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Council weighs camera options for parks and waterways as costs and recurring fees concern members
Summary
Council discussed three security-camera procurement options — a cloud subscription vendor (Flock), a one-time-purchase vendor (Lighthouse) and PTZ systems — and asked staff to return with side-by-side comparisons that include recurring storage and retention costs.
The Nassau Bay City Council spent a significant portion of its June 9 meeting discussing options to expand park and waterfront security cameras, focusing on initial costs, recurring fees and data retention.
City officials summarized three procurement approaches. A cloud-based vendor (Flock) quoted an initial package of about $35,000 for eight fixed solar cameras with first-year services and cellular access, and indicated roughly $30,000 in recurring annual fees thereafter; staff said the city currently pays $41,500 annually to Flock for existing services and that expanding the Flock footprint could bring the total recurring cost to roughly $66,000–$74,000. A one-time-purchase option from Lighthouse quoted about $5,000 per camera (one-time), but would require running power and adding server storage; staff estimated an additional $10,000 for a server. A separate streaming package price was described as $1,350.50 per camera for three years (total about $10,840 for the bundle); staff estimated Lighthouse’s total initial cost at about $60,840 when server, cameras and streaming are combined.
Council members asked detailed questions about retention times and annual maintenance costs. “My biggest concern is not so much the initial installation cost as more of the maintenance cost, the the yearly residual we’re going to pay,” one councilmember said, noting that retention and the ability to retrieve footage 48 hours later are critical for investigations. Staff reported Lighthouse would sell cameras (one-time cost) but not provide solar options; Flock declined to place equipment on the peninsula due to installation safety/environmental concerns.
The council did not select a vendor at the meeting. Members asked staff to obtain additional quotes, consult neighboring cities (Friendswood was mentioned as a recent purchaser), and return with a side-by-side table showing number of cameras, installation, server/storage and annual recurring costs. Staff said they would bring a comparative proposal and include input from the police department about locations and retention requirements.
