The Wellington Village Council approved the second and final reading of a plan to put automated speed cameras in school zones on Tuesday, Jan. 28, but stopped short of awarding a contract to proposed vendor RedSpeed Florida LLC.
That likely means cameras are coming — but will not be active until the start of the next school year in the fall.
“This allows us to put the speed cameras in once we select the vendor,” Mayor Michael Napoleone said.
He said the idea is to gain more clarity on vendor options and contract terms.
“There’s no real urgency because this wouldn’t start anyway until the start of the school year,” Napoleone said.
The council decided to drop an agenda item at the Jan. 28 meeting that would have awarded a contract to RedSpeed.
“This is important enabling legislation for us to be able to move forward to better enforce speeds in our school zones and increase safety in those areas,” Vice Mayor John McGovern said.
The measure passed 5-0.
In October, the council approved the first reading of the ordinance, but held off on an immediate contract with RedSpeed, then also on the initial agenda.
A 2023 Florida law set up guidelines for such cameras, and dozens of counties and municipalities in the state have started to use them. The Town of Loxahatchee Groves approved their use in December, inking a contract with RedSpeed.
The automated systems take snapshots of license plates of vehicles clocked as going too fast and mail out fines to drivers traveling at least 11 mph above posted limits in school zones.
Wellington is part of a cooperative group of local governments that can piggy-back on contract terms a partner municipality has worked out. The City of Plantation ranked the top bidders in a scoring system for school cameras and picked RedSpeed. That would have let Wellington avoid a long, drawn-out bidding process, but village leaders decided to hear more from other vendors.
The $100 fines do not count as points on a license or affect insurance, backers say. Appeals are heard by a magistrate, though they could end up in the regular court system if unpaid fines accrue.
Wellington would pay nothing up front for the cameras but would be required to provide a magistrate’s time and a staff person to approve individual citations.
Under a prospective contract with RedSpeed, $39 of each $100 fine would go to the Village of Wellington, $21 to RedSpeed, $20 to the state’s general fund, $12 to the Palm Beach County School District, $5 to a school crossing guard program and $3 to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Fines would be for violations in school zones during the regularly scheduled class day, extending half an hour before and after those hours. A 30-day period of warning letters would precede the issuing of actual fines.
It’s a big change that would require drivers to adjust to a new landscape, where the physical presence of sheriff’s deputies who rotate to different schools is no longer the only way for drivers who lose track of posted limits to suffer adverse consequences.
In October, McGovern said he suspected getting fines in the mail could be “shocking” to some residents.
In other business:
- The council unanimously approved the first reading of zoning and comprehensive plan amendments that clear the way for 220 multi-family residential units on 10 acres near the Hampton Inn by the Mall at Wellington Green. That land was the subject of a settlement between the village and the original mall developers Brefrank last year.
The deal provides for village control of certain wetlands and puts $11 million into Wellington’s coffers, a portion of which is earmarked for athletic facilities at Palm Beach Central High School.
The “Axis 2” project would feature buildings up to six stories, taller than the four stories on the first phase of the nearby Axis apartment buildings, builders said in response to questions from council members who expressed some unease with that. That vertical dimension allows more green and recreational space on the property, the developers explained.
One issue that came up was whether the village was losing space for “open play” in soccer or other sports.
“The thing that bothers me the most is taking away this community space, this green space,” Councilwoman Amanda Silvestri said.
Village Manager Jim Barnes said that Wellington has been able to add open-play park space elsewhere in the village.
He also noted that research indicated about 75 percent of sports participants on the 10 acres near the mall did not live in Wellington.
“While there’s parts of this I don’t love, I think it’s a good overall solution for Wellington and our residents,” Napoleone said.
He asked the applicants to consider including “workforce housing,” which can mean rents tied to tenant means or income, and not entirely set by the market, in the project by its second reading.
- Wellington Rotary Club President Walter Imperatore told the council how proud he was of the way the community came together to support residents affected by the major tornado in October.
His own group raised about $35,000 and was joined by other civic and charitable organizations, he said. Amid all the trauma, “many found comfort in the simple act of people reaching out to support them,” he said.
Village staff members noted that they continue to follow perhaps 20 to 30 properties whose owners have not applied for permits to repair damage, to guide them to possible resources in the event they lack insurance coverage or ready funds.
- A 5-0 council vote on a consent agenda approved a $161,500 contract with E. Gomez Construction Inc. to remove and replace split-rail fencing at Village Park, using terms from a City of Greenacres contract. Also approved was $52,196 to continue using Civic Plus LLC for parks and recreation management software.
- Diverging from the published consent agenda, the council decided not to reappoint Code Compliance Special Magistrate Alan Zangen directly and instead seek applicants, which could include Zangen.
