Avon Police Department Seeks Council Approval for Traffic Counter, Speed Radar Sign

The Avon Police Department got the green light from the Board of Finance in August to use special revenue funds to pay for a traffic counter and two speed radar signs.

Now the department is seeking formal Town Council approval.

Typically council approval would come before the Board of Finance reviews a request, but since the council did not meet in August, Town Council Chairman Mark Zacchio gave Town Manager Brandon Robertson the go-ahead to bring it to the finance board to avoid further delay.

The police department is asking for authorization to use $13,079 to buy the portable, more modern equipment. The money would come out of the Police Special Services-Special Revenue Fund. 

At the beginning of the school year, the department placed its current speed radar sign in front of Avon High School. The radar, which monitors the speed of cars passing by, is clunkier to transport and is about a decade old. 

The new speed radar signs will be lighter to move from location to location and look like a computer panel, Zacchio said. The new technology can measure more metrics such as the time of day of the speeds calculated and the average speed. The goal is to obtain more data for the police to analyze high traffic and speed areas in town. 

“It gives the police a lot more flexibility," Zacchio said.

The plan is one of many components of the department's initiative to promote safe driving. 

Another program the department has done recently is the Orange Ribbon Campaign, when drivers display an orange ribbon in their cars to connote an awareness of safe driving.