Hayden officials explain roundabout delays, postpone ALPR vote
Eric Seeley gives his thoughts on the impact ALPR cameras can make on Hayden and the community as a whole. Though the Hayden City Council postponed their vote on whether to look into an ALPR policy, they still allowed for public comments on the matter.
DAVID BERNAUER/Press
Sometimes, things don’t go as planned.
The Hayden City Council meeting on Tuesday kicked off with an announcement: Councilman David Erickson would be unable to attend. As a result, the council didn’t feel comfortable moving forward with a vote on whether Hayden should move forward with implementing a policy on Automatic License Plate Reader cameras, or ALPRs.
Those who wanted to make public comments could still share their opinions on ALPRs for the record. Two residents, Amy McCamly and Eric Seeley, voiced their opinions.
“I don't want any surveillance, no matter what we're calling it,” McCamly said. “I don't think we need to be surveilled at all.”
Seeley worried that ALPRs were the first step toward mass surveillance.
“It seems like the surveillance state is almost inevitable to a lot of us,” Seeley said. “The longer we can delay a totalitarian state where our every move is watched at all times, I think is a very good and positive thing.”
The rest of the meeting covered consent calendar items. The topic which sparked the most discussion was the Honeysuckle Avenue and Ramsey Road intersection roundabout project.
The roundabout replaces a traditional four-way intersection after it was identified as an important intersection for improving traffic flow and safety. A 2015 concept report found that a roundabout would be more effective and safer long-term than a traffic light.
A change order, approved by a 3-0 vote, reduced the cost by $7,063.78, down from the previous total of $1,749,135.63.
The big issue for some residents was the timeline. Originally scheduled for completion in August, work is now expected to finish this month.
According to the council, the delay was due to the time it took to install utilities. The intersection has Avista Gas, Avista Power, Kootenai Electric Power, TDS, Spectrum, Ziply Fiber, Hayden Irrigation District and Hayden Area Regional Sewer District utilities going through it.
“All those utilities had to be relocated,” Hayden Public Works Director Alan Soderling said. “They have to get relocated in a certain order because you can't move this one when the other's in the way, and you can't move that one until this one's out of the way.”
Soderling said he had been in contact with the utility companies about how best to manage relocation, but because some companies are unionized and others are not, there were delays.
“It's really difficult to get them organized in a manner that you can get this done quickly,” Soderling said. “That is a big portion of what these delays are about."