Village plant to get security cameras

The Village of Fredonia’s wastewater treatment plant will have improved security as the Village Board voted to spend up to $7,000 to install six surveillance cameras around the facility.

It’s one part of a technological upgrade plan that would include streaming village, and perhaps Town of Fredonia, meetings.

Trustees unanimously approved buying up to six motion-activated cameras that could record events for up to one week and be accessed remotely.

The total cost is estimated at $6,656.

Public Works Director Roger Strohm said there have been no instances of vandalism at the plant but improving security at village facilities has been on the village’s to-do list since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. 

“What’s one act of vandalism going to cost us?” Trustee Bill McLarty said in support of buying the security system.

The increased security is part of a general technological upgrade for the village that could include improving security at other village properties. That includes installing equipment in the Fredonia Government Center conference room where village and town meetings are held.

The upgrades there would include cameras that would allow village and town meetings to be streamed through a web-based conferencing program such as Skype, an 80-inch wall screen that can be connected to a laptop or other device to enable presentations and a wireless microphone for speakers.

The conference room upgrades would total about $11,000, Technology Committee Chairman Richard Abegglen said.

Trustees did not vote on those additions.

“For me, the cameras in the conference room aren’t the priority; the treatment plant is the priority,” Trustee Jill Bertram said.