By Dan King

To combat vandalism that has plagued the town park over the years, the Whitehall Town Board has finalized a deal to buy and install cameras.
Town officials considered two bids to equip the park and decided to buy nine cameras from Classic Communications for $6,153, pending a review of the grounds by Supervisor George Armstrong and the company.

The town was also able to secure $4,000 for the project after lobbying from State Assemblyman Dan Stec.

Some of the cameras will be placed inside the pavilion, some outside, some in the barbecue area and a one pointed at the shed across the street.

“We know where they are causing trouble and those are the areas I think we should have cameras,” said Councilman John Rozell.

The cameras the town decided to purchase were cheaper than the other bid and had a higher resolution.

“That’s why I decided to go with Mr. (Steve) Martin’s bid,” said Councilman Dave Hollister. “It has better resolution, so we can see who is doing it.”

Judge Julie Eagan, who also serves as the Rec Center director, said cameras have been a help at the Rec Center and she anticipates the same result at the park.

“It’s good enough to say ‘hey we saw you break that, you can either fix it or we’ll call the cops’,” Eagan said. “The biggest thing is, it’s a deterrent, people act different when they know they’re on camera.”

Board members, especially Rozell, said it was important to them that the town buy cameras with high resolution for the sake of prosecuting.

“If we’re going to buy them we better prosecute,” Rozell said.