Speed-detection cameras were an item on the agenda for Trenton’s City Council meeting again Monday night.
This was the fourth time the cameras have been an item on the agenda in the last five meetings.
City Attorney David Lang said he met with Chief of Public Safety Matthew Rexroat and Mark Hutchison, onwer of Blue Line Solutions (one of the speed camera companies), on Dec. 11 before speaking to other city and county attornies to come up with the best course of action for the city.
Lang said he spoke with attorneys from High Springs, Mayo, Eustis and Hillsborough County, all of whom have at least discusssed using speed-detection cameras in school zones.
The purpose of the conversations was to determine what needed to be included in any possible requests for qualifications and the order of the steps Trenton needed to take.
Lang said Mayo was still in the discussion phase. Eustis will send out RFQs, Lang said, but it will not do that for another six months.
Hillsborough passed an ordinance for the cameras and sent it to the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office, which will create RFQs and have the County approve them before sending them out, Lang said.
Lang added, based on what he had been told by other attorneys, that Trenton was likely to be sued if they moved forward without issuing an RFQ because of the amount of money these programs generate, not only for the cities but the companies that produce the cameras.
Lang said the attorneys for Hillsborough County and the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office told him the statute requires an independent traffic study that shows a need for the program.
Rexroat said two studies had been conducted, including the one conducted by Blue Line Solutions. He added that the results of the second study indicated that more drivers were speeding through the school zones than the Blue Line Solutions study.
Lang told the commissioners that they needed to pass an ordinance before they moved forward with the process.
Commissioner Craig Ruede moved to begin the process of creating an ordinance. Commissioner Russel Williams seconded the motion, and the commission voted unanimously to move forward with the ordinance.
An ordinance will be drafted and brought back before the commissioners.