Waynesville approves three‑year data subscription to Placer AI with policy limits after extended debate

The Town of Waynesville on Tuesday approved a multi‑year subscription to Placer AI — a location and visitor‑analytics service — that the Downtown Waynesville Commission (DWC) and the Parks and Recreation Department will share, after an extended council debate about privacy, public‑records obligations and vendor access.

Beth (DWC representative) told the council that the downtown board lacks baseline visitor data needed for grant applications and marketing. She said Placer AI’s service would allow the town and merchants to see where visitors come from, how long they stay and event attendance estimates. The DWC described a plan to pay half of the subscription cost and Parks & Recreation to pay the other half.

Council members raised questions about versioning, report scope, staffing to run reports, public‑records implications and whether providing business-level reports could constitute an improper private benefit. Staff and DWC representatives said Placer AI had agreed to produce geofencing for the full Waynesville area and mini geofences for individual businesses in the district, and that the vendor had agreed to honor a prior estimate.

To address council concerns, members approved the subscription with three explicit conditions: (1) staff will develop a written policy governing access, use and dissemination of Placer AI data before producing individualized merchant reports; (2) staff will not produce ad hoc custom reports for individual merchants until that policy is adopted; and (3) staff will provide quarterly reports to the council describing how the system is being used. The motion passed with council majority.

DWC representatives said Placer had offered a pricing structure they expected to honor from a prior quote; DWC cited an estimated quote figure of approximately $14,000 (the DWC said it had an estimate of roughly $14,000 and that Placer would honor a prior quote). In discussion, DWC members said they expected first‑year shared costs to be lower (DWC cited figures of $12,600 for year one and $13,230 for year two in the presentation) and that a non‑appropriation clause would permit the town to opt out in later years if funds were not available. The transcript included inconsistent numeric references to a full third‑year price; council and staff clarified only that the vendor’s full price for the third year would apply unless otherwise negotiated. The council approved the contract authorization while noting the non‑appropriation opt‑out clause.

Council and staff emphasized that any reports generated would be public records and recommended developing a standard set of reports that could be routinely published rather than fulfilling ad‑hoc, store‑by‑store requests. The town attorney advised that staff could set standard, recurring reports and treat ad‑hoc requests as public‑records requests subject to existing law; council members expressed concern about creating the appearance of granting private benefit to individual merchants.

The approval also included the DWC request to sign a three‑year contract shared with Parks & Recreation; DWC representatives said the DWC budget and Parks & Recreation budget include funding for the subscription in FY 2025–26 and that the subscription would be managed from the professional services line. DWC representatives said Placer provides demographic and visit‑duration measures, zip‑code origin data, and event attendance estimates — data the DWC said had already been used in a grant application.

The council asked staff to work with the DWC and Parks & Recreation to draft a clear policy outlining report cadence, public release and procedures for merchant access and to return to council for review. Council members also asked for quarterly utilization reports after implementation.

Separately at the same meeting the council approved the appointment of John Fakner as chair of the Downtown Waynesville Commission following a DWC nomination and a council confirmation vote.