Ceres Council approves $2.0M traffic modernization; residents press privacy, safety questions

The City Council voted to approve a Measure L–funded citywide traffic modernization project that staff said will add video detection and synchronization across major corridors and install 20 Avigilon cameras at intersections. City engineer Michael Beltran told the council the contract “includes all of the video detection, at every 1 of our signals” and a full package of licenses, hardware and software.

Beltran said the upgrade will standardize aging equipment, replace controllers and improve traffic synchronization during peak hours. He noted the system will be monitored from the traffic operations center and said the project is expected to cost about $2.0 million and is fully funded through Measure L, not the general fund. “None of this funding is coming from general fund,” Beltran said when asked by councilmembers.

Privacy and data-retention questions dominated public comment. A resident who identified himself as Josh asked, “What type of safeguards or privacy audit guards will we have to prevent ... someone looking up significant other’s whereabouts throughout the city?” The police chief responded that the engineering division and other non‑PD staff will have view-only access and “we do not store any data points in anywhere in city hall. That is something that, only, PD can have access to through the Avigilon cameras.” The chief added that plate‑reader systems are used today and that the department does not use facial-recognition functions, and estimated a retention period of about 30 days for some recordings.

Councilmembers and staff also discussed operational impacts for residents during the controller and cabinet swaps. Beltran said crews will temporarily convert intersections to four‑way stops during short outages and work to minimize disruptions. After extended Q&A and public comment, the council approved the contract and related budget adjustments.