MOUNT VERNON — City resident Dylan Foster asked Mount Vernon City Council members on Monday to formally review the city’s contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate reader cameras.
Foster was concerned the city approved the contract administratively and installed them without a council vote, resolution or public hearing.
He said the city has spent roughly $57,000 on the system since 2023, funded in part through grant dollars.
“To be clear, that is also public money. It’s just moved through a channel that didn’t require a public conversation,” he said.
Foster cited three claims:
•Under the current policy, officers do not need reasonable suspicion or probable cause to search the system.
•Ohio law exempts the data from public records requests.
•The cameras connect to a nationwide search network that some municipalities use for immigration enforcement.
“I’m not here tonight to tell you that flock cameras are good or bad for public safety. Reasonable people can disagree on that,” Foster said.
“What I don’t think is reasonable is that a surveillance system of this scale went into effect in our town with zero opportunity for residents or their elected representatives to weigh in.”
Foster asked council to place the issue on an upcoming agenda to review the contract, costs, funding sources and renewal date.
He also asked council members to to review the police department’s use policy and hold a public hearing or discussion before making a decision to renew or expand the contract.
John Holland and Don Durbin also spoke during public participation about the Clinton Water and Sewer District. Bob Beck spoke about proposed incentives for the Arista Villas subdivision on Vernonview Drive.
Council starts process to seek construction manager for justice center
Council members waived the third reading and authorized the administration to send out request for qualifications for a construction manager for the justice center project.
The city is following the CMAR model (construction manager at risk) for the justice center, just as it is doing for the police station and wastewater plant projects.
Safety-Service Director Tanner Salyers said the administration still has two or three months of work issuing, receiving, and evaluating the proposals before selecting a CMAR.
As with the police station, Pizzuti Solutions is serving as the city’s representative and BKV is the design firm.
Cigarette Parks, vice president of Pizzuti, outlined the advantages of the CMAR model, including
transferring the risk from the city to the construction manager who holds all of the subcontractor contracts.
Additionally, Parks said the model is administratively less burdensome for the city, facilitates coordination among the trades and helps with the payment process because the city only has one contract – the CMAR.
“Another big win under the CMAR delivery model is it capitalizes on the opportunities for cost containment early in the project, and then of course leads up to the guaranteed maximum pricing, the GMP, that we talked about earlier [for the police station],” she said.
Asked if the CMAR model carries any downsides, Parks acknowledged risk exists primarily if the RFQ and vetting process is rushed.
Salyers anticipates finalizing the design by early fall. He said bringing a CMAR on board before then avoids a delay in executing the project.
Council takes other legislative action
In addition to approving RFQs for the justice center, council members accepted the first of two GMPs for the police station.
They also suspended the three readings and passed a resolution setting the tax revenue budget for the fire pension fund ($1.27 million), police pension fund ($988,781) and general fund ($12.59 million).
Other legislative action included:
•Approving a revised lease for Bo Lacey at 9 E. High St. and a new lease with Crowned Radiance and Beauty at 49 Public Square.
•Approving two new line items to receive money from the water and sewer departments for their share of municipal center renovations, supplemental appropriations to put money into the new accounts, and paying Then and Now bills.
•Postponing the third reading on creating a tax increment financing district for Founders Grove to July 27.
•Giving a first reading to legislation dispose of property no longer needed and create a cremation scattering garden in Mound View Cemetery.
