Council eyes speed cameras

By Tim Yovich

A resolution will be introduced seeking authority to impose a ‘sin tax.’

WARREN — The wheels are now turning for the city to use an automated camera system to catch speeders.

Councilman Bob Dean, D-at large, chairman of council’s traffic and safety committee, said he will have legislation drafted to adopt the plan.

During a Monday committee meeting in which most lawmakers heard a presentation by Maryland-based Traffipax Traffic Safety Systems, no opposition was raised against using speed cameras.

“It’s nice to see council and the police department on the same page,” Dean said after the meeting.

Councilman M. Andrew Barkley, D-3rd, said he couldn’t see any negative aspect of the system.

It uses an unmanned radar system to identify speeding vehicles and photograph the license plate number of the vehicle. After the date is checked by the police department, a citation is issued.

Former Mayor Hank Angelo, who works for Traffipax, said such a system can improve traffic safety and generate revenue for the city.

Mark Hammer, Traffipax vice president of sales, said the city would determine where the cameras would be placed.

When the system was used in Girard, it reduced the number of traffic accidents by 40 percent in six months, Traffipax statistics show.

Police Capt. Tim Bowers noted that the cameras would be used in areas where speed enforcement is difficult because there is no room to pull speeders off the road.

Girard still has $185,000 in escrow that was collected within months of instituting the system, which it no longer uses.

In 2005, Girard City Council decided to use the mobile cameras to photograph the rear license plates of speeders. A civil fine was imposed on the owner of the vehicle.

Use of the camera was suspended there in 2006 after Judge John M. Stuard of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court ruled the device is in violation of the Ohio Constitution.

The Ohio Supreme Court, however, ruled in February that using the camera did not violate the constitution because the fine and penalties are civil violations rather than criminal in nature.

Dean said the legislation he will have introduced will change the city fines from criminal to civil.

The high court’s decision was the result of a case that challenged use of the system in Akron. That city used the cameras in school zones after a child was struck and killed in a crosswalk in 2005.

Girard Mayor James Melfi said the decision to restore use of the camera is in city lawmakers’ hands.

“They haven’t shown the interest, nor have I approached them,” Melfi said Monday.

Also, during Wednesday’s council meeting, Dean and Barkley will introduce a resolution to create a “sin tax” to increase city revenue.

The resolution asks the Ohio General Assembly to enact legislation giving cities the opportunity to collect an excise tax on all liquor, beer and wine and tobacco products.

Although Dean said the amount of the tax hasn’t been determined, he believes the income would be enough to make up an anticipated $2 million shortfall in the general fund.

The money would be used for crime prevention, blight removal and nuisance eradication, Dean added.

The state Legislature would actually give Trumbull County the authority to collect the tax if individual cities approve it at the ballot box.

yovich@vindy.com