Residents urge council to review license-plate reader contract and sewer-billing practices

During the public-comment period at the March 2 meeting, residents raised privacy and billing concerns for council consideration.

Kenny Bright (S17) asked the council to terminate its contract with Flock Safety, the vendor for automatic license-plate readers used by law enforcement. Bright said the cameras were promoted with misleading safety claims, are searchable by law enforcement without a warrant, and collect 30 days of “pattern-of-life” location data. He cited an Illinois county’s reported high misidentification rate and a widely reported Aurora, Colorado, incident in which a camera misidentification led to an erroneous and traumatic police stop; Bright said such risks expose taxpayers to liability and urged the council to reconsider the contract.

Fairfield Township trustee Monica Casanova (S7) gave the township’s annual financial summary, reporting requests for assistance increased from 528 in 2024 to 1,174 in 2025, with 857 requests satisfied (about a 73% approval rate) and township assistance payments rising to approximately $375,187 in 2025 (from $162,620 in 2024).

Resident and landlord Mr. Courtney (S15) criticized how the city assigns sewage charges after a tenant failed to pay a water bill. He cited Indiana Code 36-9-23 and said he was billed $105 by city utilities for sewage tied to a tenant’s account; staff clarified that the cited provision is state law and that enforcement and statutory changes would require legislative review or legal clarifications.

Council took comments under advisement; no formal votes on these public concerns were taken at the meeting.