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A parking enforcement officer in Harrisburg cites a vehicle for an expired street meter along North Second Street in February. Parking officials said enforcement officers try to be mindful of customers who are in the midst of paying for parking to avoid erroneous tickets.

HARRISBURG- For the second time in two months, Larry Bosak got a parking ticket while paying at a street meter in downtown Harrisburg.

Bosak manages several apartments and commercial offices downtown and frequently visits the area of North Third and Pine streets. That's where he got slapped with a parking ticket at 9:42 a.m. on Feb. 17. He had fed his meter at 9:41 a.m.

This week, on Monday, he paid a meter at 2:36 p.m., the same minute he received a ticket. He's had other run-ins with parking enforcement officers over the last year, he said.

"Amazing," he wrote in an email to PennLive. "This is old and tiresome. I cannot believe that almost every time I stop downtown that I have an encounter of some sort with parking."

Many drivers have parked along Harrisburg streets for months without a single problem. But other drivers have been driven to the brink of insanity with repeated bad tickets or fines from what they considered overly aggressive enforcement.

Bosak's situation brings up the question: Who is responsible for looking out for whom when a customer is paying for parking?

On Monday, Bosak said he saw the enforcement officer walk across the street and write him a ticket while he was paying at the kiosk.

Bosak then grabbed the ticket and marched over the Standard Parking's company office, where they told him they voided the ticket.

After Bosak's ticket in February, he said parking officials told him to look out for parking attendants to make sure they see him. But Bosak doesn't believe the onus should be on him to scout the area for parking enforcement officers.

That's sort of "like making sure I don't get stabbed in the back," he said.

John Gass, a director with the parking system, indicated enforcement officers and patrons should be looking out for each other. He said enforcement officers are trained to be mindful of their surroundings and those who may be paying at a meter.

But in any parking system controlled by street meters, Gass said it is inevitable that customers at times may receive ticket while in the process of paying.

"The frequency of this occurring is significantly decreased with the introduction of credit card and mobile payment options as are offered in Harrisburg," Gass wrote in an email to PennLive. "Patrons no longer have to search for (or go in to a store or restaurant to ask for) the appropriate amount of coins in order to pay. We encourage all customers to pay promptly at the nearest meter or by using the mobile app."

Standard Parking will review any tickets from customers who believe they were cited while feeding a meter on a case-by-case basis, Gass said.

Parking officials have pledged to improve customer service and reduce erroneous tickets. They are planning several measures of parking relief, including a five-minute grace period for expired meters that could begin later this month.

For what it's worth, parking enforcement officers won't be issuing citations for street meters on Friday, since it's a holiday.