Photo Radar discussed at St. Paul Council Meeting

The people have decided… but has Town Council? Town of St. Paul Council is discussing whether or not to keep photo radar service in the community after the question went out to the public on election night. In a plebiscite vote, the residents of St. Paul voted “No” to photo radar with 60 percent of the vote. Mayor of St. Paul, Maureen Miller, says Council has decided to hear from the company that provides the service, Global Traffic Solutions, before making any decisions.

“In the campaign, I was asked what I would do, and while I have to respect the decision made by the voters, we don’t have all the information,” Mayor Miller explains she would like to know more about how much revenue is generated from the service and how much safer the community has become, with people complying more with traffic laws. “There were obviously issues [that lead to bringing in photo radar], so we do not want to reverse that.”

“There has definitely been great improvements [in people obeying traffic laws], because the company has pulled back, twice, in the hours that they monitor, because of the corrections that they’ve made. I would like to maintain that.” According to the October 30th agenda package, Global Traffic is contracted to patrol 80 hours of ATE, 64 hours of speed violations, and 16 hours of stop sign violations per month, in St. Paul. The contractor patrols sites approved by the RCMP and provide all personnel, tools, equipment, employee court time, and material to perform the service.

On any violation ticket 41 percent goes to the Province of Alberta, while the remaining 59 percent is divided between the Town and Global Traffic Solutions; 19.35 and 39.65 percent respectively. The contractor is paid upfront on any ticket issued, rather than upon conviction. At any given time there are fines owed to the Town in the form of unpaid tickets.

Mayor Miller says the Town will have to consider the impact on the Budget, the impact on the RCMP, and the impact on the residents when considering whether or not to continue with the photo radar service. Global Traffic is expected to give a presentation during a regular council meeting in November.