Park Timbers HOA

Park Timbers Board Approves Video Surveillance System

May 08, 2002

At its April 12th meeting, the Park Timbers Homeowners Association Board conditionally approved the use of video technology and the expenditure of funds for the purchase of a video surveillance system to monitor the vehicles entering and departing Park Timbers subdivision. The system was envisioned as a method to improve security and deter a criminal element from entering the subdivision given that all vehicles what enter would be videotaped. The expenditure is conditioned upon the demonstration of a system that can capture the identity of vehicles, including the license plate information, as the vehicles enter and depart Park Timbers on Park Timbers Drive and also on Lennox Boulevard.

The Board was given a demonstration of a system by Surveillance Technologies, Inc. of Slidell. The system uses low light cameras to capture the image of incoming and outgoing traffic. The demonstration system was set up to collect information on vehicles entering on Park Timbers Drive. The system worked well in daylight and low light situations. In darkness, the system performed marginally; vehicles could easily be seen, however it was impossible to get license tag information without the use of auxiliary lighting.

After viewing the demonstration and further discussing the issue, the Board voted strongly in favor of deploying the system conditioned upon the vendor providing a fix that would allow better, acceptable reception during total darkness. It is believed that the system will work satisfactorily with limited additional lighting somewhat similar to that used at the CCC toll lanes.

The cost of the system is projected to be between $9,600 and $10,500. We anticipate housing the recorder unit and video monitor along with other electronics at the Park Timbers Club house. We will have to work out the logistics of that and enter into some cooperative agreement with the Club. The system initially would have 4 cameras and send some signals via microwave to the receiver unit. We could store anywhere from several days surveillance to a week or more on a single tape. The system would have the capability to handle up to 12 cameras.