NEWTON FALLS — Free speed studies were done by Blue Line Solutions in different parts of the village that found there were more than 1,300 vehicles going 11 or more miles over the speed limit in a school zone in a five-day period.
Police Chief John Barco told village council Wednesday he contacted Blue Lines Solutions to conduct speed studies on various heavily traveled roads and the school zone. Glenn Branam of Blue Line Solutions told council Wednesday that over a five-day period, 17,601 vehicles went through the school zone on Milton Boulevard and of those, 1,309 were over the speed limit by 11 or more miles.
“That is reasonably high for speed studies I have done in other parts of the state. There are enough speeding vehicles to warrant a problem,” he said.
Branam said of the 1,309 speeding vehicles, 784 were 11 to 14 miles over the limit, 441 were 15 to 20 miles over and 84 were 21 miles or more over.
He said communities that use the speed cameras have seen an 85% to 90% reduction in speeding.
Branam said if the village decides to go forward with the speed camera program, there would be a 30-day warning period for motorists before tickets start being issued.
He said citations are issued for vehicles going 11 or more miles over the posted speed limit.
Branam said the village would get 75% from each citation paid and Blue Line Solutions would get 25%. He said 89% of citations do get paid by the drivers.
In addition to the school zone, Barco said speed studies were done on South Milton Boulevard, Warren Road, Ridge Road and state Route 5.
Branam said the other speed study areas of the village did find significant speeding. He said while the state is not allowing townships and counties to use speed cameras effective July 1, he does not see this preventing cities, villages and municipalities from using them.
Money from the citations can be used by the village for safety purposes such as paying for a school resource officer for the school district. Barco said with 75% of each citation coming to the village, a substantial amount of money can be generated.
Mayor David Hanson said he is concerned when he hears that 1,300 people were speeding in a school zone. Councilman Kevin Rufener, 4th Ward, said anyone going over the speed limit in a school zone deserves to be cited.
“There were 1,300 incidents of people speeding in a school zone in one week with 84 of them going 20 miles per hour or more. Yes the speed cameras are a cash grab, but for people going over the posted speed limit they are the ones who have to give up the cash for not following the speed limit,” Rufener said.
Law Director Jeff Limbian said when he is working in Newton Falls Municipal Court, most of the speeding tickets are not from the school zones, but are issued in other parts of the village.
Resident Julie Lemon said while the speed camera funds would likely fund the return of the police department, she questioned whether the cameras should be used instead of having police officers writing the tickets
“These speed cameras are nothing but a money grab. There are class action lawsuits against the company in Georgia and Ohio. The speed cameras are not an answer to bring the police department back,” Lemon said.
Councilwoman Julie Stimpert, at-Large, said the speed cameras are just one option that officials will consider to fund the police department. She said nothing has been decided, and council needs to do its due diligence to look at different options.
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