MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon City Council will decide Monday whether to end its use of Flock cameras — and whether to hire more public works employees.
Both pieces of legislation are up for a third reading.
The city’s master agreement with Flock Safety covers five automated license plate reader cameras and expires Oct. 25. The city added three more later, using a separate grant.
“If this legislation passes, all of the ALPR Flock Safety cameras would end on that master service agreement along with the original five,” Safety-Service Director Tanner Salyers said at council’s Sept. 28 meeting.
“All eight city cameras will be canceled or non-renewed in that master contract.”
Salyers said he does not believe the city would face a penalty for discontinuing the three additional cameras prior to their expiration date.
However, the city will have to return the grant money.
Private cameras stay
There are 16 ALPR cameras operating within the city limits, but only eight belong to the city. The other eight belong to private and public entities, and the legislation does not affect them.
“That is their equipment, their decision,” Salyers said. “This legislation should not be read as a statement about their policy.”
The legislation bars new permits for ALPRs in city right-of-way. It does not pull existing permits and it would not regulate cameras on private property.
Federal and state pressure
Salyers said no comprehensive federal law governs police use of license plate readers.
“I don’t think there should be,” he said. “I think that really should be a local issue.”
A U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee has opened an investigation and audit of Flock Safety’s handling of ALPR data. Senators also asked the Department of Justice how much federal grant money paid for the cameras and what oversight is tied to the money. They want answers by late October.
Salyers believes that given the complexity of Congress, pending measures that restrict federal agencies from buying or accessing ALPR systems are long term. The city’s focus is what is happening in Ohio.
In Columbus, as many as four competing bills would regulate or preempt the technology statewide. They range from felony penalties for misuse to warrant requirements, a moratorium or a broad ban on government operation.
Salyers said he would not predict which bill, if any, becomes law. He warned a statewide rule would limit the city’s options.
“If the General Assembly adopts a statewide preemption, the city’s remaining discretion shrinks dramatically,” he said. Acting now, he said, puts the city “in a more clean position” than trying to act mid-contract.
Hardware and data
Flock Safety owns the cameras and Salyers expects them to come down soon after the contract ends. It is unclear who will remove them or whether the city will be asked to bag them.
“We will confirm that process with the vendor and carry it out as required,” he said.
Data collection on city cameras will stop at the end of the contract. Salyers declined to say how long Flock keeps images from the final day.
“I do not want to state one thing publicly and then later learn the vendor’s actual retention is different,” he said, adding the city will get that information and report back.
Councilman Dale Miller asked who pays if someone vandalizes a camera. Salyers said the city could be on the hook.
“The city could potentially be liable if cameras are damaged while they’re in our care, so to speak,” he said.
That risk could prompt the city to bag or remove the cameras quickly after Oct. 25, Salyers said.
Adding dedicted stormwater workers
City officials have asked council to add three workers to the public works street division in 2027.
The proposal would create one crew leader and two technicians, working as a dedicated stormwater crew.
Stormwater utility funds would pay the $358,569 for the jobs, not the general fund. However, Salyers said the city would not raise the stormwater fee. The current $6 fee per equivalent residential unit would stay the same.
Stormwater work strains street crews, Salyers said. Roughly 30% of streets division labor in August went to stormwater-related work.
“Every hour spent cleaning a basin, jetting a line or responding to flooding is an hour not spent paving, patching, mowing or maintaining streets and alleys,” Salyers told council.
Public Works Director Tom Hinkle said street work depends on dry weather. Jobs such as pothole patching require crews of four to six workers, including traffic control.
“That does not leave you many left to do other job functions,” he said. “It creates a real issue with trying to juggle and prioritizing what do you go do.”
Hinkle said the city currently borrows workers from those jobs for stormwater work. The new hires would let those employees return to right-of-way maintenance.
Sawyers said the city created the stormwater utility to provide dedicated revenue for drainage work rather than competing with street resources. The city has spent that money on capital projects and planning.
“What is lacking is the operating side that needs to catch up,” Salyers said.
Hinkle said the new hires could still help with snow plowing, leaf season and pothole patching when needed.
“I think it’s important to realize that this is work that’s already being done, but our public works is kind of being pulled in several directions,” City Council member Amber Keener said in September.
