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Winston council tables ODOT license‑plate reader agreement amid cost, privacy and liability concerns
Summary
After lengthy public questions and councilor concerns about cost estimates, jurisdictional placement and potential legal exposure, the Winston City Council voted to table an intergovernmental agreement to maintain license‑plate‑reader cameras on OR 42 and asked the police chief to appear at a future meeting.
The Winston City Council voted on Aug. 3 to table Resolution 26‑1237, an intergovernmental agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to maintain license‑plate‑reading cameras (LPRs) along OR 42, after councilors and residents pressed staff for clearer cost, placement and oversight details.
Mister McIntosh, presenting the staff report, said the city already uses eight 'Flock' cameras and emphasized their role in criminal investigations. "We have cameras. They're called flock cameras...that is the sole focus of what they do," McIntosh said, noting the system had helped "solve a homicide locally" and a drive‑by shooting. He also said the city publishes an audit of camera data on the police website and that, under state law and the proposed agreement, the city does not share data with federal authorities: "We do not share any information with federal authorities. We don't even share them across other agencies. The only entity that we share with is a local law enforcement agency for criminal purposes." (McIntosh)
Residents and councilors pressed staff on two figures in the agreement: an ODOT-listed estimated project cost of $127,200 and a staff figure the city expects to pay—about $24,000 per year for all eight cameras. McIntosh described the larger number as an ODOT placeholder and said the city's expected cost is substantially lower; he offered to get written confirmation from ODOT staff. A public commenter also raised privacy concerns by asserting the vendor can track faces and Bluetooth signals; McIntosh replied that Winston's implementation uses only license‑plate reading features. "We only have a certain set of features that we use," he said.
Councilors asked for the police chief to appear with more detail on placement, monitoring and legal exposure; council then voted to table the agreement so the chief could respond to outstanding questions. The motion to table passed by voice vote. The council requested staff secure clarifications on costs, the ODOT estimate and data‑access procedures before the item returns to an agenda.
