[0:00] My eyes used to be good, but I can't see

[0:03] uh who signed in online. Do we have any

[0:06] other council members that are uh

[0:07] showing in that in the attendee list? Do

[0:11] we have any other council members in the

[0:13] attendee list? I can't see the screen

[0:14] out there.

[0:18] Okay, so we have three of us. We need a

[0:20] I just want to make sure we have a

[0:21] fourth.

[0:47] Okay, we can begin recording.

[1:33] All right, ladies and gentlemen, the

[1:34] town is now the time is now 7:04 and

[1:36] today's date is July 15th, 2026. And

[1:40] welcome to the stop sign program uh

[1:43] community forum.

[1:47] We have members of the community uh

[1:49] joining us today in the auditorium. And

[1:51] then we also got uh members online and

[1:54] we have our chief of police as well as a

[1:56] representative from Avio, the uh company

[1:59] that runs and administers the program

[2:01] for us. And um we've gathered here today

[2:04] because

[2:05] uh before implementing this program, the

[2:07] town did outreach, but we have heard

[2:10] concerns. And the purpose of tonight's

[2:13] forum is to explain why the town

[2:16] implemented the program in the beginning

[2:18] to answer questions about how it goes.

[2:22] You can't hear me.

[2:26] Okay.

[2:33] All right. Let's straight out a

[2:35] technical issue. Straight out a

[2:37] technical issue while we

[2:40] do that.

[2:45] And also I want to make sure see if

[2:47] folks at home can hear us.

[2:56] Is there someone online who's able to

[2:57] confirm if you can hear?

[3:00] Okay,

[3:00] >> I can hear you

[3:02] >> in the auditorium though. You can't hear

[3:04] me or is that better? That's better.

[3:07] Okay. Uh the purpose of tonight's forum

[3:10] is to explain why the town implemented

[3:11] the stop sign safety program, to answer

[3:14] questions about how it operates, to hear

[3:16] your concerns as residents, and to

[3:19] discuss whether changes should be

[3:20] considered. Uh our responsibility as

[3:23] your elected officials is not only to

[3:25] implement programs that improve safety,

[3:27] but also to evaluate them honestly. Uh

[3:29] [clears throat] when residents raise

[3:30] concerns, we have a responsibility to

[3:32] listen, to review the facts, and to

[3:35] determine whether adjustments make

[3:37] sense. I ask that everyone uh be

[3:40] respectful of everyone's views. Uh we

[3:42] may have different perspectives tonight

[3:44] on the program, but we share the same

[3:46] objective, and that is making for sites

[3:48] a safer place to live, to work, and to

[3:51] raise our families.

[3:54] Tonight's discussion is going to be

[3:55] divided into two portions. First, we'll

[3:57] give some information

[3:59] and we'll try to provide

[4:01] uh information that will may answer some

[4:04] of the questions that you have or it may

[4:05] help inform uh your question that may

[4:08] change. We're also going to

[4:12] at the uh after the presentation portion

[4:14] and answer some questions. We're going

[4:15] to open up the forum so anyone who's

[4:17] here or who's online will have the

[4:19] opportunity to ask a question or make a

[4:22] statement so we can get your feedback.

[4:24] Um, we wanted to do this outside of a

[4:26] regular meeting since those tend to be

[4:29] very long and about different topics

[4:30] tonight. This next hour is simply about

[4:33] uh stop sign and pedestrian safety in

[4:36] our community, where we are now, and how

[4:38] we move forward.

[4:44] So, firstly, I'd like to address that um

[4:46] the stop sign safety program was created

[4:48] in response to concerns raised by

[4:50] residents regarding drivers failing to

[4:52] stop at a particular intersection in

[4:55] town. The place we first heard uh

[4:57] complaints about was Synen Moakin. And

[5:00] those complaints were connected to the

[5:03] fact that it's frequently used by

[5:04] students walking to Forest Heights

[5:05] Elementary. And it's also located in an

[5:08] area where a lot of people walk to

[5:09] Bellers Park. This is a place where

[5:12] residents and families reg regularly

[5:14] walk and gather. In November 2023,

[5:19] the town conducted a pilot study at that

[5:21] intersection. And the results showed a

[5:24] significant number of stop sign

[5:25] violations happening over a 30-day

[5:27] period.

[5:29] To determine whether this was an

[5:30] isolated concern or if it was happening

[5:33] at other places in the community, the

[5:35] town conducted a second pilot study in

[5:37] 2025 at 11 intersections throughout

[5:40] forest heights. The research uh the

[5:43] results from that showed an average of

[5:44] approximately 3,800 stop sign violations

[5:47] per day across those locations.

[5:50] Uh the intended goal of this program has

[5:54] always been to improve compliance with

[5:56] stop signs, reduce dangerous driving

[5:58] behavior, and to make our streets safer

[6:01] for pedestrians, children, and all

[6:04] residents really, and to prevent

[6:05] accidents from happening.

[6:10] Now, before the citations began, the

[6:13] town took several steps to notify

[6:14] residents about the program and its

[6:16] implementation. Information was shared

[6:18] through two town newsletters, press

[6:21] releases, a newspaper notice, the town's

[6:23] communication channels, and there was a

[6:26] warning period that began part prior to

[6:29] enforcement.

[6:30] Even with those efforts, we continued to

[6:32] hear concerns from residents about how

[6:35] the program works, whether it's being

[6:37] administered fairly, and whether it is

[6:40] achieving its intended purpose. So

[6:42] rather than dismiss those concerns, we

[6:44] believe that it's important to create an

[6:46] opportunity for direct conversation with

[6:48] you, the residents. Tonight's an

[6:50] opportunity for us to answer questions

[6:52] and to discuss the program more.

[6:56] So, at this time, I'm going to turn it

[6:58] over to our chief of police, Chief

[7:00] Daniel Ruffin, to answer some basic

[7:02] questions about what constitutes a stop,

[7:05] what we've observed as being the correct

[7:08] stop, and what uh constitutes a

[7:11] violation.

[7:16] All right, how you guys doing tonight?

[7:17] So, what constitute a correct stop is

[7:21] when you stop before the actual line.

[7:25] Um, once you go over the line, that's

[7:28] when the violation is sent to us. So, I

[7:31] can share my screen real quick and I

[7:34] want to show you guys just a couple

[7:35] examples.

[8:17] So what we're looking for when we um are

[8:21] doing the violation is as we go through

[8:24] every single time that we are approving

[8:26] a violation, we have to look to make

[8:28] sure one they're going over the stop

[8:30] line and there's not stopping prior to

[8:32] the stop line. So if you look at this

[8:34] video and these are just different

[8:36] angles. If you go over the line, that is

[8:40] when the citation is issued. Um, there

[8:43] are times when you guys are getting the

[8:44] citation and it's the picture. If you go

[8:48] on to less drive safer and actually

[8:50] watch the video, if it goes over that

[8:52] line before you come to a complete stop,

[8:55] that's when the violation is sent to us.

[8:57] every single violation that we are I

[9:01] guess you would say approving, they are

[9:04] going over the stop line or we are

[9:06] literally watching every single

[9:07] violation to make sure that the person

[9:10] that is doing it isn't stopping at the

[9:13] line or hesitating before we approve any

[9:17] violation. And these are just a couple

[9:20] different angles of different violations

[9:23] that have been approved and why they are

[9:25] approved. Even though you see the brake

[9:27] light, they're going through the stop

[9:30] sign.

[9:32] >> Just just a moment. I know that we have

[9:35] >> these are the ones that

[9:36] >> Chief, just just one moment. I just want

[9:38] to set ground rules. I know that we may

[9:39] not agree on everything, but we are

[9:40] going to have a portion when members of

[9:42] the public can speak and you can share

[9:44] your opinion. I'm not going to stop you

[9:46] and I'm not going to refute what you

[9:48] say. So, if we can accept the ground

[9:50] rules, we'll get through tonight and

[9:53] we'll let people share how they feel,

[9:54] whether in support or if they feel

[9:57] differently.

[9:58] >> All right. So, back to what I was

[10:01] saying. So, for example, the the reason

[10:04] why you get the citation is because

[10:07] you're going over the stop line. It's

[10:10] not if you

[10:13] come up to the stop line and stop. The

[10:15] only way that it is triggering to for us

[10:18] to get the violation is once you go over

[10:20] that stop line, it triggers for us to

[10:23] come through. There are multiple

[10:24] different factors that are in place

[10:26] prior to it getting to us. Once it gets

[10:29] to us, every single citation is being

[10:32] reviewed prior to it going out to you

[10:35] guys to get the citation. Um, the last

[10:38] couple ones, I know the biggest

[10:40] intersection is this one that everybody

[10:43] has talked about, but when we have

[10:45] people that are out, especially going

[10:47] through the crosswalk, it's kind of hard

[10:50] for us to um go through there. So,

[10:55] that's this is Comanche Livingston.

[11:06] So that is how the citations are

[11:08] working. Now a complete stop is when you

[11:11] come to that stop line. You're

[11:13] completely stopping at the stop line.

[11:16] Your wheels have to stop prior to the

[11:20] stop line. Once they stop and then you

[11:23] proceed out, it will not get you a

[11:26] violation.

[11:29] » Okay, let's move to another question.

[11:31] There's a the summary of a lot of items

[11:33] that I know um residents have raised

[11:35] concerns about. So, we're going to go

[11:36] through and try to address most of

[11:38] those. Um one question we've heard is

[11:42] how do we know about the camera

[11:43] calibration and the accuracy of the

[11:47] cameras? And this is going to go to u

[11:49] who do we have online from AIO tonight?

[11:53] >> Hi. Uh my name is Ricky Sammon. am the

[11:55] community and customer success lead and

[11:57] I've got uh my colleague Wade Borman uh

[12:00] on the on the call as well. Um he is our

[12:02] program manager.

[12:03] >> Okay. So we've got uh Mr. Borman and Mr.

[12:07] Seaman. One of the questions we've had

[12:09] from residents is um why does it appear

[12:11] in a video that the vehicle is going

[12:14] faster than maybe a resident feels like

[12:15] they're actually moving in their their

[12:17] car? All right. And how do you calibrate

[12:18] the cameras and know that they're

[12:19] accurately uh depicting if a vehicle

[12:22] stops or is how it's moving through the

[12:24] stop sign?

[12:29] » Yeah, thank thanks thanks for that

[12:30] question. Um I'm going to see if my my

[12:31] colleague Wade might be able to take

[12:33] this one. Um Wade, if you're on. I know

[12:35] Wade was having some connectivity

[12:37] issues.

[12:40] » Y'all hear me? Okay.

[12:43] >> Yes.

[12:45] So we uh we have technicians out in the

[12:49] field and we have software engineers

[12:53] starting on the back end. So

[12:57] everything's okay and calibrate it.

[13:00] Basically

[13:02] the video

[13:06] judge

[13:08] video to the video it isn't sped up or

[13:11] manipulated if it were to be. We're

[13:14] still looking for a complete stop in the

[13:16] right area before the stop line.

[13:19] >> Does that make sense?

[13:20] >> Mr. Borman, one moment. We had uh some

[13:22] individuals walk in just as you started

[13:24] your answer. So, give me just one

[13:25] minute. Once they get seated, I'm going

[13:27] to have you repeat that so everyone gets

[13:28] a chance to hear.

[13:47] Okay, if you could give us that answer

[13:48] again on the calibration and how that

[13:50] works.

[14:04] Wait, you may

[14:05] >> you muted if you're

[14:14] » Mr. Borman, can can you hear me? You can

[14:16] go ahead and restate the answer.

[14:33] Okay. I'm not able to hear your audio at

[14:36] this time. Mr. Seaman, if you have the

[14:38] answer, you can give it now. If not, I'm

[14:39] going to go to another question and we

[14:41] may come back to this one.

[14:43] >> Yeah. So we have technicians that are

[14:45] out there every day um that are checking

[14:47] for the the actual hardware calibration.

[14:50] Um so that's the kind of the the first

[14:51] aspect of it. The second aspect of it is

[14:54] uh every single violation that comes in

[14:56] um our internal team uh they are

[14:58] reviewing um for any kind of calibration

[15:00] errors or issues or anything per

[15:02] violation. Um so as far as calibration

[15:05] goes uh it's twice daily for hardware.

[15:07] Um and then it is upon uh each violation

[15:10] um calibration check.

[15:15] » Okay. Another question we've heard is

[15:20] there was a warning period and during

[15:23] that period only warnings were supposed

[15:24] to be mailed out. Uh how many warnings

[15:27] were mailed out during the warning

[15:29] period?

[15:35] Let me see if this is also maybe an

[15:37] answer for my colleague Mr. Borman. I

[15:39] know he's having some connectivity

[15:40] issues as well.

[15:53] Give me one second. I may have the

[15:55] answer for you. I know Wade's trying to

[15:56] connect again.

[15:59] Apologies for the technical difficulties

[16:01] here, everyone.

[16:31] Okay. Um, if if we're able to uh punt

[16:34] this question, um, uh, my colleague's

[16:37] going to be, uh, trying to reconnect and

[16:39] see if we can get the answer. Um,

[16:41] apologies for that.

[17:46] Yeah, apologies for that. Um, if we can jump to the next question. Uh,

[17:52] my colleague is going to going to pull

[17:54] up that information. Um, again, sorry,

[17:56] he's having some connectivity issues. Uh

[17:58] on that

[18:03] » the next question um is could you

[18:05] explain the appeals process

[18:16] and Chief Ruffin you may have a better

[18:17] answer for this. I'm going to go to you

[18:19] on this one.

[18:20] >> All right. If you want to appeal your

[18:22] ticket, um especially a stop sign camera

[18:25] ticket, there are a couple ways that you

[18:26] could do it. Um one, if you go online

[18:29] and you are looking at it and you want

[18:31] to appeal it, you can bring it to us. We

[18:33] can look at it. However, the best way to

[18:35] appeal it is you everybody will get a

[18:38] court date. You take it to court and you

[18:42] the representative for AIO will be there

[18:44] and the judge will see the ticket and

[18:46] that is your way to say whether the

[18:49] judge is there. That's not us. That's

[18:51] not AIO making the decision. This is

[18:53] from the judge's point of view. If you

[18:55] have committed that violation, every

[18:58] single person has the right to go before

[19:00] the judge and appeal every single

[19:02] citation that they are given. Um if they

[19:06] have a if you want a court date and you

[19:09] want to go before the judge, you can

[19:11] appeal your um stop sign camera ticket.

[19:17] Yes, sir.

[19:21] I'm going to have a worship. Who's this?

[19:23] Council member uh I'm sorry, Kennedy. Is

[19:25] that you, sir?

[19:26] >> Yeah.

[19:27] >> Go ahead.

[19:30] » Because

[19:32] so only

[19:35] I guess we've already gone to court to

[19:39] contest some of these people.

[19:42] >> Yes, a lot of people have gone to court

[19:44] to contest it.

[19:52] » It depends on the judge. I can't say

[19:55] whether the judge will court call.

[19:57] Sometimes it's the violation or no court

[19:59] call. Sometimes it is. That's up to that

[20:03] system in order to make that um final

[20:05] decision.

[20:17] We have an unbudsment process where you

[20:20] can send it to the embuzzment officer

[20:22] and the embuzzment officer will get back

[20:24] in contact with you and then they will

[20:27] review your complaint and your situation

[20:30] and then they will let you know whether

[20:32] it's going to be cleared or if they're

[20:35] going to say no and then send you to

[20:38] court.

[20:41] When you call here, we will direct you

[20:43] to the embuzzment officer.

[20:49] No. So, the the

[20:52] Well, hold on. Just the reason why I did

[20:55] not answer it that way is because I want

[20:57] to make sure it's very clear. The AIO is

[21:00] a it's not just for forest heights. So

[21:03] every embuzzment for every municipality

[21:06] is different. So if we put the

[21:08] embuzzment information on that ticket,

[21:10] it wouldn't be for every jurisdiction.

[21:13] So that's why if you have a situation

[21:15] for the town of Forest Heights, we will

[21:17] direct you to the person that it needs

[21:19] to go to.

[21:24] So when you request a court date, you

[21:27] have the option um to either request a

[21:30] court date or if you call and ask us

[21:32] questions about it, then that's when we

[21:33] would direct you to the unbudsman

[21:35] officer.

[21:37] It's the request for the court dates on

[21:39] the ticket, but internally you can go to

[21:42] us for the unbudsment.

[21:49] When you're telling something that oh

[21:50] it's known, but how is it known? It's

[21:52] not on the ticket.

[21:53] >> Well, we can we can see if that's

[21:55] something we can add, but as of right

[21:57] now, the way it states, if you would

[21:59] like to do it internally, we would go

[22:01] through our unbudsman officer.

[22:04] Well, that's why we have the forum now,

[22:05] so we can make it clear for everybody.

[22:08] The forum where we're in now. Yes. Nope.

[22:13] The forum. So that's why we're here now

[22:15] so that we can answer all these

[22:16] questions and make sure it's clear to

[22:18] the public because we do want to make

[22:19] sure that the information is getting out

[22:20] to everybody. And we want to make this

[22:22] process as smooth as possible. I know

[22:24] sometimes it may be an inconvenience,

[22:26] but we're trying every way possible to

[22:29] rectify before you even have to go to

[22:32] court. And we will show you how to pull

[22:34] up your violation. We will show you how

[22:35] to look at it. We will show you what to

[22:37] do. But if you ultimately want to take

[22:41] it to court, every single person has the

[22:44] right to take it to court. Yes, sir.

[22:58] » We approve it. It is dispersed by AIO.

[23:02] It's mailing it to you. Yes. We don't

[23:06] mail it out.

[23:18] need to go to court.

[23:20] >> Absolutely. No, no, no, no, ma'am.

[23:25] You know, we will we will come through

[23:28] if there is an immediate emergency, we

[23:31] will actually pick up the phone, which

[23:32] we have done, and say, "Hey, let's go to

[23:34] let's drive safer together. we can watch

[23:37] the video. We will show you how to pull

[23:38] it up so that you can watch it along

[23:40] with us so we can show you how to do it.

[23:42] There have been many of people that have

[23:43] come down to the station and we will

[23:45] pull it up for you so that you can see

[23:47] it and then make your own judgment call

[23:49] at that moment as well. If you haven't

[23:51] received the call back from the

[23:52] unbudsman officer in a timely manner

[23:57] for those who are at home, I don't know

[23:59] if they can hear us since we're doing a

[24:01] virtual meeting. If you have a question,

[24:02] would you mind coming back to the uh

[24:04] podium to ask so that way someone has

[24:06] the same question, they can hear the

[24:08] answer.

[24:09] Or do we have a mic we can take to

[24:11] someone? I'm trying to see if we can

[24:12] make it easy.

[24:29] » Yes, ma'am.

[24:31] still speaking to you.

[24:32] >> No problem. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

[24:34] >> All right. My question is, you showed us

[24:36] the videos of people pulling up to the line. Yes, ma'am.

[24:41] >> The white line. So, you're telling me I

[24:43] shouldn't cross the white line

[24:46] >> or, you know, you grow up growing up

[24:49] driving up to that white line?

[24:50] >> No. That California stop, that

[24:52] California road, we can't do it here in

[24:54] Maryland. So what happens is what I what

[24:58] I the way that it works you have to your

[25:01] wheels have to stop prior to the white

[25:05] line. Now the question would be well I

[25:07] can't see right you have to that's where

[25:10] the merging comes in because what we

[25:12] don't want to happen most of the stop

[25:14] signs that we have are right before a

[25:16] crosswalk. So when you stop at that

[25:20] white line and your wheels come to a

[25:23] complete stop, meaning your car is

[25:25] driving and you feel that little shift

[25:27] back, then you're you have stopped. Once

[25:30] you stop, then you can merge out into

[25:33] traffic. But if your wheels are still

[25:36] moving, it will trigger for the camera

[25:41] to give you a citation because you have

[25:43] entered into that box and your wheels

[25:45] are still moving.

[25:49] Okay. In other words, I need to stop

[25:52] before the white line.

[25:53] >> Yes, ma'am.

[25:56] >> Not at the white line.

[25:58] >> Not on the white line. Before the white

[26:00] line.

[26:01] >> Before the white line.

[26:02] >> And if you are in behind someone that

[26:04] has already stopped, you still have to

[26:07] stop again

[26:08] >> at the white line.

[26:09] So, let's say you're

[26:10] in line and there's two cars. If that

[26:13] car in front of you stopped at the white

[26:15] line and you're behind them and you

[26:16] stop, just because you stopped doesn't

[26:19] mean you can run. You have to come to

[26:21] that stop sign again, stop, and then

[26:23] merge into traffic.

[26:26] >> Thank you. And to keep it fair and

[26:28] efficient, since we have the next

[26:30] meeting at 8 and to give each person an

[26:32] equal opportunity, I'll just limit the

[26:33] comments to two minutes. Thank you. Um,

[26:38] first I'm not complaining about the stop

[26:40] signs cuz people need to stop. Totally

[26:43] understand. I stopped at every stop sign

[26:45] now. Doesn't matter if it's in Forest

[26:47] Heights or not, if it has a camera or

[26:49] not. My only issue is you can barely see

[26:52] the lines.

[26:54] A lot of the lines need to be painted.

[26:56] You can't see them at night. Sometimes

[26:58] you can't

[26:59] >> Yes, ma'am. And they have the

[27:02] >> No, let's let this all continue. You

[27:04] have anything else?

[27:05] Yeah, that was basic. That was my second

[27:07] one about the lines. You know, I know

[27:10] that you guys were going through and

[27:11] painting some of them, but not all of

[27:13] them are painted. And before before you

[27:16] rolled this out, I feel like you should

[27:18] have painted made sure that the lines

[27:20] were painted,

[27:21] >> right? And I understand you gave a

[27:23] warning period, but the the lines wasn't

[27:26] painted after the warning period. And

[27:29] some of um some of the lines you

[27:33] couldn't even see. like that one on

[27:35] Quaid, you couldn't see the line. It was

[27:38] faded. And I understand that I had to

[27:41] stop and my nose couldn't be touching

[27:43] the line and all of that. I found that

[27:45] out later,

[27:46] >> but still the line wasn't there. The

[27:48] line wasn't it was merged with the

[27:50] street, so I didn't feel like that was

[27:52] fair, you know.

[27:54] >> Yes, ma'am. No, I I I understand. Yes,

[27:57] ma'am.

[28:00] » All right. I see I have someone online

[28:02] as the next person's coming up inside.

[28:04] you can come up. I'm going to take

[28:05] someone off uh line and someone can tell

[28:06] me the names. I can't see these names on

[28:08] the screen tonight, but I'll

[28:13] » Jonas Mitchell. Jonas Mitchell.

[28:16] >> I'm going to go to Mr. Jonas Mitchell.

[28:20] >> Hey guys, can you hear me?

[28:22] >> Yes, we can.

[28:23] >> Hey, so I actually have two Well, I have

[28:25] one question and then one more of a

[28:27] statement. The first question, when uh

[28:29] deciding to implement this program, I

[28:31] know there were 3,800 violations of like

[28:33] running the stop signs. Were there any

[28:35] incidents of of anything, you know,

[28:37] accidents, people getting hit, those

[28:39] types of things?

[28:43] We've had multiple um I would say within

[28:48] the last 6 months, we've had two

[28:50] pedestrians that have been struck um and

[28:52] hit at the crosswalks.

[28:56] Okay. Because I hadn't heard of those.

[28:58] Okay. And then my second uh more of a

[29:01] statement. So you mentioned uh so I'm

[29:03] assuming that you've heard it already

[29:04] that um as you're going to stop at the

[29:07] stop sign um that people can't see. And

[29:11] so I think it's almost unfair

[29:15] for anyone who's going to be driving

[29:17] through our neighborhood uh and there us

[29:20] as residents as well on the very first

[29:23] few instances because you say that it's

[29:25] best for you to stop at the line which

[29:28] is perfectly fine. Once you tell people

[29:30] that I think everyone would do it I

[29:32] don't think there there's going to be

[29:33] any issues there. The problem is that

[29:36] when you do go to stop at I know I live

[29:38] on Ottawa so going from Ottawa and

[29:41] turning towards Livingston and then

[29:43] stopping at Living uh Livingston or

[29:45] Comanche sorry so and then stop on

[29:46] Comanche going onto Livingston

[29:49] on both of those views you can't see the

[29:52] road right like you can't see what's

[29:54] coming through so I know most of the

[29:56] time on Comanche there's like a van or

[29:57] truck that's always there so it's really

[29:59] hard to see the traffic that's coming

[30:01] through and then when you stop right

[30:03] before you turn on Livingston, there's a

[30:05] tree that's there. So, you won't be able

[30:07] to see that either. So, for the vast

[30:10] majority of people who are coming

[30:11] through our neighborhood on the very

[30:12] first time, if they don't know anything

[30:14] about stopping specifically at that

[30:16] line, they'll stop, but still get cited,

[30:20] which I know I was, and still get cited

[30:22] even though they stopped. And I had that

[30:24] multiple times happened to me until

[30:27] eventually we figured out, oh, it must

[30:28] be the line. So, I don't know if there's

[30:30] a sign or something that we can put

[30:32] there specifically that says stop here,

[30:35] not just a stop sign. Everyone knows

[30:36] there's a stop sign and they're going to

[30:38] stop. But if you want people to

[30:39] specifically stop at the line,

[30:42] >> I think there should be an extra Sorry.

[30:44] There should be an extra sign that says

[30:46] stop here at the line.

[30:48] >> Thank you, sir.

[30:49] >> Yep.

[30:51] >> Miss Bracie,

[30:55] » hi. Um I I had the same concern about

[30:58] Comanche and Livingston and I noticed uh

[31:02] after 6 months just ahead of this

[31:04] meeting that uh Bush had been trimmed.

[31:07] Um but it's still

[31:11] doesn't take away from the fact that we

[31:12] still have to stop twice. First for the

[31:16] pose for the camera and second to see

[31:18] what's coming in either direction

[31:20] because you still cannot see everything

[31:22] coming in either direction on Comanche

[31:24] Drive in Livingston. My other concern is

[31:26] that I just recently got uh

[31:29] administrative fees for uh tickets from

[31:31] a while back. Tickets that I never

[31:33] received. I never received any uh uh

[31:36] late notices or anything. And I find it

[31:40] highly unlikely that I received all of

[31:43] my mail except Forest Heights uh uh stop

[31:48] camera tickets. So um those are my Oh,

[31:52] and also the ombbudsman. I I went to the

[31:55] office the other day to complain and she

[31:57] gave me the she told me to complain to

[31:59] the on busman and gave me an email

[32:01] address. I did email today and it came

[32:04] back saying no such address. So and plus

[32:08] she was not very happy that I even asked

[32:10] the question and that's my concern.

[32:13] >> Okay, I'll answer the two of them for

[32:16] you. The one for Comanche and

[32:18] Livingston. Why do you have to stop

[32:20] twice? If you look at the intersection

[32:22] at Comanche and Livingston, if you don't

[32:24] stop prior to merging out into traffic,

[32:28] you're literally stopping in the

[32:30] crosswalk. So, if someone is walking on

[32:33] that crosswalk, you're going to be in

[32:36] the crosswalk as somebody is walking um

[32:39] down Livingston Road. So, we do want you

[32:41] to stop at the stop sign. If you stop

[32:43] once and merge into traffic, you will

[32:46] not get a violation. It is when you run

[32:49] over the stop line and go into the

[32:51] crosswalk to emerge into traffic. That

[32:53] is when the um citation is issued. The

[32:57] reason why we could not um trim the tree

[33:00] fast enough because there are policies

[33:02] and procedures that we have to follow as

[33:05] a government before we can trim a tree

[33:07] on someone's private property. So, we

[33:10] went through those proper steps. We did

[33:11] everything we were supposed to do.

[33:13] However, even if the tree is there, you

[33:15] still have to stop at the stop line and

[33:18] you could merge into traffic and it will

[33:20] not give you a violation. As far as the

[33:22] unbudsment person or the fees, that's

[33:26] why we have the unbudsment person

[33:27] because those fees can be taken back if

[33:31] we see that we have made a mistake.

[33:33] That's what we're here for. Not saying

[33:34] that everything's perfect. Maybe the

[33:36] mail got lost. Something happened.

[33:38] That's why that is in place to make sure

[33:40] you don't assess fees that's not

[33:43] warranted for your violation. So if you

[33:45] have things like that and it's not

[33:47] working, I'll tell you now, you can

[33:49] email me and I'll make sure it gets

[33:50] there. But I just want to make sure that

[33:52] you understand if you have a fee and you

[33:55] say, "Hey, we have some late fees and I

[33:57] didn't get it." We can look and see,

[33:59] hey, when it was mailed out, when it was

[34:00] issued, any of those things, and make

[34:03] sure that every single citation is valid

[34:05] and we're not overcharging somebody. Our

[34:08] goal of the program is not to gain

[34:10] money. It is to reduce the amount of

[34:13] people that are driving through the stop

[34:16] signs because we have walkers. We

[34:18] usually have kids going to school. We

[34:20] have people in the neighborhood that

[34:22] like to walk and we see people that just

[34:24] run stop signs and it is dangerous

[34:27] because we do not want anybody to get

[34:29] hit. That's the goal of it.

[34:32] >> Thank you, Chief.

[34:34] And I I do have just one update as my my

[34:36] colleagues coming back online now. For

[34:38] the warning letters question, uh we sent

[34:40] out 1,910

[34:42] warning letters um over a 30-day period.

[34:47] » How many violations did you

[34:51] >> have during that period?

[34:52] >> Did we first get ju just a moment, Mr.

[34:57] uh Seaman? How many is that the number

[34:58] of violations there were that month?

[35:01] >> That's correct.

[35:05] Just to repeat the question or the

[35:07] statement, he was answering our earlier

[35:09] question about how many warning

[35:10] violations were sent out during the

[35:12] warning period. That was over a 30-day

[35:14] period.

[35:17] » That's correct.

[35:22] » How many tickets are have been issued

[35:25] roughly on average in the 30 days

[35:27] periods following the warning period?

[35:31] Um, let me see. I've actually I have a

[35:33] presentation here to kind of show the

[35:35] progress of the uh of the the actual

[35:38] program itself.

[35:42] Um, let's see.

[35:54] Sorry, I'm going to have to dig. Uh,

[35:57] give me just one second. And then the

[36:00] question was how many have been issued

[36:02] in total since the the beginning?

[36:05] >> Question was on average how many did you

[36:07] issue over a 30-day period? Is it a

[36:09] thousand or is it higher than that?

[36:18] Sorry, I've got the the presentation

[36:19] here that I was going to show you all.

[36:21] See if I can find the information.

[36:41] Um let's sorry uh per day

[36:49] uh around that that's going to be around

[36:51] 10,000.

[37:01] » That's on average.

[37:04] >> That's per month. Correct.

[37:14] » Okay. So, if you're going to bring

[37:15] presentation up and so some show some of

[37:17] the other data at this time.

[37:19] >> I can definitely do that. Yes.

[37:20] >> And I didn't forget. I know we got Miss

[37:22] Mau who has a question,

[37:24] a statement.

[37:27] And I also know there's another hand

[37:28] online.

[37:41] Is everyone able to see my screen?

[37:59] I'm sorry. Is everyone able to hear me

[38:02] as well?

[38:05] >> Yes, we can see it.

[38:07] >> Okay. Excellent. Um, sorry, there may be

[38:08] some connectivity issues there. Um,

[38:10] excellent. Okay. Um, well, thank you

[38:12] everyone uh again for for joining today.

[38:14] So, like I said, I'm Ricky Seaman. I'm

[38:15] the uh the new lead for community and

[38:18] customer success. Um and I wanted to

[38:20] talk to you guys uh all about the the

[38:21] program and kind of the the impact that

[38:23] the program has uh been having so far in

[38:25] forest heights. So um since the

[38:28] implementation um of this program um

[38:31] we've seen an observed violations

[38:33] decline across all deployments uh about

[38:35] around 55%. Um that is a change in

[38:38] behavior um which is exactly uh like the

[38:40] chief said uh exactly kind of what we're

[38:42] looking for um to to make safer streets

[38:44] really. We're looking for that

[38:45] behavioral change.

[38:48] Um so uh just a quick kind of uh couple

[38:51] updates with with us uh let's drive

[38:52] safer by AIO. Um uh you know we we have

[38:56] uh passed the HB364 which is a traffic

[38:59] safety. Um you know that's been

[39:00] instrumental in in passing uh these stop sign monitoring legislation. Prince

[39:04] George's County, Tacoma Park, Baltimore,

[39:06] kind of all over. Um and really 20 25

[39:09] 2025 to 2026 we've seen kind of this

[39:11] national movement of traffic and road

[39:14] safety not just in Maryland. Um, but we

[39:16] are also operating in Colorado, uh,

[39:18] Virginia, um, looking at other states

[39:20] right now, North Carolina, wrote, uh,

[39:22] Delaware as well. Um, and excuse

[39:25] [clears throat] me, uh, since 2025, um,

[39:27] we've had, um, an increase in about 70

[39:29] plus cameras or so. Um, and that also

[39:31] includes a 65% reduction, um, in uh, in

[39:36] unsafe stop sign running. That's it's a

[39:38] change in behavior. again

[39:41] um what kind of makes us different uh as a company uh working working with

[39:45] >> Mr. Mr. Let me let's do this. We have

[39:47] limited time tonight, so let's fast

[39:50] forward to the data that specifically

[39:51] talks about the foresights program.

[39:53] >> Perfect. That sounds great. Yeah, I no

[39:55] problem at all. Um, so uh just wanted to

[39:58] show you this here. These are the

[39:59] violations that are down 52% since uh

[40:01] the program has begun. You can see here

[40:03] on the left hand side uh 17,100 average

[40:07] uh weekly violations. Um that was in

[40:09] early January. uh this program has

[40:12] decreased uh the number of violations by

[40:14] 52% like I had mentioned before

[40:18] um you'll notice that there are high,

[40:19] medium and low. These high, medium, low

[40:22] in red, orange and blue uh these signify

[40:25] uh the egregious uh uh rather the

[40:28] egregiousness of the stop or lack

[40:30] thereof itself. Um so you can think of

[40:32] this as kind of speed, right? So the red

[40:35] are going to be those violations that

[40:37] are generally about around around 12 10

[40:39] miles an hour and up. Medium on average

[40:42] is going to be around let's say five to

[40:45] 5 to 10 miles an hour. Uh and then these

[40:47] blue ones are going to be kind of those

[40:48] lowle um kind of running through stop

[40:51] signs kind rules like the chief

[40:53] mentioned. Um and so you you'll see

[40:55] there's been a significant decrease as

[40:56] well uh in these high egregious

[40:59] violations not just in the program

[41:01] overall changing that behavior.

[41:05] All sites, there are 11 sites uh in

[41:07] Forest Heights. Um we have seen all

[41:09] sites uh go down sharply in the behavior

[41:12] um and the number of violations. Otto

[41:14] Street uh 67, Senica Drive 66, uh Kada

[41:18] Street 65, Comanche 65, Senica 64, and

[41:22] Otto Street Northwest at 64%. Again,

[41:25] it's a decrease in the number of

[41:26] violations significantly since the

[41:28] program started.

[41:31] Um, this has continued uh so again 55 55

[41:35] excuse me 57% all the way down to uh

[41:38] Woodland Drive at 24%.

[41:43] One thing to call out is that violations

[41:44] tend to ramp up through through the

[41:46] week. Um kind kind of makes sense. You

[41:48] know it's a Friday. Uh it's the highest

[41:49] day people are trying to get back home

[41:51] uh you know after after a work week. Um

[41:53] so these are just some of those stats

[41:54] there that I wanted to pull for you all.

[41:59] Um, weekdays peak. This is looking at

[42:01] kind of the the time for when we see the

[42:02] violations.

[42:04] Excuse me. Uh, weekdays tend to peak

[42:06] around 4 p.m. which kind of makes sense.

[42:08] You know, it's again the end end of that

[42:09] workday rush hour. Uh, people are trying

[42:12] to make it home. Uh, and then weekends

[42:14] tend to peak around 3 p.m. for for the

[42:16] violations.

[42:20] Um, so one thing I want to call out is

[42:22] who is actually getting cited for these.

[42:24] Um, so 98% of site citations go to

[42:27] drivers from outside Forest Heights. Um,

[42:30] just want to repeat that again. 98% of

[42:32] the citations that are issued in Forest

[42:34] Heights are not Forest Heights

[42:35] residents. Um, they are they are

[42:37] non-residents. Actually, Forest Heights

[42:39] residents are receiving only 2.2% of the

[42:42] citations that are being issued um in

[42:44] the municipality. That's around uh 1,00

[42:48] 1,300 1,290 or so citations um that are

[42:51] forest heist residents compared to

[42:53] 57,983

[42:55] citations non-residents.

[43:02] Um, so if we're looking at the most

[43:04] sighted drivers, uh, from nearby cities,

[43:06] um, this is just a graph here to kind of

[43:08] show you that, uh, Oxen Hill, Washington

[43:11] DC, for Washington. Um, a lot of cut

[43:14] through, uh, a lot of people driving

[43:16] through, um, and making up that, uh,

[43:18] that high, you know, majority of

[43:20] citations for forest sites. We can see

[43:23] forest sites down here compared to some

[43:24] of the rest of the, uh, the cited

[43:26] drivers at 2.2%.

[43:28] I'll leave this up here just for a

[43:30] second so you can see.

[43:38] Um so the resident share has held

[43:40] between around five uh 0 to 5% across

[43:43] the program. Um that's again kind of the the number of residents for four

[43:48] sites that are actually uh receiving the violations.

[43:53] And it's the uh it's consistently below

[43:55] 10% uh at every single site. That's at

[43:58] all all 11 locations where there are

[44:01] cameras

[44:03] uh for forest residents.

[44:05] Again, below 10% for every every site.

[44:11] And this is just the resident uh uh

[44:14] share continued.

[44:17] Now, uh one thing I want to call out is

[44:19] that most tickets are coming from really

[44:21] a small number of repeat offenders. Um,

[44:23] so if you're looking at this here,

[44:25] you'll see the number of of residents,

[44:27] you'll see the number of of

[44:28] non-residents. Uh, 975

[44:31] uh resident repeat offender tickets. Um,

[44:35] and then uh 17,741

[44:38] non-resident repeat uh tickets.

[44:42] So, the top takeaway here really is that

[44:43] plates uh with more than three tickets

[44:45] are a small share of drivers uh but but

[44:48] drive a disproportionate share of the

[44:50] citations.

[44:54] Um and again like I said like I said

[44:56] most citations kind of track back to

[44:58] that small group of repeat offenders. Um

[45:00] you can see this broken down here uh

[45:03] from the number of plates um the

[45:05] citations issued as well as waved. Um

[45:09] again that's kind of that that same idea

[45:10] that it's it's really just a large

[45:12] percentage is those repeat offenders.

[45:18] Um, one thing I want to call is that we

[45:20] wave repeat uh repeat tickets rather

[45:22] than pile them on. That's one thing that

[45:23] we do not do. We do not pile those on.

[45:25] Um, you know, you'll get a second

[45:27] violation within within those 13 days of a citation. Um, excuse me. We we we

[45:33] wave the repeat tickets rather than pile

[45:35] them on. a second violation within 14

[45:37] days of a citation or a third uh within

[45:40] third three days um isn't cited giving

[45:42] drivers that that really chance to kind

[45:44] of change their behavior which again is

[45:46] really the the goal of this program.

[45:49] >> Mr. Seaman, repeat that definition of

[45:51] what's waved and just say state kind of

[45:55] slowly.

[45:56] >> Yeah, sorry. Yeah. Um so we we we don't

[45:59] pile on the these these citations. So if

[46:02] you get her citation, you won't get

[46:03] another citation for another 14 days.

[46:06] You know, our goal, like the chief said,

[46:08] is not, you know, it's not moneyating.

[46:10] It's really to to make sure that

[46:12] >> you'll have a chance to to come back and

[46:13] say that.

[46:16] >> Continue, Mr. Seaman.

[46:17] >> Okay. Um, so yeah, so wanted to to call

[46:20] that out. So we don't we don't pile them

[46:22] on. If you get a citation, you won't

[46:24] receive another one for for 14 days. Um,

[46:26] that that's kind of the goal to change

[46:28] those that behavior there.

[46:31] Um, and then lastly, just want to call

[46:32] out that, you know, we we do community

[46:34] engagement. We do have tech support.

[46:36] Anyone have has any questions. Uh, we do

[46:38] have support in English and Spanish. Um,

[46:40] you can call us at any point in time for

[46:42] our our customer support. You can email

[46:43] us at at any time. Um, and we can help

[46:46] you with any questions, walk you through

[46:47] payments. If you have questions about

[46:49] court, scheduling, contestation,

[46:51] whatever it is, um, you can go ahead and give us a call. We're here to really

[46:55] try to try to make this a a smooth and seamless process. So,

[47:00] Okay,

[47:02] on that last point, I need some

[47:04] clarification. You don't get another

[47:07] citation within 14 days if it's at the

[47:09] same intersection or just within the

[47:11] system in four sites.

[47:13] >> Uh that that should be within the the entire system within Forest Heights.

[47:17] Let me let me confirm with that with my colleague really quick though. Uh

[47:20] Wade, if if you had any second uh

[47:23] >> you guys hear me?

[47:24] >> Yeah, I know you're having some trouble.

[47:25] There you go.

[47:26] >> Can you hear me? Okay. Hi everyone. Um,

[47:28] so for the repeat offender, I do want to

[47:31] correct it's

[47:34] 10 days and then 3 days after that and

[47:37] it is for the whole Forest Heist system.

[47:39] So if you've gotten a violation in

[47:42] Forest Heights, then that begins.

[47:48] Did that answer the question?

[47:51] >> I don't understand the second half. You

[47:53] said 10 days and then you said then 3

[47:55] days after that,

[47:56] >> right? So then it goes we we still give

[47:58] grace for every 3 days in the system as

[48:01] well after that initial 10day.

[48:09] » It sounds like we'll need that uh policy

[48:12] somewhere we can read and review. And it

[48:14] doesn't make sense on the face of it uh

[48:15] to most of us in the room.

[48:17] >> Okay.

[48:18] >> But let's get some more information on

[48:19] that to understand exactly how that

[48:21] works.

[48:22] >> Sounds good.

[48:23] >> All right. I'm going to open it back to

[48:24] uh questions. We have Miss Mau before we

[48:27] went to the presentation.

[48:30] Um,

[48:31] did I say the right name?

[48:37] All right, I'll turn on my timer. Hi

[48:39] everyone. Good evening. My name is Tracy

[48:41] Mau. I live here in Forest Heights and I

[48:42] serve on the beautifification committee.

[48:44] I share the town's goals of safer

[48:46] streets, which is exactly why I'm asking

[48:48] us to reconsider this program. Let's

[48:50] start with the number that the town gave

[48:52] us. 976 violations on one day at

[48:55] Livingston and Route 10. That's a

[48:57] thousand drivers who are failing. These

[48:59] are not bad people. And I would like to

[49:00] also contest the data that they're

[49:02] presenting as those people who are

[49:04] coming here are not residents are people

[49:06] who are delivering our groceries, who

[49:07] are delivering our medicine, who are

[49:09] providing us needed services. So I don't

[49:12] want to punish them either. These are

[49:14] the fact that there's so many violations

[49:16] means that this is an engineering

[49:18] problem, not a problem with the drivers.

[49:21] and also who pays. A flat fine is

[49:24] regressive by design. $40 is nothing to

[49:26] some households and a missed bill to

[49:28] others, cascading into late fees, court

[49:31] costs, lost licenses for the neighbors

[49:34] who have the least cushion. That's not

[49:35] safety. That's tax for being poor. And

[49:38] where does the money go? Obio. They only

[49:41] profit if the violations continue. So

[49:43] what is their point of calibrating

[49:46] correctly or doing anything else to

[49:48] actually bring these violations down? I

[49:50] want to know what the I want the

[49:52] contract published so we can see how the

[49:53] revenue is split and where this where

[49:56] our share is being spent. Privacy. These

[49:58] pylons record everyone who passes. The

[50:01] company's data centers are self-reported

[50:03] and unodudited and the footage is owned

[50:05] by the town. So residents deserve to

[50:07] know how long it's kept and who can

[50:09] access access it. I would also like to

[50:12] bring up another point. Let's not jump

[50:14] on this bandwagon just as the rest of

[50:16] the country is jumping off communities

[50:17] across the United States. Red, blue,

[50:20] big, and small are cancelling these

[50:22] surveillance contacts. Dozens of

[50:23] localities have pulled their cameras

[50:25] over exactly these concerns. Data shared

[50:27] without consent. Footage sent to who

[50:29] knows where. Systems sent and grow into

[50:31] something that residents never agree to.

[50:33] I'd like clarifications on which signs

[50:36] are marked. Transparency where the data

[50:38] is being stored, publish the contract,

[50:40] and consider sliding scales or other

[50:42] ways for people to pay these fines.

[50:44] Thank you.

[50:45] >> Thank you, Miss Mo.

[50:47] Could I get someone to let me know the

[50:49] next name that's online? I see

[50:53] Mr. Hammet. Uh, I will begin your two

[50:56] minutes. Thank you. You can unmute.

[50:59] >> Yes, sir. Good evening. Um, Marcus Ham,

[51:01] Senica Drive. I'd like to know to her

[51:04] point, how much revenue has been

[51:06] generated thus far from these tickets,

[51:09] and how is the town planning on spending

[51:12] that revenue?

[51:15] » I'll let uh Mr. Seaman or Mr. Borman

[51:18] answer in just a moment, but first I'll

[51:20] state that yes, the program does

[51:21] generate revenue. Um, however, the town

[51:24] does not budget for or rely on this

[51:25] revenue. And

[51:28] the way that the state law works is that

[51:29] it's designed to be used for pedestrian

[51:32] safety improvements. So, part of

[51:34] tonight's meeting and hopefully the

[51:36] continuing discussion around this is

[51:38] what are the needs that we have that can

[51:40] be addressed uh by the funds that are

[51:42] raised. And I've also heard uh in direct

[51:46] conversation with some individuals that

[51:48] they think it's going to go like to to

[51:50] the police department, but this is

[51:51] specifically about on the ground like

[51:54] walking, crosswalks, signage, lighting.

[51:57] Uh we're trying to see if it can be used

[51:59] for sidewalks or curbway improvements,

[52:01] things that residents have been asking

[52:03] for for a long time and that contribute

[52:06] directly to making the streets safer. Uh

[52:10] now I'll go to Mr. Seaman or Borman who

[52:12] has to the to answer on the amount of

[52:14] revenue that's been generated so far

[52:16] with the program.

[52:17] >> Hi everybody. Um so the revenue number

[52:21] for the town has brought in $433,426

[52:27] and in the legislation it has to be put

[52:30] into public safety. So it's written into

[52:34] the legislation that all funds collected

[52:36] have to go back to public safety. So,

[52:39] like uh Mr. Jackson was saying,

[52:42] sidewalks,

[52:44] crosswalks, painting, speed bumps,

[52:47] things like that.

[52:53] » Okay, next question. Um, sir, you'll

[52:56] have two minutes.

[52:57] >> I just have two quick statements. Uh,

[52:59] one, how much money was made by Avio in

[53:03] the past however months it's been

[53:04] running

[53:06] from our from our town? The violations

[53:09] in our town,

[53:11] >> Avio has made $44,54

[53:14] >> as pure profit. Correct. They just set

[53:16] up the systems and let them run.

[53:18] >> Uh, we have a lot of hardware to

[53:19] maintain and software to maintain.

[53:21] >> And how often do you send your people

[53:23] out to recalibrate? You said every day.

[53:26] We have software engineers checking

[53:28] daily and then hardware. But

[53:29] >> you have people on the ground here

[53:31] actually physically checking the cameras

[53:33] that they're not moved that they're

[53:34] still marked because there's two cameras

[53:35] in our neighborhood that are not clearly

[53:37] marked right now.

[53:38] >> What do you mean by marked? I'm sorry.

[53:40] >> As in there's a camera here. Please

[53:42] stop. As in it's not properly marked.

[53:44] And I the intersection I'm referring to

[53:46] is 210 in Livingston.

[53:48] >> Okay.

[53:48] >> Right where Henry's food is. Soul Food.

[53:51] It is impossible to legally go north on

[53:53] 210 now because of the 3-se secondond

[53:55] arrow and the stop sign and people line

[53:59] up there. And y'all don't know this

[54:00] because y'all are a big company and

[54:01] y'all actually aren't here. But us who

[54:03] live here, 210 is impassible and has

[54:05] been made more dangerous because of the

[54:06] stop sign camera. If that first person

[54:09] is turning left, that second person

[54:10] needs to follow them in order to catch

[54:12] that light. If not, there's two

[54:14] different types of traffic coming

[54:15] towards them when they are trying to

[54:16] turn left into it. And if you stopped at

[54:19] that light, other cars behind you just

[54:21] go around you and run the light anyways

[54:22] and go in front of you. So you've

[54:24] actually made the intersection more

[54:25] dangerous. Thank you.

[54:32] » So we're we're happy to replace the sign

[54:34] if the sign's missing. As far as the

[54:35] traffic engineering of an intersection,

[54:37] I would have to defer to a traffic

[54:39] engineer.

[54:42] » Let's go to the next uh hand that's

[54:44] raised online.

[54:48] Uh, Miss Caress Mitchell.

[54:53] » Hi, I'm Long.

[55:00] » We heard you for a moment now. I I can't

[55:02] hear. I don't know if you went on mute.

[55:03] I

[55:03] >> I heard the council member. I didn't

[55:04] know if I needed to stop or not.

[55:06] >> Yes, you Yes, you can begin.

[55:08] >> Okay. Um my I'm a resident of Livingston

[55:11] on Ottawa Street for 15 years and I just

[55:14] wanted to say my largest concern is that

[55:17] I've seen people speed when we had speed

[55:19] bumps on speed humps and no speed humps

[55:22] on Ottawa Street and nothing has changed

[55:24] in the past 15 years over the repeat

[55:26] offenders. But it feels like the

[55:28] residents who are trying to stop are

[55:30] being penalized if we have two stop

[55:32] signs on either side of our street to

[55:34] even go to work each day. My family has

[55:38] received 50 tickets at 5903 Ottawa

[55:41] Street since February. So, I would love

[55:43] to refute what they are saying about the

[55:46] violations because I'm considering

[55:49] moving out of the neighborhood if I have

[55:50] to spend $2,000 a year on parking

[55:53] tickets because my income will never

[55:55] reflect that if we keep having

[55:57] violations. And some of them are school

[55:59] buses. So, I would love to know if PG

[56:00] County is paying for whether school

[56:02] buses are running stop signs or not as

[56:04] well because it feels like we are being

[56:06] penalized as residents more than anyone

[56:08] else. And that's just going to keep

[56:09] gatekeeping our community in a row, not

[56:11] allowing revenue to come into Forest

[56:13] Heights.

[56:21] » Let's go to the Is there anyone else

[56:22] inside the room who would like to ask a

[56:25] question? Let's go to the next

[56:31] Uh, I see there's someone whose name is

[56:34] Samsung online. I I don't know who whose

[56:36] name it is, but you can come offline and

[56:38] >> Hi, that's me. Can you hear me?

[56:41] >> Yes, we can.

[56:42] >> I'm Carolanne Prather. I live on Quaid

[56:44] Street

[56:45] >> right at the stop sign where the one

[56:47] camera is. Um,

[56:51] but my issue that I'm going to speak of

[56:53] is my husband had an idea where you're

[56:56] coming off of Comanche

[56:59] as well as off of Arapjo onto Livingston

[57:02] where it is difficult to get through

[57:04] that stop sign into the traffic or from

[57:07] Livingston where you can't even if you

[57:09] now that the bush has been or the tree

[57:11] has been trimmed, you still can't see

[57:14] far enough down once you stop at a full

[57:17] stop behind that white

[57:19] to see traffic coming to get out into

[57:21] the road. Why don't we spend some of

[57:23] that money that we're getting from us

[57:26] ticket

[57:28] ticketer people who put stop lights up

[57:31] traffic lights at those two places at

[57:34] Livingston and Arapjo and at Livingston

[57:38] and Comanche.

[57:46] Well, I guess we can look into that as

[57:47] part of today's conversation. U, it's

[57:49] not something we had thought about

[57:50] before. We can look into it and we're

[57:52] trying to gather ideas and we'll be

[57:54] taking the feedback, discuss um any

[57:57] potential changes or modifications.

[58:00] Uh or just what we do next. Let's put it

[58:03] that way. We discuss what we do next

[58:04] after tonight.

[58:05] >> There is a stop sign. I mean, there is a

[58:07] light, traffic light at Birwood and

[58:10] Livingston.

[58:13] We should have one. We should have those

[58:14] stop lightss.

[58:19] » Thank you. Uh I see council member

[58:21] McDonald online with a comment.

[58:25] >> Yes. I just have one quick comment.

[58:28] Thank you for um coming and sharing with

[58:30] us this information. and I represent

[58:32] Ward 1. And my question is

[58:35] from a program perspective, what rate

[58:39] determines success

[58:42] in in making the adjustments in terms of

[58:44] the cameras going away?

[58:54] It sounds like a question for the

[58:55] council. Does does Avio have a

[59:00] percentage or is there a recommended

[59:02] threshold where you know it seems like

[59:04] missions accomplished or where we

[59:06] consider temporarily decommissioning

[59:09] cameras or what like what maybe it's a

[59:11] question for the council and I think we

[59:13] can maybe talk about and discuss some

[59:15] benchmarks uh for success if safety is

[59:18] what we're aiming for. We know we won't

[59:20] get to 100%.

[59:24] Mayor, I'm asking AIO from their

[59:27] experience,

[59:29] [clears throat]

[59:29] >> what has been the rate that determines

[59:32] the cameras being removed from areas

[59:36] where change behavior has taken place.

[59:41] >> So, we don't have any set percentage.

[59:44] This is a pilot

[59:46] program in PG County. the legislation

[59:49] has that is a four-year pilot and we do

[59:52] send the county data every year and they

[59:54] will probably ultimately make that

[59:56] decision of what is an acceptable

[59:59] is this program working or it's not. But

[1:00:02] to uh the mayor's point, like I would

[1:00:04] love to know what the council and mayor

[1:00:05] and what the residents would find maybe

[1:00:07] an acceptable percentage like when we

[1:00:10] have found success. But all from our

[1:00:12] perspective, the the lower it gets the

[1:00:14] better. And if we're still seeing trends

[1:00:17] go down, they're still working.

[1:00:23] » I see another hand up. Uh can someone

[1:00:26] tell me that name?

[1:00:30] What's the first name? Oh, Levelin

[1:00:32] Hamlet. Hammet, excuse me.

[1:00:34] >> Hi. Um, so yeah, I am just curious about

[1:00:39] uh what he said about the two things.

[1:00:42] One that the tickets we would have

[1:00:45] tickets um within uh either three or 10

[1:00:50] day time frame. I have 25 tickets in

[1:00:52] front of me right now. Some are from the

[1:00:53] same day. Some are one I have one in

[1:00:56] particular from 2:50 PM and one from

[1:01:00] 12:54 the same day and I have them all

[1:01:02] in my hands right now looking at them

[1:01:04] not the repeat notices but the actual

[1:01:07] tickets.

[1:01:08] >> Um and so there's that and then I

[1:01:11] appreciate what the lady said earlier

[1:01:14] about like what are we going to do about

[1:01:15] a payment plan because like what am I

[1:01:18] supposed to do like I got 25 tickets

[1:01:21] right here.

[1:01:23] So, for the first question, obviously

[1:01:25] that sounds like our mistake. If you

[1:01:26] could please give us a call at support

[1:01:28] or uh give Ricky or myself an email, we

[1:01:32] can help you sort that out. Uh it sounds

[1:01:33] like something went wrong. Obviously,

[1:01:35] that's not something we're we're trying

[1:01:37] to have happen. And your second question

[1:01:40] is all citations, you know, you can

[1:01:43] contest in court. A lot of times judges,

[1:01:46] you know, also don't like stacking

[1:01:49] citations. So, uh, sometimes there's

[1:01:51] leniency and that's the best course of

[1:01:53] action for that kind of situation.

[1:01:58] » Could you give the the phone number so

[1:02:00] those in the room and those online can

[1:02:03] have it? You might be getting a lot of

[1:02:04] calls tomorrow.

[1:02:06] >> Sure. One sec. I'll drop it in the uh

[1:02:07] messages if that works.

[1:02:10] Just need a second to pull it up.

[1:02:26] and and so so that it's on recording as

[1:02:29] well. Supportsafer.com.

[1:02:33] Phone number is 8556556621.

[1:02:40] I can repeat that because I know that

[1:02:41] was kind of fast. support at

[1:02:43] let'safer.com

[1:02:45] 8556556621

[1:02:51] and it's regular business hours um I

[1:02:56] believe 8 8 to 4 or 9 to 9 to5.

[1:03:02] All right, ladies and gentlemen, uh we

[1:03:05] do have another regularly scheduled

[1:03:06] meeting that starts at 8 tonight, but I

[1:03:07] do want to thank everyone who's come in

[1:03:09] person and who's joined online for your

[1:03:10] questions, for your statements.

[1:03:15] So,

[1:03:16] we are going to continue the

[1:03:17] conversation. We wanted to schedule

[1:03:19] tonight's meeting because uh the time is

[1:03:22] of the essence and we wanted to start

[1:03:24] the conversation as soon as possible.

[1:03:25] So, based on what I've heard tonight,

[1:03:29] we have several questions before us.

[1:03:33] One of them is, does the current

[1:03:35] enforcement policy reflect the town's

[1:03:37] public safety goals? Another question

[1:03:39] is, are there policy adjustments that

[1:03:42] would improve public confidence while

[1:03:44] maintaining safety?

[1:03:46] And the last one,

[1:03:50] if I can if I can finish, I just want to

[1:03:52] make sure I summarize what we've talked

[1:03:53] about tonight. This is not the last

[1:03:54] conversation. The last question, it

[1:03:56] sounds like I've heard uh is there's two

[1:03:59] questions. What does success look like?

[1:04:00] And then two, under what circumstances

[1:04:03] should the program continue, be

[1:04:04] modified, be paused, or conclude. Those

[1:04:07] are the questions before the community

[1:04:09] and the council. Uh we'll be continuing

[1:04:11] the conversation about what the program

[1:04:13] looks like next. And we thank you for

[1:04:15] coming out, voicing your honest

[1:04:17] feedback. We've uncovered that there are

[1:04:19] some real issues and we want to address

[1:04:22] them and then we want to look at what we

[1:04:23] do going forward. So, thank you.

[1:04:27] >> Um I'm sorry. Could someone send out the phone number? I wasn't able to write

[1:04:32] it down. The phone number that he

[1:04:34] mentioned.

[1:04:38] » We need the phone number one more time

[1:04:39] if we could. If you could, uh, Mr.

[1:04:42] Borman.

[1:04:43] >> Sure. Of course. Uh,

[1:04:46] 855

[1:04:49] 655

[1:04:53] 66

[1:04:55] 21.

[1:05:08] All right, ladies and gentlemen, this

[1:05:09] concludes the uh stop sign community

[1:05:13] safety forum. We're going to close this

[1:05:15] meeting out and go to the next uh

[1:05:17] regular town meeting which starts at

[1:05:18] 8:00 p.m. has a separate link. Thank you

[1:05:21] for joining us tonight.

[1:05:23] >> Thank you everyone.

[1:05:25] And so,

Town of Forest Heights's Personal Meeting Room

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