North Wildwood to place cameras on Boardwalk for police surveillance

NORTH WILDWOOD - The Police Department plans to add a closed-circuit television system to the Boardwalk that will give the department the ability to monitor activity 24 hours per day.

Police Chief Robert Matteucci said the department has been interested in using cameras to supplement the eyes and ears of officers on the ground for sometime, and this week City Council approved a plan to use Urban Enterprise Zone, or UEZ, funds to purchase the equipment needed.

The city is requesting $30,514 from the UEZ, which will be matched by $7,629 from the city, for a total project cost of $38,143.

Matteucci, who has spent considerable time researching the types of systems on the market, said the city has a variety of options available, but basically the cameras will transmit to a server at a location on the Boardwalk.

Police will then be able to use the Internet to see those images and manipulate the cameras to view activity in any direction.

Cameras will likely be placed at every other block to cover the city's portion of the Boardwalk, which stretches from 26th to 16th avenues.

Matteucci said the small cameras, similar to traffic cameras, will record images digitally at all hours of the day in either color or black and white.

Mayor Bill Henfey said the cameras should be helpful, particularly in the off-season when the crowds have disappeared.

"It gives us an opportunity to keep an eye on what's going on up there," Henfey said.

Council President Patrick Rosenello, who also works as executive director of the Boardwalk Special Improvement District, said Boardwalk merchants welcome the city's effort to enhance security on the boards.

"The property owners were very happy with it. A lot of them have (cameras) in their own businesses," Rosenello said.

The city also plans to use $202,480 in UEZ money to add new trash cans and benches to the Boardwalk and elsewhere in the city, Henfey said.

The city previously used UEZ money for work on a parking lot at 17th Avenue, the 17th Avenue streetscape and the purchase of a city all-terrain vehicle.

The city is part of the Wildwoods UEZ, which allows participating businesses to collect a 3.5 percent sales tax instead of the state's standard 7 percent tax. The money is then channeled to the cities for projects designed to support economic development.

Lou Ferrara, director of the island's UEZ, said North Wildwood has collected $1,319,453 in money to date. Of that, it has used $553,788 with a balance of $765,665 available.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:

TGilfillian@pressofac.com