Halifax Transit security camera upgrades come to council for approval

By Andrew Pinsent

HALIFAX – Regional council will vote Tuesday on whether or not to upgrade Halifax Transit’s video security system at a cost of just over $3 million.

City staff are recommending the tender for upgrades be awarded to B.C.-based Seon Design Inc. for $3,035,376, with the cost co-shared between HRM under its capital budget and the federal government’s Public Transit Infrastructure Fund.

The Municipality originally budgeted $3.9 million for the project. 

If approved, Halifax Transit would replace existing forward facing cameras with new high definition ones, add two externally mounted cameras on each side of its vehicles and replace 379 digital video recorders (DVR). The technical upgrades would also allow for easier uploading and monitoring of video, along with the ability to access it remotely or live-stream it in certain situations.

The contract would also include an operating cost of just over $30,000 per year paid to Seon Design for software license fees that would come out of the Halifax Transit operating budget.

Seven other companies submitted proposals but only three made it to the final round of bids: Seon, Apollo Video Technology and Stanley Convergent Security Solutions Inc.

The current system was installed in 2008 in the form of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and a DVR system that city staff indicates is reaching the end of its life cycle and at risk of becoming obsolete. Maintenance is also becoming an issue, as staff noted in their report to council that support and replacement parts have been discontinued for over 60 per cent of the current on-board DVRs.

Fuel storage upgrades for Halifax Transit

Council will consider a recommendation from the Audit and Finance Standing Committee Tuesday to bring Halifax Transit’s fuel storage system at its Burnside garage up-to-date after a fuel spill on the site in 2014.

The committee has recommended council budget $165,000 for upgrades, including a ‘secondary containment system’ to reduce the risk of another spill. 

In 2009, the formerly named Metro Transit replaced four underground diesel tanks with two above-ground tanks at the garage, but when the old tanks were removed nearly four years later, the pipes that connected to the new tanks weren't capped properly. This led to a spill of hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel from the garage that went unnoticed for weeks.

In a 2015 report, HRM’s then-Auditor General Larry Munroe slammed Halifax Transit for not being aware of the spill until 200,000 litres of fuel had already leaked.

After the AG report, an engineering consultant’s review of the site found the building wasn't up to present-day standards because of the age of the building and recommended that better infrastructure be installed.

If council approves the committee recommendation, the budget for upgrades would come out of savings in Halifax Transit’s security budget and the project would go out to public tender.

In August, HRM filed a lawsuit against three companies alleging negligence and seeking damages as a result of the Burnside leak, which it said cost $2.6 million to clean up.

Request for staff report on adding citizens to finance committee

Council will debate a motion Tuesday that if approved would see a staff report on including one or two members of the public on HRM’s Audit and Finance Standing Committee.

The recommendation comes from the committee itself and is in response to a report last year by the province’s Joint Municipal Accountability and Transparency Committee, which laid out six recommendations to increase public confidence in municipal officials.

One of those recommendations was to amend the Municipal Government Act to allow at least one independent person sit on municipal finance committees across the province to ensure better transparency and accountability.

The committee has recommended council order a staff report on the issue to see if best practices are being followed.

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