Girard council approves manned speed camera program
RELATED: Ohio Senate bill would limit revenue from tickets issued through speed cameras
By Sarah Lehr
GIRARD
Brian Golden, a truck driver who often travels through Girard, is not pleased with city council’s approval of hand-held speed cameras.
Council voted this week to adopt a manned speed-camera program.
“It’s a money-maker,” said Golden, a Liberty resident who noted that he drives between 150,000 and 200,000 miles a year for his job. “They’re taking more and more money away from us poor working slobs.”
The cameras, which will be provided by a private company, snap a photo of a speeder’s license plate. The car’s owner later will receive a ticket in the mail. The citations will be civil, which means they will carry fines but will not count against the speeder’s driving record.
Police Chief Jeffrey Palmer said the city likely will choose Blue Line Solutions, a Tennessee-based company.
Because of a 2014 Ohio law effectively outlawing unmanned speed cameras, the hand-held cameras must be operated by a police officer. That officer has discretion about whether to pull the driver over.
Palmer said he believes the cameras would improve police efficiency. He noted the city police department has shrunk to 16 officers – a city ordinance mandates 21 – and said the department rarely has the manpower to devote officers specifically to traffic patrol.
Girard council approved a $100 flat fee for speeders under normal circumstances and a $150 fee for speeding in a construction zone. There also will be $25 or $50 fees for late payments. Under state law, a driver must be at least 10 miles over the speed limit to receive a fine.
Motorists will have the option to appeal the citations via an administrative hearing.
Councilman Steve Shelton, chairman of council’s Health and Safety Committee, said he became convinced about the necessity of the cameras after reviewing traffic data.
A report submitted by the Girard Police Department to federal agencies details 254 crash reports in 2015 and 242 in 2014. There were two fatal crashes in the city in 2014 and none in 2015. A city study of two points on U.S. Route 422 found 38.8 percent of 443 vehicles studied were at least 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. On state Route 711, 51.7 percent of 1,238 vehicles studied were at least 10 mph over the limit.
Council voted Monday night to appropriate 70 percent of the speed-camera revenue to the general fund and 30 percent to capital improvements for the police department.
The city currently has a general-fund deficit of about $250,000, said city Auditor Sam Zirafi.
Council voted to add an emergency clause to the camera ordinance, which allows it take effect promptly after being signed by the mayor. Mayor James Melfi has expressed his support for the program.
The cameras, however, will not be on the road immediately because the city still has to enter into a contract with the provider. Additionally, state law requires a warning period before fines are issued.
Councilman Thomas Grumley, D-4th, opposed the emergency-clause amendment and was the sole council person to vote against adopting the speed-camera program.
“I feel like they’re taking a valuable tool away from the police,” Grumley said, referring to how traffic stops can lead to arrests for other offenses such as driving under suspension, possession of drugs, carrying an illegal firearm or driving under the influence.
Girard resident Daniel Moadus, a former city councilman, threatened to contest the issue via a referendum on November’s ballot.
“To be honest, I think it’s a horrendous concept that soon every little burg on [Interstate 80] could have their own camera system,” Moadus said.
Moadus sued the city in 2005 over its unmanned camera program for speed and red-light enforcement. The city dropped that program in 2006 after a Trumbull County judge ruled the city had illegally switched the traffic offenses from criminal to civil violations in order to avoid restrictions mandated under Ohio law.
Shelton said he believed the new speed program is an improvement upon the program the city abandoned in 2006.
The city of Youngstown adopted a nearly identical manned speed-camera program in August 2015.