During the Jan. 17 meeting of the city council at City Hall, there were no objections to the City of Nichols moving forward with an automatic traffic enforcement (ATE) device that would issue tickets to vehicles speeding through the community.
City Clerk Aeneas Schmitz says there will be two more votes beginning with the Wednesday, Feb. 14, meeting on whether the city should move forward with the ATE, which will photograph and ticket drivers going at least 11 miles per hour over the posted limit.
Schmitz said the council’s main objective is for public safety, hoping to slow traffic through the town in particular on U.S Route 22, where he says many vehicles speed through at 45-50 miles per hour while the speed limit in the downtown area is posted at 25 mph.
“I’m surprised someone hasn’t gotten hurt,” said Schmitz, pointing out the council voted unanimously in their first vote in January to approve the ATE, “It’d be great if everybody actually slowed down,” he said, noting nearby Lone Tree had the same problem before installing a four-way stop at their main intersection on Route 22.
He said there has been nothing but positive reaction from residents and businesses about the installation of the portable machine, which will automatically issue tickets at a minimum of $75.
The biggest concern for the council is the administrative costs of the ATE, since the city only has one police officer that is on salary, Chief Jeff Jirak.
The clerk said someone has to review each offense before a ticket is issued through the Knoxville, Tennessee based company, Blue Line Solutions. Tickets do not go against the driver’s record unless they are actually issued by an officer.
Schmitz said although the device could be moved from place to place, the council’s main objective is to slow traffic in the downtown area where pedestrians cross the street. He said there would likely be a trial period before actual tickets were issued.
The city of Durant installed such a device over a year ago and, in their first nine months, issued 5,867 citations of which 4,180 had been paid, producing nearly $180,000 in income for the city.
Those funds, however, can only be used for public safety projects, Nichols would receive 60 percent of the income from the paid violations.
Snowstorm
In other business, the council praised the snow plowing work of Stan Ronan during the recent mid-January 15-inch storm, Schmitz pointing out that residents understood the situation and the fact Nichols doesn’t have many curbed streets made the task easier.
Still, some residents complained about high snow piles on corners creating blind intersections, but recent warmer weather and moving some of those piles solved that problem, according to mayor Lindsey Reimers.
“He had a plan in place and it worked,” said the clerk of the contracted service. “He does a heck of a job.”
The city also is looking into replacing an old generator at the Nichols Fire Station, noting the older model is under repair and the department is waiting on a service tech to diagnose the issue. Authorities are looking into a grant for a new generator.
Chief JJ Hudson reported the department had 103 calls in 2023. Up from a year earlier when there were 73. The department had a 100 percent response rate.
Mobile Public Library
The city also contracted with the West Liberty Public Library to continue monthly mobile library services to the community, costing $12 for each of the 33 residents and a total cost of $3,960.
Facing what was called a “disappointing” nuisance situation on properties owned by former mayor Cyle Geertz, the city refused an extension of a Dec. 31, 2023, deadline to put a fence around the Geertz property.
The council denied the request due to “an extreme lack of progress,” with the city lawyer taking the next steps for nuisance abatement.
The council meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. in city hall. Anyone is welcome to attend.