Middletown council keeps school-zone camera hours, creates safety fund and approves flashing-light purchase

The Town of Middletown Council reviewed enforcement data from school-zone speed cameras and approved steps to reserve citation revenue for road-safety capital and to upgrade flashing lights and pedestrian warning equipment.

Town staff reported 32,972 citations recorded to date and recommended continuing the posted enforcement hours for a full year to gather a complete dataset before changing operations. The town administrator, Sean, and police staff noted that curtailing enforcement hours could reduce deterrence and would increase per-ticket processing costs under the current contractor model (BlueLine): staff said contractor processing fees would rise from about $16 per ticket to about $25 per ticket if hours are reduced, and urged a full-year data collection before policy changes.

Councilors debated whether citation proceeds should remain in the general fund or be restricted. Staff proposed creating a dedicated school-zone safety fund with an illustrative town allocation of $14 per ticket (of which $5 would cover police review/administration, $3 for municipal court costs, $2 for finance billing/collections, $3 for a capital replacement reserve, and $1 for IT/oversight). Council voted to direct the town administrator to draft a formal resolution establishing the restricted fund.

Separately, staff presented four quotes to modernize flashing lights and crosswalk-warning equipment and the related smart-hub software; total cost of equipment and five-year software licensing was about $65,959. Council passed a resolution awarding the purchase to Tapco of Wisconsin (not to exceed $65,660) and authorized funding from last year’s citation revenue/general fund unassigned balance; staff estimated a six-week lead time for installation so equipment would be in place before school reopens.