A new name zoomed to the top for Wellington’s contract on school zone speed cameras, winning approval at a Wellington Village Council meeting on Tuesday, April 22 despite pushback from supporters of a former front-running firm.
Jenoptik North America Inc., doing business as Jenoptik Smart Mobility Solutions LLC, secured the deal in a 5-0 vote to provide automated cameras scheduled to start operating at the start of the school year in the fall.
The cameras, made possible under a 2023 state law, take snapshots of license plates and mail out fines to drivers traveling more than 10 mph above posted limits in school zones.
The latest developments come after Wellington assembled a team of five judges from members of its own staff to write up evaluation scores for six vendors. The half dozen companies included RedSpeed Florida LLC, which twice appeared on earlier council agendas as a fast-track option that Wellington could have chosen by piggybacking on contract terms from another community in a cooperative group of municipalities.
But since then, the council passed an ordinance making cameras possible while deciding to take a deeper dive into what other vendors were offering.
In the village’s eventual scoring, RedSpeed tied for third. Jenoptik came in first.
At the April 22 meeting, a RedSpeed representative urged the council not to proceed based on the village’s heavy emphasis on price as the largest single component of the selection criteria — 40 percent compared to 30 percent each for “qualifications and experience” and “technical” factors.
“Jenoptik does not have one school-zone speed program in Florida,” said Neil Schiller of Government Law Group on RedSpeed’s behalf. “In fact, all of the other proposers combined pale in the amount of experience they have in this program to RedSpeed.”
RedSpeed has 31 clients in Florida for school cameras, Schiller said.
The price difference indeed proved significant in the scoring by village officials, records show. Three of the five judges ranked Jenoptik first.
With Jenoptik, the village gets a far bigger cut of each $100 fine.
Wellington’s share is $49.98 with Jenoptik, compared to $42 with Blue Line Solutions, $40.02 with Altumint, $39 with Verra, $37.50 with RedSpeed and $33 with Novoa.
Council members asked Jenoptik officials for assurances they could deliver at that price.
“At the fee split that is discussed here, you feel comfortable you’re going to meet all the compliance requirements of the state law?” Councilman John McGovern asked.
“Yes, we absolutely believe we can do that,” said Finbarr O’Carroll, president of American operations for Jenoptik, based in Germany with North American headquarters in Jupiter.
“We’re 40 minutes away, so at no point should there be any issue with contacting us,” he said.
Exit provisions allow the village to cancel with 30 days’ notice if the vendor fails to live up to obligations, according to village officials.
The cameras cost the village nothing up front. Wellington must pay for the time of a staff member to review alleged violations and a magistrate to hear challenges. The company provides the cameras, sends letters to violators and makes its money from a share of the fines.
Municipalities and vendors split $60 of each $100 fine, with the other $40 going to entities set by state law.
The breakdown now will be $49.98 to Wellington, $10.02 to Jenoptik, $20 to the state’s general fund, $12 for the local school district, $5 for a school guard crossing program and $3 for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The contract term is for five years with five one-year renewal options. The target implementation date is Aug. 11.
Drivers who lose track of posted speed limits and are not alert to the cameras could be in for an unpleasant surprise in a few months.
However, the fines don’t count as points on a license. The $100 hits to the wallet would be for violations in school zones during the regularly scheduled class day, plus a half hour before and after. A 30-day period of warning letters would precede the issuing of actual fines.
“Hopefully, the pain of the citations will cause people to slow down,” Mayor Michael Napoleone said.
At least initially, the cameras will not necessarily appear at the two high schools in the village. That could change as officials work to sort out various legal and jurisdictional issues relating to the roads in front of them.
