River Ridge board approves $105,000 package of solar speed radar signs and cameras

The River Ridge Community Development District Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Nov. 19 to approve AV-Tech LLC estimates to install three permanent and one mobile 15-inch solar-powered digital speed radar signs with cameras, messaging capabilities and cloud devices for a combined total of $105,000.

District operations manager Shane Willis presented the AV-Tech proposal and the associated options, including a $74,000 package for the permanent signs, a $25,000 mobile unit and cloud traffic devices at $1,500 per device per year. Eric Long, PSGRC general manager, said one existing unit recorded about 800 varied speeding violations over three weeks and recommended relocating that unit 20 to 30 yards to improve effectiveness; doing so will require purchasing a pole, estimated at about $1,200.

The board discussed long-term funding for traffic calming (the district had previously budgeted $150,000 for traffic-calming measures) and whether the homeowners association should assume recurring cloud-device costs and offset those costs with covenant traffic fine revenues collected by PSGRC. On motion by Bob Schultz, seconded by Kurt Blumenthal, the board approved the AV-Tech estimates as presented (vote: 5-0).

The contract authorization directs staff to proceed with procurement and installation; Mr. Willis said he will purchase poles from Paramount Asphalt and coordinate installation. The decision follows board discussion about placement and enforcement criteria by PSGRC. The work is expected to proceed under the district's long-range traffic-calming plan.