The Kirksville City Council approved on Monday an agreement with Axon Enterprises, Inc. for the purchase of body-worn cameras, supporting software, cloud-based data storage and a five-year warranty for the police department.
The city first began discussing body-worn cameras in 2014. According to city documents, the city received bids from 12 companies in Nov. 2016 and dwindled that down to five vendors. Axon wasn't the top bidder but was the best product for KPD's needs, Kirksville Police Chief Jim Hughes said during Monday's Council meeting.
"They've been in business for quite awhile. They're not one of those companies that just popped up after the events from Ferguson and some of the other events after that, so its got a very long history to it," Hughes said.
The cameras will cost the city $13,323 per year. The agreement also includes KPD receiving regular replacements of the cameras.
"It's been long process. We've learned a lot. If we were to do it again, from today as day one, we'd do it a lot faster and we'd know a little bit more of what we're talking about because we've learned a lot," Hughes said.
In other business, City Council members approved the city's 2018 budget on the first reading.
"We started this process in August. It has been a labor of love as all budgets are," Finance Director Lacy King said with smile.
The 2018 proposed budget includes about $38.3 million in aggregate expenditures, according to city documents. Of that about $38.3 million, $12.7 million in funding will be used for capital infrastructure.
The 2018 budget would be a 5.5 percent overall increase from the 2017 amended budget, which Council members also approved on Monday.
The amended budget for 2017 included about $36.3 in expenditures, while the adopted budget estimated for about $42.1 million in expenditures, which was about a $5.8 million decrease.
According to city documents, capital outlay decreased by about $2.29 million due to savings from original estimates, projects being shifted to 2018 and availability of grant revenue to offset costs. Personnel expenses also decreased by about $1.46 million due to turnovers, retirements, insurance reclassifications and reduced claims expenses.
The second reading of the 2018 budget will be during the Council's Dec. 18 meeting at City Hall.
Other approval:
- City Council members approved the city of Kirksville joining the Show Me PACE Clean Energy Development Board.
The approval allows Show Me PACE to operate within the city.
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