start small.

She said she was hearing from residents that they wanted the board to wait and continue to research paid parking.

Board members also reached a consensus abut what to charge and when. The parking fee will be 50 cents for each half hour or two dollars an hour.

Paid parking would be in affect only during the months of June, July and August during the village’s busy summer tourist season. The remainder of the year, parking would be free on Main and Pioneer Streets. Two hour parking would remain in place except for the holiday season from Thanksgiving to Martin Luther King Day.

Trustees debated if the rate was too high, but decided that if they are going to limit it to the summer season in an attempt to target tourists, they would also charge a higher price.

``I can’t imagine two dollars an hour would be a problem for anyone,’’ Kuhn said.

``Start on the low end and not the high end,’’ Hage replied. ``Keep the price as low as possible at first. We don’t know the impact it will have.’’

``It’s already a major concession to limit it to the high season,’’ Mebust said. ``We have to make enough money to place the machines on Main Street. If we’re condensing the season so much we have to raise the rates.’’

The discussion moved to parking permits and Doubleday Field, which Mebust said has been the stumbling block all along.

Waller expressed her concern about investing over $100,000 in pay and display machines for the streets and lot and again tried to convince the board of her desire to limit paid parking to Doubleday Field only.

``There’s no reason we can’t go the streets in the future,’’ she said.

``I’ll buy Doubleday Field if you can tell me where the employees are going to park,’’ Mebust said.

The board did not complete its discussions prior to press time.