The Kirkwood City Council on Aug. 7 heard an extended public and staff discussion on a proposed expansion of the Park Kirkwood parking sensor system and voted to continue the matter to the council's Sept. 4 meeting to allow additional review by police and staff and to consult with St. Charles officials who operate a larger deployment.

Staff presented a request to accept a single‑source proposal from Fiber LLC for parking sensors and installation for a proposed 215 spaces downtown. The item on the agenda was listed as Resolution 74‑2025 with a not‑to‑exceed figure of $102,590. Company and city representatives said the proposal would expand an earlier pilot and provide real‑time space availability, analytics for planning and an enforcement app that can flag overstays.

Brett (Fiber LLC), the company's chief technical officer, described the technology and data access, saying, "The way the system works is that you pay for the system to go in, and then you don't have to pay again." City staff and company representatives said data would be hosted in a cloud service but that the city would own its data and could control access.

Council members and some staff expressed several concerns: whether Park Kirkwood is actively used by residents, the price tag and how replacement or upgrade cycles would be funded, and how enforcement would be operationalized. City Electric Department Director Mark Petty said electric staff have led prior smart‑city pilots and would participate in implementation, and he noted the system can feed navigation, signage and enforcement tools. Some council members asked for the police department to weigh in on enforcement procedures and for a follow‑up with St. Charles officials, who operate an expanded system in their jurisdiction.

Financial details were discussed at length in the meeting. The agenda packet cited $102,590; during the discussion staff and vendors described a lower figure of about $78,000 for the core install and data fees if the train station installations were deferred to a later date. Company representatives detailed per‑unit and monthly fees: speakers said the initial 215‑space proposal included a per‑device product and installation cost (described in discussion as roughly $2.50 per device in the package) and a recurring per‑device data fee (discussed as $9 per month per device for the initial set; additional devices were quoted at lower per‑device and per‑month rates). The council requested clearer written cost schedules and the number of currently functioning pilot sensors to inform a decision.

After discussion, Council member Jackson moved and Council member Schaeffer seconded a motion to continue the item. The motion to continue to Sept. 4 passed by voice vote.

Council and staff said the Sept. 4 agenda will include follow‑up information from the police department, more detailed cost breakdowns and an update from St. Charles about their experience and operational metrics.