For the second time in about three years, Cape Elizabeth residents will be voting on whether the town should charge parking fees at Fort Williams Park.

After a lengthy debate at a workshop meeting on Monday, the Town Council informally agreed to send the controversial issue – which town voters soundly rejected in November 2006 – out to referendum. The council is expected to vote on the issue at its Feb. 8 meeting.

The date of the referendum has not yet been set, but councilors agreed it would be on the same date that residents vote on the school budget. That date remained undetermined as of early this week, but is typically in May or June.

The park’s annual operating budget, funded by town taxpayers, is about $173,000. The park also requires funding for capital improvement projects.

The workshop meeting Monday was the council’s chance to give their views on the issue. Earlier this month, the council took public comment on the parking fee proposal. About 40 people attended that Jan. 4 meeting, and most voiced strong opposition to the plan.

However, councilors on Monday said they had received e-mails and calls from many other constituents who support charging parking fees.

Councilors debated the issue for 21?2 hours Monday. Five of the seven councilors said they supported charging parking fees because times are different now, with both the school and municipal budgets facing shortfalls in the economic recession.

Councilors said the town can no longer afford to spend taxpayer dollars to support the popular public park, so Fort Williams has to raise enough income to be self-sustaining. Parking fees are the easiest and quickest way to do that, councilors concluded.

“I think the issue is ripe again, and the issue just changed,” Councilor David Sherman said.

He and councilors Sara Lennon, James Walsh, Frank Governali and Anne Swift-Kayatta said they supported charging parking fees.

Councilors Penny Jordan and Jessica Sullivan opposed the fees.

“I was brought up that you share what you have,” Jordan said.

She said that Cape Elizabeth should continue to share Fort Williams freely with the public.

“I believe that fees will really make a statement about who we are as a community and what our belief system is,” she said.

She and Sullivan suggested finding other ways to raise money at the park.

Residents at the Jan. 4 meeting had urged the council to take other steps to make the park self-sustaining. Suggestions included an ice cream shop and an eatery that sells lobster, having the park host a farmers market, concerts and special events, turning an old battery into a memorial interring the ashes of people who have been cremated, and licensing the Portland Head Light image.

Councilors agreed on Monday they would continue to explore such options, but said such projects would take more time. Parking fees would generate funds quickly, they said.

“We’re in a crisis,” Councilor Sara Lennon said. Both the school and municipal budgets are facing shortfalls because of curtailment of state revenue sharing in the economic recession. If approved, parking fees could be fully implemented by the summer of 2011, councilors said.

The council is proposing that from April 1 to Nov. 1, a $5 flat fee be charged for those in passenger cars or small vehicles to park at Fort Williams. The fee, which visitors would pay by credit card or cash at automated kiosks around the park, would be the same whether a car parked for a short time or all day.

However, under the proposal discussed on Monday, town residents could obtain an annual parking pass for $10 and non-residents could buy such an annual pass for $20.

The council also plans to charge fees to tour buses and trolleys. However, councilors decided Monday that they would not send that issue to voters, but instead vote themselves to impose those fees.

Several councilors said they also would have preferred to vote on the entire fee issue rather than send it out to voters.

“We are elected to do the citizens’ business,” said Walsh, who was against a referendum.

However, the majority of the council said that because the issue had gone out to referendum once and been so soundly defeated, it needed to go to voters again.

In November 2006, residents voted 62 percent to 38 percent against a proposal for a pay/display parking fee at the park.

Fort Williams, a town-owned park with expansive views of Casco Bay, is the home of historic Portland Head Light and draws visitors from around the world. An estimated 250,000 people visit the park each year.

Under the parking fee proposal, Fort Williams in three years could cover installation of the kiosks and other park expenses and still net an additional $224,227 in income.

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