Nashville Town Council has approved the purchase of security cameras that will cost roughly $28,000.
The cameras, from Security Pros, will be installed at several locations in town: The Village Green restrooms, the pavilion at Main and Jefferson Streets, the Old School Way restrooms, Washington Street parking lot and the Nashville Municipal Utilities Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Town Administrator Phyllis Carr said she requested three companies to give quotes, and two others came in at a lower cost than Security Pros, but the town would be required to install internet equipment at the locations of the cameras, as well as a means of storing the equipment.
Security Pros installs the cameras, which work off of Verizon Wireless cell phone signals.
The cost for the cameras for Washington Street was $7,390.58. For Old School Way, the pavilion and Village Green restrooms the cost is $10,028.47. The total cost for the four locations will come out of the Food and Beverage Tax line item for the Town of Nashville.
The cameras at the Village Green will be installed in the lobby area. They will be installedand outside of the Old School Way restrooms.
The Utility Service Board has its own budget, which will pay for the cameras at the treatment plant. The cost for cameras at that location is $10,567.07.
Town council voted to give Carr permission to make contracts with Security Pros to install the cameras.
The cameras are designed for “extended life,” a representative of Security Pros said at the town council meeting on Sept. 15. Their outdoor equipment is considered to be “vandal resistant,” he added.
The town will own the equipment, which can be insured.
There has been vandalism at different occasions at the Old School Way restrooms and at the pavilion, and crime has been reported on Washington Street, Town Council President Nancy Crocker said.
Carr said last week the cameras at the treatment plant will be precautionary and that nothing has been reported in that area so far.
Anyone with access to the cameras can view live footage on their phones, like officers with the Nashville Police Department. Town administrators will decide who has access.
The way the system works, there will be a “marker” on the screen, indicating activity at a certain time in the recording.
“What this will do is give us a time frame of people, if we know that something has happened, we’ll be able to see who’s come and gone and if we recognize,” she said.
She added that it will act as a deterrent for individuals seeing cameras, knowing they’re being recorded.
“Whether it prevents crime from happening … it’s just a safety measure of the town to make sure people are safe.”
NPD Chief Heather Burris said last week there has been a lot of vandalism in areas receiving cameras.
From spray painting, to a park bench being moved it to a different location in town, camera footage will be helpful to police.
“Ideally security cameras would help us narrow down timing to have better timing to (patrol) those locations,” she said.
“A security system in town could bring to light something we’re not aware of. It’s a resource, it’s a tool, to help us better keep the community safe.”
