Alpine city cuts its license-plate cameras from six to three after an $18,000 renewal invoice

Alpine city will keep three of its six Flock Safety license-plate cameras under a Sept. 22, 2026 council decision that halves the annual fee the vendor billed. ^[2]

Flock's Sept. 14 invoice in the council packet bills six cameras at $3,000 each, for $18,000, labeled year one of a 36-month term covering 2026–2027. The staff report says the agreement had an automatic renewal clause and that the termination charge is $500 per camera, covering the vendor's cost to remove it. ^[1]

The contract

According to the minutes, the original contract was approved in 2023 at $15,000 a year for six cameras and renewed automatically in April 2026 for three years. Staff said reducing to three cameras would lower the annual fee by $9,000, and removing the other three would cost $1,500 under the contract's termination-for-convenience clause. ^[2]

Police Chief Brian Gwilliam recommended keeping three north-facing cameras to capture vehicles entering the city, saying Highland's cameras cover vehicles leaving Alpine. ^[2]

What the chief told the council

Gwilliam said the system reads license plates, is not used for traffic enforcement, does not use facial recognition and keeps data no longer than 30 days, after which it is purged. He said a person must verify any hit and that data is shared only with Utah agencies using the same vendor. ^[2]

He said the transparency portal showed 10 searches and 123 hot-list hits in the previous 30 days across 12 cameras, six in Alpine and six in Highland, and that internal audits and random searches had found no abuses. ^[2]

The vote

Jessica Smuin moved to continue using the cameras and authorize staff to pay a $9,000 annual fee with the reduction from six cameras to three, conditioned on a contract review to confirm the city is operating under the original signed contract. Chrissy Hannemann seconded, and the motion passed 4–1. ^[2]

Andrew Young spoke against the cameras, citing possible misuse and pending state legislation. Sarah Blackwell suggested waiting until after the legislative session but said she would support three cameras if the item was not tabled. ^[2]