In 1950, a proposal for parking meters in Osceola was defeated. In 1953, a proposal made by a representative of a parking meter company for meters was again soundly defeated by a vote of the council after a hot session with local citizens. Public opinion was strongly against the parking meters.
On May 3, 1954, Osceola City Council signed a contract with a company for approximately 285 parking meters for around the square. The meters were to cost about $18,000, installed on a six-month trial and to be placed on both sides of the streets around the square.
The council’s action of entering into a contract to purchase the meters wasn’t generally known until a week later when information filtered out by various routes.
The mayor said a clause in the contract was that the city draw up an ordinance for the meters operation. There was no ordinance and the contract was invalid, the mayor believed.
The city fathers were on alert to keep the shipment of meters out of town and thwart the meter company’s threat they had a contract and would install the meters themselves if the city wouldn’t. The Osceola police had already delivered an order to the railway station agent that the city would refuse the shipment of the meters the company threatened to send.
Excitement began one morning when merchants arrived around the square to open their stores for business and along the curb were chalked little circles with “X’s” in the center.
Tension mounted swiftly. Merchants and bystanders gathered in little groups. It appeared that those who would install the parking meters had come in the night and marked the spots where the meters would be. The marks were in front of the stores where the proprietors were most opposed to the parking meters. The curbs marked were in front of the hotel, taverns, whiskey store and several other places.
The mayor went to city hall to launch the investigation. He learned the meters had not arrived. A little interrogation by the mayor with the superintendent of streets brought out the fact two city street employees had placed the chalk marks along the curb as a practical joke.
The mayor gave the employees 10 minutes to start cleaning the marks. Thirty minutes later, there wasn’t a chalk mark showing.
After listening to two hours of opposition to the meters from a delegation of businessmen and farmers at a council meeting, a motion was passed by the council to table the meter ordinance and the mayor and city attorney were directed to notify the meter company the contract was cancelled.
In September, the council passed a 5,000 word traffic code as a result of a study ordered by the mayor after all parking regulations were lifted following the parking meter controversy.