Woodstock city council members will decide Tuesday between two companies regarding the purchase of surveillance cameras for the Woodstock Square.
An agenda for the city of Woodstock council meeting set for 7 p.m. Tuesday shows council members will discuss a proposal between Flock Safety Group and Modern Media Tech for cameras to cover the Square.
The first proposal asks the city council to approve a resolution to execute a lease agreement for the installation and operation of six video cameras with data storage with Flock Safety Group.
The second proposal asks the city council to execute a purchase agreement with Modern Media Tech, LLC, for the purchase of eight cameras of different sizes to watch over the Square.
The Modern Media Tech proposal also has an option for data storage at an additional cost.
The meeting will take place in the Woodstock City Council chambers, 121 W. Clahoun Street in Woodstock.
The decision between the two groups comes after the Woodstock City Council previously discussed an ordinance proposed for a lease agreement between the Woodstock Police Department and Flock Safety Group at its November 4 meeting.
The proposed three-year agreement was for six surveillance video cameras — not license plate reader cameras — to be installed at the Woodstock Square.
The cost of the proposal was $21,800 for the first year, followed by $21,500 each subsequent year.
The ordinance failed to pass at the November 4 meeting after a 3-3 vote, with Woodstock Mayor Mike Turner being absent.
Councilwoman Melissa McMahon asked several questions about the proposal, including where the camera footage would be stored, who has access to the footage and who could obtain the footage.
McMahon said previously that the addition of the cameras would make people feel watched and could serve as an invasion of people’s privacy.
She also said she was not comfortable with Flock as a company.
Councilman Bob Seegers said previously he supported the proposal and believes it would be better if the security cameras included facial recognition to help police solve crimes.
Numerous residents spoke out against the proposal in November.
One resident mentioned concerns about the federal government, including ICE, gaining access to the system and another resident said the Square is a place for people to shop and visit, adding the cameras would change the city by having “big brother” watching.
Several residents said their concerns were with Flock as a company, and they were worried about the company having access to the data.
“Flock is not selling cameras; they’re gathering data,” one of the residents said.
Woodstock Police Chief John Lieb said the city council gave guidance to staff eight years ago to implement a security video solution for the Woodstock Square.
“Since then, WPD has collaborated with the City of Woodstock Information Technology Department in assessing solutions that were capable of providing top-notch video security camera systems for a historically sensitive, limited-resourced area,” Lieb said.
The Woodstock Police Department was awarded a one-time $9,000 Organized Retail Crime grant through the Office of the Illinois Attorney General to assist with the purchase of video cameras.
The grant award must be spent during this fiscal year.
The Phase I portion of the project, in the area of Benton Street and Main Street, is nearing completion, and the police department is prepared to implement Phase II, which includes the interior of the Woodstock Square.
Phase II was originally planned to begin in the next fiscal year, but the grant award announcement has moved up the timeline, Lieb said.
The city is already in a five-year agreement with Flock Safety Group for automated license plate readers (ALPR) placed around the city.