Council Votes for Early Termination of Red Light Camera Contract
In a 3-2 vote, the Oceanside City Council has voted to terminate the red light camera contract with Redflex Traffic Systems the company that operates the system for the city.
Oceanside City Council-member, Gary Felien said he brought the issue to the council after hearing, from constituents on the campaign trail, that many citizens wanted the cameras removed. Earlier last year, the council voted unanimously, to let the contract expire and put an end to photo enforcement at four Oceanside intersections. At the time, it was believed the contract expired in March of 2015 but a recalculation of the contract found the end date to be a year later in 2016. The amount of money it would take to terminate the contract also changed. During the meeting it was stated the early termination fee was revised downward to approximately $19,000 from the previous $30,000. Mayor Woods and Deputy Mayor Sanchez voted against the measure.
Oceanside Police Chief Frank McCoy was quick to point out that red light camera enforcement will continue at all four intersections until everything is finalized.
Brooks Street Pool Expansion
The council agenda item that packed city hall was the request by Deputy Mayor for an update on the Brooks Street Pool expansion. The council directed staff to see if renovating the Brooks Street facility into a competition ready venue, was feasible and to look at alternatives if renovation wasn’t an effective way to go.
Consultant for the City and former city manager, Peter Weiss told the council that after assessment, four options were developed. After a lengthy explanation of each option and public comments, the council unanimously approved a measure to move forward on exploring funding for option three, a competition ready community pool with water features at El Corazon.