At least one town councilman does not think the Board of Education's decision earlier this week to kill the proposed high school parking lot at the Armory means the idea is entirely dead.

Earlier this week, the BOE reached a consensus to discontinue the pursuit of a student parking lot behind the Armory for use by WHS students. They said that because of current economic and budgetary factors, along with survey results showing students and parents do not want to pay above $100 - $200 for a parking space, funding a project of such magnitude is not feasible at the moment.

Fourth Ward Councilman Keith Loughlin, who represents many of the streets impacted by student parking said he is committed to getitng student cars off of the residential streets near the high school.

"The proposed Armory lot is not dead to me," Loughlin said.

Loughlin mentioned the "permanent" and "global solution," and said that in his opinion, any long term parking plan must include off-street parking for students.

"The current places where students are parking are residential neighborhoods, and the residents do not want students parking on their street," said Loughlin.

He said he agrees with taxpayers when they express their dissatisfaction about their streets being used as the high school parking lot. The issue was one of the top ward issues in Loughlin's successful campaign last year to wrest the Council seat from former Councilman Tom Bigosinski.

If the Armory plan were to come back into the picture at some point in a more favorable economic atmosphere, Loughlin would have students pay a "reasonable amount" in fees to offset the costs. The BOE objected to the cost for the lot being charged by the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Loughlin said that he would not advocate that the residents living near the high school fund a student parking lot.

"A parking lot, for me, should be paid for by the people who use it," he said.

With the Armory lot being off the table for the time being, other solutions Loughlin had, which he stressed as short-term solutions only, include the re-engineering of the WHS faculty lot to provide spaces for students and alternate-side-of-the-street parking for students and residents.

"I would like to remove all student parking from both sides of the street," Loughlin stressed as the ultimate goal, however.

Residents speaking at Tuesday evening's BOE meeting noted that the current parking situation has caused many difficulities with leaving their driveways and has caused safety concerns with obscured views on roads and increased car traffic.

He also suggested making parking available for high school students at Edison Intermediate School, which he said would appeal especially to students who play sports in the afternoon at Kelher Stadium.

One thing Loughlin, the vice chairman of the Council's public safety, transportation and parking committee, said he and the Town Council are unwilling to do is restrict parking on more streets surrounding the high school, which would effectively push the problem to other streets in the vicinity.

"That is not a solution that the majority of the council is comfortable with…. I want to fix this problem, not push the problem," he said.

In addition, Loughlin said, "I would not support any solution that would inhibit students' ability to drive to school."

He said that students have a right to go to school, drive, and park; but residents have a right to safety, peace, and quiet on their streets.

Councilwoman Joann Neylan, the chairwoman of the Council's public safety committee, said that she and her colleagues remain committed to developing a solution for the parking situation. Neylan and her committee have met with BOE members including board president Julia Walker and Ginny Leiz, who chairs the board's ad-hoc parking committee.

"The fact that one of our options is off the table does not mean our discussion is closed," Neylan said of the Armory parking lot being taken out of consideration by the BOE.