Proposals for security cameras presented to city
A proposal was presented at Monday?s Onaway City Commission meeting that could bring security cameras to one or two locations in town.
Dick Hanson, owner of P.I. Security and Surveillance, was at Monday?s city commission meeting to answer questions regarding a proposal, which would mount a secured camera on the balcony of the courthouse and possibly include placement of a camera on the roof of the Onaway Police Department on State Street.
The equipment is similar to what is being used at the Onaway Area Community Schools.
THE SECURITY at the courthouse was called into question recently when Moran Iron Works president Tom Moran expressed concern about vandalism occurring on the eagle head sculpture on display on the courthouse grounds.
At the first city meeting of the New Year, Moran told the commission he would remove the eagle to make repairs, but would like better lighting, before placing it back on the courthouse lawn.
There was some discussion about putting up a camera at the early January meeting.
The proposal Hanson presented was for a three-camera system at a cost of $4,300.
If the commission decided on two camera systems, with one system for the courthouse and another for the police station, the price would be about $8,000. Hanson would provide additional cameras with the extra system.
POLICE CHIEF Jim Gibson, the lone member of the OPD staff, said the cameras would ?Help protect the investment the city has made.?
Mayor Gary Wregglesworth commented that it is ?too bad? it has come to this, but ?it is a time of limited resources.?
The system would require a high speed Internet connection with the site only being accessible to law enforcement personnel. If Gibson was off duty, he could access the images of town from a computer at a different location.
Additionally, the same information could be viewed at Presque Isle County central dispatch in Rogers City, which is served by a dispatcher 24 hours a day.
High speed Internet would show what was going on at that moment. The DVR units would store images for 12 days, Hanson said.
?I believe it is something we should definitely look at,? said commissioner Bernie Schmeltzer. ?It would definitely pay for itself.? City manager Joe Hefele said the city continues to work on the budget
IN OTHER business:
? Garbage pickup bids were open from three firms. Presque Isle and Cheboygan Sanitation (PAC) had the low bid of $8.80 per household.
Republic Waste Services had the next bid of $9.39, while Waste Management, the holders of the contract the last eight years, came in at $11.79. The city is currently charging $11.50 per customer.
A motion was made by the commission on a 3-1 vote to authorize the city manager to enter into discussion with PAC to work toward a three-year contract.
The only ?no? vote came from commissioner Mel Perkins. He wanted to look at financial statements from the bidders before making a decision. Hefele said the low bid could mean a reduction in garbage costs by about $1 per customer.