Naperville council gives red-light camera vendor a last chance

Naperville will gives its red-light camera vendor two weeks to prove it can live up to expectations, or it will be looking for another vendor.

In the meantime, the city will also start searching for a provider to install additional cameras that would likely be located on county or state roads.

City Manager Pro Tem Robert Marshall asked the council Tuesday to terminate its contract with Traffipax Inc., saying he had lost confidence in the company due to delays in getting the cameras up and running, errors in processing warnings and an inability to coordinate with the DuPage County Circuit Court system.

In September, the council approved a $1 million, three-year contract with Traffipax for eight cameras at four intersections. It hoped to eventually equip 10 to 15 intersections.

Cameras at the first two of these intersections, Fort Hill Drive and Aurora Avenue and 95th Street and Book Road, were supposed to be installed in January, which would be followed by a 30-day warning period before issuing $100 tickets.

The city originally projected bringing in $2.4 million from the cameras, though the figure was decreased significantly as delays continued.

The city still has not issued any citations, angering several councilmen.

Councilman James Boyajian told local attorney Craig Cobine, who is representing the Maryland-based Traffipax, that "I find it a little bit disconcerting and I find it very unsettling" any proposal to continue with a firm "that has not demonstrated that they're able to live up to contractual obligations we have."

Cobine argued that extenuating circumstances with Internet service providers and the DuPage County Circuit Clerk's office led to the delays and the cameras are now functional. He said the city could have been issuing citations in March if it hadn't required both still photos and video footage.

"We have done the best job we could have under the circumstances," Cobine said. "We are not incompetent. We are not incapable of doing this. There were unforeseen things. Maybe we should have foreseen them ... but the circumstances were such we had to work through them."

After nearly an hour of discussion, the council reluctantly agreed to give Traffipax two more weeks to prove it could live up to its end of the contract.

Councilmen Robert Fieseler, Doug Krause, Richard Furstenau, Darlene Senger and Grant Wehrli agreed to the extension while Mayor George Pradel, Boyajian, Kenn Miller and John Rosanova voted against it.

In the meantime, the city will also start searching for a vendor that can install additional cameras with an emphasis on state and county routes.

The state has already given preliminary approval to cameras at four of its intersections: Route 59 and 95th Street, Route 59 and North Aurora Road, Route 59 and Diehl Road, and U.S. Route 34 and Aurora Avenue. These intersections are four of the top 15 high-accident locations in the city for right angle and turning crashes.

It will likely take six to seven months to choose a new vendor and activate cameras on a state route.