by Colin Smith
Town Council is looking for some hard facts so it can decide on where to go with photo radar in Morinville.
At its June 11 meeting Councillor Stephen Dafoe moved that the Administration present Council with information by this fall on the potential impact of discontinuing automated photo enforcement and replacing the program with a combination of the RCMP, peace officers and speed education cameras.
The motion passed unanimously as did another Dafoe motion directing the Administration and mayor to continue gathering information that would lead to a business case for regional or in-house solutions to photo enforcement.
Following the Council’s March 19 Committee of the Whole meeting, the Administration has been reviewing the current Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) program.
As part of the review, Mayor Barry Turner and Administration representatives attended meetings with three other potential regional partner municipalities, who expressed interest in exploring options for delivering a shared ATE program.
“I would like to see that info brought back to us in the fall, hopefully in tandem with some other stuff, then we can finally make a decision,” Dafoe said.
“This is exactly the information I was looking for,” said Councillor Sarah Hall. “I think that our residents want to know this information as well. It will be very useful in making a decision.”
While he supported the motions, Mayor Barry Turner noted that photo traffic enforcement was supported by Morinville residents in a vote [2013 plebescite].
“I think we have an excellent program overall that I do believe has the support of the community,” he said.
Morinville currently has a one-year contract for ATE services with Global Traffic, with a 30-day notification of cancellation required by either party, that runs until April 2020.
And if a new vote was held, It would bring out a lot more voters who think it is plain harassment of the good Morinville taxpayers. It is also the sleaziest tax collection ever invented. They probably issue 90 % of the tickets, sitting near the pump house, in a transition zone, nailing the good Morinville residence on their way to work each morning. It is WRONG!!!
Notice how they’ve extended the 50 km/h zone to well past the range road leaving town. Not a transition zone anymore.
That was to be expected given the new arena/sports center.. I think we all knew that was going to happen.
Well I think PROPER ENFORCEMENT with any means is what is important! People who speed are putting people at risk and I have no problems with the $$ being put towards Safety and Education.
Nothing wrong with photo radar. It is easy money and less load on the taxpayer. Perhaps if people looked down at their speedometer rather than the phone in their laps they would not get so many tickets in the mail. The real reason people dislike photo radar is because they got caught not because it is a cash cow. The town should put red light cameras in – more easy money.