Monterey Aldermen approved a proposal to spend some $6,200 for a new camera system set to be installed throughout the city.
Mayor Alex Garcia said the town currently has twenty-six cameras split across four unique systems that have to be accessed with different applications. Garcia said the purchase would replace the current systems with fifty-five new 4K cameras that would be much easier to access.
“In front of you is a proposal that I put together that would put all the cameras on one system,” Garcia said. “And everybody, all the officers would have the ability to monitor every single camera.”
Garcia said police officers will be able to access the new cameras from their phones and the computers in their cars. Garcia said the unified system will allow officers to access specific cameras more easily in case an incident is happening across town.
Garcia said it will also be much less cumbersome to search for recorded footage with the modernized system as officers will not need to search through the four different programs to see all the footage.
“If somebody comes through town that they’re looking for, we can go through the cameras and find out if that person actually came through town, if they exited, stuff like that,” Garcia said.
Garcia said he will be installing the cameras personally so they will be added one by one as time allows.
“Some will be harder than others,” Garcia said. “Some cameras, there’s three cameras that are going to be on intersections, those cameras will have to have wi-fi from a local business, which I’ve already asked and they said they’re okay with it.”
Garcia said he discussed the new system with Police Chief John Mackie, who is in support of the plan.
In other business, Garcia presented thirty-year Volunteer Electric Employee Keelan Milligan with a key to the city as thanks for Milligan’s many years of dedicated service.
Aldermen also approved amend the town’s zoning code related to sign fees. Garcia said the change came about because of the town’s effort to start collecting its yearly fees for billboards and does not change how or where billboard are permitted. Garcia said the fees were in place before, but had not been consistently collected.
Aldermen tabled the third reading of an ordinance outlining an employee handbook for the town over concerns about the specific wording of a few different sections with the ordinance. The board also tabled a motion to purchase some $2,500 worth of electronics for city hall’s meeting room as the purchase was not earmarked to come from any particular fund.
