Tuesday night, the Lafayette City Parish Council approved two introductory ordinances concerning the Safelight/Safespeed program.
The first, if approved in two weeks, would effectively end the program by not renewing the LCG contract with Redflex. That ordinance passed by a vote of 5 to 4. Voting in favor of the ordinance were councilmen Brandon Shelvin (district 3), Kenneth Boudreaux (district 4), Jared Bellard (district 5), Andy Naquin (district 6), William Theriot (district 9).
The second ordinance outlined proposed changes to contract with Redflex, which will be considered by the council should the first ordinance fail. City-Parish President Joey Durel outlined the proposals, which the administration negotiated with Redflex.
The new contract would be a four-year agreement with no automatic renewal. It calls for changes to the cash flow in terms of paid violations. Currently, the contract features an incremental tiered cost approach, in which on average the breakdown is 53.9% for LCG and 46.1% for Redflex. The proposed contract would include a fixed rate of 60% for LCG and 40% for Redflex.
The proposals also call for an additional speed van in the fleet, bringing the total to 3. Redflex would also be responsible for relocating system detectors in accordance with state regulations, at a cost of $180,000. Parish President Joey Durel said that adjustment at intersections is designed to give drivers the benefit of the doubt.
Both ordinances will be considered for final adoption on May 15th.