Lincoln reviews traffic camera pilot and approves contract to add cameras at water, wastewater and recycling sites

City of Lincoln staff on Tuesday presented findings from a real-time intersection camera pilot and the City Council adopted a resolution authorizing a contract with Secure and Alert to install cameras at several city critical-infrastructure locations.

The pilot, deployed at Ferrari Ranch Road and Joyner Parkway in August 2024, tested camera footage for emergency response, remote signal review, intersection-hazard detection and collision documentation. Staff said the system was configured with a 96-hour retention policy and would not be used for red-light ticketing or speed enforcement. Jennifer (staff member), who led the pilot presentation, said the city accessed video only for incident review and that a local backup on an onboard SD card recovered footage after a 10-day cellular outage.

"We weren't using it for red light ticketing. We're not using it for speed enforcement and non active incident tracking," Jennifer said during the presentation.

The pilot identified technical constraints when the vendor hardware ran over cellular modems rather than fiber. Staff described packet congestion with an initial all-in-one camera unit and resolved the problem by switching to two fixed (bullet) cameras plus a PTZ in some configurations, or to two bullet cameras alone in others. That change reduced upload bandwidth needs and improved video smoothness, Jennifer said.

Staff recommended adding timestamps to video and noted installation dates and troubleshooting: hardware installed in September 2024, a troubleshooting period through December, a reconfiguration in January, and stabilized operations in March 2025.

Costs presented for future intersections ranged from about $10,000 to $20,000 per intersection for installation, with annual cellular connectivity and cloud costs of roughly $730 to $1,500 per modem ("shark fin") depending on configuration. Staff also said fiber would reduce recurring costs and improve reliability; the city is pursuing a fiber plan and may qualify for federal BEAD matching funds (about 75% federal/25% local match) in some downtown areas.

Public commenters raised privacy and cost concerns. Resident Jason Daggett said he did not see the value at the scale proposed and opposed spending $20,000 per intersection. Byron Chapman asked about vandalism risk and warranty; staff replied cameras are mounted high, the communications unit is bolted and weatherproofed, and vendor maintenance warranties are five years.

Separately under Item 15a, the council adopted a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a contract for services with Secure and Alert to install cameras at several city critical-infrastructure locations. Council members voted unanimously present: Reedy — yes; Pearl — yes; Eklund — yes; Mayor Andrea Andreatta — yes. (Mayor Pro Tem Brown was absent.) The approved sites in the staff presentation included three water tank sites, a booster pump station, two major wastewater pump stations that have experienced vandalism, and two solid-waste/recycling drop-off locations (Joyner Park and 12 Bridges Library). Staff said funding for the water sites was already budgeted in the 2022–23 capital plan; wastewater and solid-waste sites would be charged to their respective capital funds.

Council direction on the intersection pilot was largely advisory: members asked staff to return with firm total costs and a phasing plan (e.g., the next two intersections), and to show what a fiber-enabled deployment would cost versus cellular. Mayor Andreatta and other council members said they saw potential safety and operational value at select problematic intersections but did not want citywide saturation like other larger jurisdictions.

The council vote to authorize the critical infrastructure camera contract was recorded as a roll-call approval. Staff said the Secure and Alert contract would address physical security at vital facilities and would help the city pursue cost recovery when city property is damaged.

Ending: Staff will return with refined cost estimates and a phased rollout plan for additional intersections and will proceed with contract execution for the approved critical-infrastructure camera sites.