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Council hears explanation of neighborhood "Flock" cameras: installed by HOAs, city access under agreement
Summary
City administration clarified that license-plate reader camera systems in some neighborhoods were installed and paid for by homeowners associations; the city granted right-of-way pole access and public safety has feed access under agreements for criminal investigations. Cameras on city property remain city-managed and would come to council for material changes.
City Administrator Jim Clifford explained to the council that neighborhood license-plate camera systems (referred to in the discussion as —Flock' cameras) are installed and paid for by homeowners associations, not by the city, and that the city's involvement has generally been limited to granting right-of-way access for mounting poles.
Clifford said the public safety department has access to those HOA camera feeds through agreements to assist with criminal investigations when necessary. He stressed that cameras installed on city property are city property and any material changes to camera systems on city property would come to council for review; installations on private property entered into through an HOA do not use city funds.
Council members asked about the difference in review requirements when an installation involves city-owned property versus an HOA pole in the right-of-way; administration responded that some routine right-of-way changes are handled in administration while material changes to city property require council approval per existing code.
The administration cited two neighborhoods during the exchange (Hammonds Fairy and River Club) as examples of HOA-funded camera systems; council members asked staff to follow up on a request to restore nearby crosswalk striping that DOT removed.
