License plate reading cameras, Surf District traffic study among Clear Lake City Council agenda items today

CLEAR LAKE — The Clear Lake City Council meets during the noon hour today with a number of things on their agenda:

== The council will consider whether or not to approve the purchase of automated license plate reading cameras from the company FLOCK to place at multiple locations around the community. Clear Lake police chief Mike Colby at the council’s last regular meeting made a presentation about the cameras, which would not be used for traffic enforcement, but would be used for such purposes as finding missing individuals and vehicles. He cited numerous communities in Iowa that have already implemented the technology. The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa is calling for the council to not approve the purchase of the cameras, saying there’s been documented incidents of abuse and misuse of FLOCK’s camera network, and that the council should act to protect the privacy rights and safety of Clear Lake residents. 

== The council is also being asked to approve a proposal from Veenstra & Kimm to conduct a traffic study of the Surf District in an amount not to exceed $15,000. Several people have questioned the impacts of the improvements to the district, including the proposed hotel to be placed near the Surf Ballroom. 

The council meets at noon at City Hall. The council’s meeting typically would have been held on Monday night but was moved due to the Labor Day holiday, and is being held at noon because several city officials are attending the Housing Iowa Conference in Cedar Rapids today through Thursday.