Dunkirk needs to reinstate parking meters as a way to generate a little bit of revenue, city Councilperson Nancy Nichols suggested last week.

Nichols acknowledged she might get verbally “beat up” for the proposal. She made it at a meeting of the Common Council’s Department of Public Works Committee — attended only by herself, city DPW head Randy Woodbury, his deputy Mike Przybycien, and the OBSERVER.

The meters are decades old and some of them are still on city streets, such as Central Avenue. Nichols said she told state Comptroller’s Office officials that the city owns about 80 meters.

The meters are “not state of the art” but offer “something to generate something” in additional revenue, she said.

Nichols said the state officials encouraged turning the meters back on — even though it would generate thousands of dollars at best, not the millions the city really needs.

“We need it. They suggest getting the parking meters in,” she said. “It’s just so we’re trying every which way we can to help ourselves.”