KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — The Kaufman County Commissioners’ Court voted Monday to seek the termination of a school zone and bus stop-arm camera program and, with it, a proposed settlement package.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — The Kaufman County Commissioners’ Court voted Monday to seek the termination of a school zone and bus stop-arm camera program and, with it, a proposed settlement package.
The program has drawn mixed reviews since its inception in April 2014 and deployment later that year.
Kaufman County Judge Bruce Wood, a proponent of the measure and the only remaining member on the court who voted for the contract with American Traffic Solutions (ATS), still says the program worked — slowing motorists in school zones monitored by the system and ticketing others for passing buses with their stop arms deployed.
Commissioner Jimmy Vrzalik, who voted against the implementation of the program in 2014, has fought back against the contract since Day 1 — citing, among other concerns, what he thought would be astronomical fees possible with non-producing units, the contracts constitutionality, and allowing a lame-duck commissioners’ court to vote on the measure in the first place.
The commissioners’ court discussed their many options in terminating the contract in open session Monday afternoon, a change from the many closed, executive sessions concerning the matter.
District Attorney Erleigh Wiley told the court they had three options: seek an Attorney General’s ruling and take an offensive approach to seek a declaratory judgment in court; turn off the cameras and do nothing, essentially breaching the contract; or agreeing to a settlement agreement the commissioners’ court had previously instructed the district attorney’s office to begin pursuing.
Wiley says the first option to seek an attorney general’s ruling, although the preferred method vocalized by several Kaufman County Tea Party representatives in attendance of the meeting, would revoke the county’s sovereign immunity when it sought a declaratory judgement in court and possibly open the county to lawsuits from ATS which could result in the county paying untold damages.
In recent years, the cities of Houston and Baytown settled breach of contract lawsuits with ATS in amounts of $4.8 million and $1 million, respectively, despite voter referendums to remove the cameras.
The second option, Wiley says, is more of a defensive posture but would result in the county willingly breaching the contract and, again, opening itself up to damage claims.
The third, according to Wiley, falls within the guidelines set by commissioners who sought a possible settlement less than the net proceeds from the contract which amounts to approximately $198,000.
Wiley says, in previous settlement discussions, ATS had agreed upon a settlement of $175,000 and a $6,800 removal fee for ATS to retrieve their equipment. This option would include a mutual release and could be implemented fairly quickly in the next couple of weeks, according to Wiley.
“From the very get go, it was a student safety issue with me,” Wood, a retired school district superintendent, told inForney.com. “If the public sentiment is this is not a fair or good program, we need to listen to our constituents, make a decision, and move on down the road.”
Despite his support for the program, Wood says the quickest way to exit the contract is to agree to the proposed settlement.
Commissioners Skeet Phillips, echoing similar comments made by Commissioner Jakie Allen, said he would like to see a quick resolution to the contract instead of a long, drawn-out legal battle.
“I just can’t see wasting tax-payer money going down the road spending $500,000 to $600,000 or leaving that for the next generation to deal with for the next 10 years,” stated Phillips.
“If they can settle it in the next two weeks, I think that would be great,” Vrzalik said before commissioners moved to take a vote.
Allen made a motion to allow the district attorney to continue negotiating the termination agreement, which was seconded by Phillips, and unanimously approved by the commissioners’ court.
Although satisfied the court took action to exit the contract, Vrzalik told inForney.com the county still bore the cost of thousands of man hours exhausted by the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office to deploy the school zone cameras each day.
A finalized termination agreement will likely be presented to the commissioners’ court on August 15, 2016.
