Cameras coming to Afton streets

AFTON - New security cameras are close to being installed in Afton after months of planning. As the city looks to upgrade their systems, the new cameras will help the city’s police with identification when investigating local crimes.

Two memorandums of understanding were discussed during last Tuesday’s Afton City Council meeting. Both of them regarded the placement of cameras on property not owned by the city, specifically between East Union Community School District and NEW Cooperative.

Six cameras will be placed around Afton. One camera will be placed on the digital sign in front of the East Union school building. The memorandum of understanding was signed and approved during the meeting.

However, the memorandum of understanding between the city and NEW Cooperative was tabled. As Police Chief Jake McGuire worked to help install and layout cameras in Afton, he found that the memorandum would be unneccesary as originally drafted for NEW Cooperative property.

McGuire said the cameras can draw power from Lockridge, who have systems set up at the location of the NEW Cooperative camera. Lockridge assists with providing internet connectivity and other services to the camera system. The city tabled the memorandum.

Afton residents have also assisted with the city’s installation of cameras. The cameras can be placed at a resident’s property and only needs power and wireless connectivity to be added to the network.

In other Afton city council news...

Cell phones for city employees are being considered. Discussions with Verizon took place between city representatives, but no decision has been made yet. Quotes for government accounts will come in a future meeting.

During off-hours, the Afton City Hall phone numbers reconnects callers to the personal cells of City Clerk Kayla Lacina and Utility Clerk Crystal Thomas. With work phones, this can help with managing city business.

A text message service for city alerts and other utilities business was discussed. The initial offer from a service called Textmygov was considered too costly for the city. Afton will look for other options for the service.

Afton’s sidewalk project was jumpstarted after a decision was reached to treat the project as an open, year-over-year project. Using a budget of $10,000 from city LOST funds, sidewalks will be replaced starting at 500 East Filmore and then heading east.

Trevor Paulus was contacted for the project. Paulus will work on a continuous section as the sidewalk is replaced up until the cap of the $10,000 budget is reached. An expectation to continue the project in following years was also set.

The city added one more exterior beautification grant application to their waitlist, bringing the total to four. The waitlist was created to ensure new applicants would receive funds rather than the same applicants. However, recognizing the eventual need to revisit the waitlist, the city agreed to look at waitlisted applicants starting in January 2026.

Janelle Blaisure, representing her business Blazin’ Lawn Care, appeared in the meeting’s public forum offering her services to the city. The city had previously decided they would no longer mow ditches for residents as part of a regular maintenance schedule.