Council member Tom Barker discussed the need for a new camera system for the police department during the Pierceton Town Council meeting.

PIERCETON — After several months of discussion, the Pierceton Town Council approved the purchase of Axon vehicle cameras for the Pierceton Police Department.

The meeting held Monday, Nov. 12, began with a conversation on quotes for the vehicle camera system, as well as the differences between Axon and WatchGuard, both technology companies that have been considered by the council and Town Marshal Tim Sammons.

Sammons was present at the meeting to discuss the positives and negatives with both companies. He told the council that the quote for Axon included installation of the software, while WatchGuard’s did not include installation. Sammons said the police department would have to use a local vendor in order to install WatchGuard.

The council discussed the possibility of not upgrading all of the camera systems right away.

“Do we update everything and make it all uniform, or do we have a mishmash of old and new technology?” asked council member Tom Barker. “In today’s society, we have to have this new technology.”

Council member Mandy Espinoza agreed with Barker and said the camera systems need to be upgraded.

The council voted to approve the purchase of four camera systems through Axon, pending determination of placement for the systems in the 2019 budget and a quote from Verizon regarding the potential cost for throttling with the amount of gigabytes used by the department.

Continuing a topic mentioned in its June meeting, the council discussed properties in the town that fall into the unsafe building ordinance. Town Attorney Tammy Keirn told the council that the owner of the old truck stop building has been cited by the county.

Keirn said mediation on the property will be held prior to Jan. 4. The owner has received quotes on demolishing the property.

The council also discussed three properties in the town that require major repairs and alterations. In June, the property owner was allowed six months to address the issues, including repairing the structures and making a condemned residence, located at 102 N. Washington St., livable. The residence was condemned due to a former meth lab present in the structure.

The property owner, Brad Stahl, was present at the meeting to give the council an update on the properties. The condemned residence is awaiting testing for indications of methamphetamine. Stahl said the testing is expected to be complete within a couple months.

Stahl also said the other properties considered unsafe will be secured and fixed within a month. The council agreed to give Stahl an extra month to complete the repairs and testing. He has until January 2019 to complete the work.

“It needs to be either major completion or condemnation,” said Barker. “And I hope it’s not the latter.”

In other business:

• The council agreed on its annual terminal data agreement for the Pierceton Police Department.
• The council’s next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10.

Town Attorney Tammy Keirn gave the council an update on unsafe buildings in the town of Pierceton.