City of Marinette votes to end contract with Flock Safety

MARINETTE – A special City of Marinette Common Council meeting was held on Thursday, Sept. 17, during which the council joined a national trend of cities reconsidering their contracts with Flock Safety.

According to their website, Flock offers video cameras, automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras and drones for residential, business and public sector usage.

Multiple council members spoke about feedback they received from community members regarding Flock APLR technology.

Alderperson Liz Mikutowski read comments regarding a need for ordinances about Artificial Intelligence (AI) being used within surveillance in the city. Alderperson Dylan Demmith mentioned receiving various requests to cancel the contract and one request to keep it with additional regulations.

Ultimately, the council voted unanimously to cancel the Flock contract. This comes after other Wisconsin communities like Oshkosh, Sturgeon Bay and Appleton cancelled their contracts and De Pere chose not to renew theirs.

Flock ALPR cameras have been covered by the city since Sept. 1 and will remain covered until the company removes them.

Next, the council discussed the Stephenson Public Library building as conversations have recently weighed the possibility of relocating the branch into the former UW-Green Bay Marinette Campus library.

According to county administrator Kevin Solway, the city and county have not been able to locate an existing lease agreement. A draft long-term lease would outline responsibilities, where the city and county to split agreed upon building expenses over $5,000 — including exterior facade repairs which have been estimated at up to $200,000 — for the next 25 years.

Council members spoke about the financial impacts of assuming additional long-term financial liabilities and expressed a need to gain more information. Voting on the lease was tabled.

Finally, the council approved a $68,000 proposal from Integrity Engineering & Design for construction plans of a new police department garage.

Bolt Construction was previously paid for pre-cast concrete garage design that estimated the build cost at $1.5 million. Integrity Engineering plans opt for a pre-engineered steel building for a $1 million targeted total cost.

The next regular Marinette City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 6.