In last week’s council meeting, the City has finally approved to award the speed camera contract to a Lanham-based company called Optotraffic. In March, the city conducted a public hearing on the subject.
According to this Gazette report, Optotraffic would receive 39 percent of revenue from the cameras. Optotraffic will pay installation costs and city officials expect operating costs to be covered by revenue. The city also will be allowed to use as much as 10 percent of total revenue for public safety, with the remainder going to the state.
The Channel 8 news reports that the cameras are set to be up and running by August 15. They could be ready sooner, but the city council wants a 30-day warning period — the time before actual tickets are issued — to include part of the University of Maryland’s fall semester.
The council will still have to hold public hearings before the cameras are placed in any specific location, and due to the ordinance that the Council passed last month.