Running red lights in McComb may get more expensive.
Officials discussed the installation of red light and speed cameras on McComb roadways during a city board work session Monday.
The cameras would be free to the city, with the cost of installation and maintenance returned through tickets issued, said Rachel Bierma, a sales manager for Traffipax, the business that manufactures the proposed cameras.
Bierma said Traffipax generally asks for a three-year contract on red light cameras to allow enough time for the company to be repaid.
Speed cameras, which use laser beams to measure the time elapsed as a vehicle travels from one point to another, could be installed as quickly as 30 to 60 days.
Red light cameras would take three to four months to appear on city-owned roads and at least six months to a year to appear on roads requiring Mississippi Department of Transportation permission, Bierma said.
The cameras take two still shots and a 12-second video clip at defined times — and are in bulletproof casings that also withstand changes in humidity or air salinity.
The video clip also can be used to help reconstruct crime scenes in cases such as amber alerts or robberies.
“Anything where you need to go back and take a look,” Mayor Zach Patterson said. “It can help us with the apprehension of a felon or a suspect.”
“It’s a turn-key solution,” Bierma told the board. “We as a vendor try to handle as much as possible of this program so that the city is not having to take on any additional administration. We do a public relations campaign, assistance with site selection by providing red light running analysis, provision, installation and maintenance of all equipment, processing of incidents … and support the city in handling any legal challenges with expert testimony.”
For the cameras to be activated, the city would have to pass a local ordinance defining a civil penalty, provide police review of proposed sites and set up a way for people to contest tickets.
Tickets issued would be similar to handicap parking tickets in that they would be one-time citations that wouldn’t go on driving records or affect insurance, Bierma said.
The idea behind such systems is to curb the violent crashes that can occur at busy intersections.
Bierma said 200,000 crashes in the U.S. each year are attributable to a driver running a red light, causing 150,000 injuries, and 1,000 fatalities.
“These are usually side-impact crashes,” Bierma told the board. “The seriousness of these types of crashes are much higher than your typical bumper-to-bumper.
“What this is meant to do is to change the behavior of the people going through these intersections,” Bierma said.
Selectman Danny Esch asked whether the cameras could also be used at stop signs, with Bierma responding that they could but would often not be warranted at such sites, particularly after awareness of red light cameras began driving down violations.
DORMANT ACCOUNTS CLOSED
Officials also announced the discovery of some functionally dormant accounts Monday, with City Administrator Jim Storer saying about $1.5 million in the hidden accounts had been discovered by accountant Faust & Associates.
Storer said some accounts had not been touched since as long ago as 1992 and that a special projects funds account in particular had $350,000 to $450,000 available.
Storer recommended closing that account and transferring monies to homeland security and public safety.
Selectman Wade Lamb asked where the funds were coming from.
“We keep finding money in accounts,” Lamb said.
“I think we have found all there is,” Storer replied.
CITY TO SHOP FOR ATTORNEYS
Board members also discussed representation regarding residency issues surrounding Mayor Zach Patterson and Selectman Danny Esch, while placing the items themselves on the agenda for tonight’s regular meeting.
Patterson suggested the city hire attorney Ronald Whittington to represent it against Esch, and Esch suggested the city hire an attorney from outside Pike County to represent it against Patterson.
“We can place it this way if you want to,” Patterson told Esch, “but I just don’t see the need to go outside of Pike County. If there’s a statement of facts here, they’re either so or they’re not so.”
Patterson said analyzing that could be done by “any competent attorney.”
Selectman Melvin Joe Johnson similarly questioned the out-of-county request, pointing at Esch’s representation in the city’s complaint against him.
“Selectman Esch, is Mr. (Norman) Gillis representing you?” Johnson asked. “He’s in Pike County, right?”
But Esch replied that the comparison was off base, with Gillis representing him personally and not the city.
