Council approves camera program

Published 1:45 pm Wednesday, November 9, 2022

The St. Martinville City Council approved an ordinance that will allow a private company to provide camera enforcement of speeding in school zones at Monday’s meeting.

Jay Dalrymple with Blue Line Solutions said the agreement between the company and the City of St. Martinville was a project two years in the making and came after the company had provided research in the area to identify problems in St. Martinville speeding.

“This program has been a long time coming and we’ve been working very hard on it,” Dalrymple said. “It will provide an automated speed enforcement program particularly in the high school areas here.”

After conducting a study about speeding in the city, Dalyrmple said Blue Line discovered 3,000 people speeding in a school zone within a five-day period, which the company said warranted use of its program.

Dalrymple said one of the first things the company will do is provide public education for local residents regarding the program, which will have cameras up only during school hours as well as the possibility of handheld cameras for police officers.

“We put public information out there in the same was as Click It or Ticket,” Dalrymple said. “We’re going to be addressing these problems through public information and education.

The speed enforcement itself will also give three warnings for drivers when they enter the school zone area, he said. The first will be photo enforcement signage that warns the driver of the camera, which is followed by a speed awareness display and a school zone sign that will say the current time.

If the driver is still speeding following those warnings, a citation will be issued.

“When you enter the school zone the camera will be the last thing you see,” Dalrymple said. “If you’re still going above the threshold you get your citation.”

The program comes at no cost to the City of St. Martinville, with the company making revenue through a portion of the citations. Similar programs have been discussed in nearby areas including New Iberia.

After a motion from Councilwoman Carol Frederick to adopt the ordinance, the agenda item passed unanimously.