Leslie Contreras, the county risk manager, told the Brazos County Commissioners Court at a May 20 workshop that the county’s downtown parking garage presents elevated safety and liability concerns because it sits between a courthouse, probation office and city buildings and experiences steady foot and vehicle traffic, protests and transient activity. “The request we are making today centers around two critical issues and that’s security and liability,” Contreras said.

Contreras said the existing camera system is outdated and suffers blind spots, low-quality or intermittent footage, and no automated notifications when cameras fail. Risk management must manually review footage on a small monitor and, when needed, request backups from the transit district. “This system is not only outdated, it’s failing, and it will only continue to degrade over time,” she said.

The risk manager said emergency calls related to the garage totaled 47 in the past year and that risk management has received about five requests for footage since April that it could not supply because of the system’s design. Contreras said the garage is used daily by county employees (including CSED, the courthouse, the administration building and IT), jurors, county customers and private citizens, and that some private citizens lease spaces for which the county holds lease agreements.

Contreras presented two options: retrofit the existing cameras with encoders so they can integrate into the county’s current video-management system, or replace the system entirely with a fully digital, remotely accessible solution providing full coverage. She said either option would aid the courthouse, the sheriff’s office and risk management; the sheriff’s office is the primary responder to garage incidents and the Precinct 2 constable’s office has been called on occasion.

Brandon Theis, senior services manager for IT, said that, at present, “all of the cameras in the county currently are all wired cameras,” and cautioned that commercial, truly wireless solutions present power and reliability issues for a concrete-and-rebar structure like the garage. Matt Wolf, senior network administrator, added that the county has no wireless network in the garage: “We do not have wireless in the parking garage at all right now.”

Eric Colwell, the county chief information officer, described tradeoffs for battery-powered wireless devices, noting they would require periodic battery replacement and likely lower data rates than wired devices. Commissioners asked IT to analyze wireless-commercial options, data rates, conduit and power needs, and to return with cost comparisons. Commissioner Nina Payne asked for that comparative information so the court could do due diligence before deciding.

Contreras said risk management recommends full replacement for safety and dependability but agreed to gather the additional information requested by the court and present it to budget staff for review. No formal action or vote occurred during the workshop.

The county did not present a final price or contract in the workshop. Commissioners repeatedly requested clearer cost breakdowns and durability comparisons before making a funding decision. For now, staff will research wireless feasibility and provide updated estimates to budget and the court for future consideration.