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The Asbury Park City Council voted Wednesday on an agreement to give $150,000 to the Asbury Park Housing Authority for a project that will upgrade video camera systems within housing authority properties in the city.

The vote passed 4-1. Council members Myra Campbell, Sue Henderson, John Loffredo and John Moor voted yes. Council member Amy Quinn cast the dissenting vote.

“We’re putting money into upgrading an existing system,” said Quinn, “and no one has told me who is overseeing it.”

The funds will be used to upgrade software for 200 cameras located on property the housing authority owns, not the actual cameras, said Councilman John Moor — who is the city council’s appointed member to the Asbury Park Housing Authority Board of Commissioners.

Recording equipment was never installed to the system, City Manager Jack Kelly said. The software system will now record and Asbury Park police will have access to it.

Pursuant to the memorandum of understanding with the state, the city is required to use the sum of $150,000 from transitional aid funds or means of alternative financing, for upgrades to existing surveillance cameras in the city, said Frederick Raffetto, city attorney.

The city will provide the sum of $150,000 for the repairs within 30 days of the housing authority providing the comprehensive plan of what is needed, Raffetto said.

Moor said the housing authority is “ready to go” on the upgrades and has already selected a company from the 18 that submitted proposals, he said.

The housing authority will assume all ownership and maintenance responsibilities following the upgrades, Raffetto said, and none of the cameras can be relocated without the city knowing.

The city is working toward a more comprehensive camera program that would see cameras located on city property, in the city’s schools and in the housing authority buildings tie into one system accessible to both Asbury Park and Neptune police, Kelly said, which is also a part of the state memorandum.

Cameras in the city work a wireless communication system right now, according to Police Chief Mark Kinmon.

“We’re looking to, ideally, jumping into a fiber optic cable system,” he said.

Kinmon’s previous estimate of the total project cost fell between $350,000 – $400,000.

Quinn said while the city may be working towards a more comprehensive camera program, she does not think this camera project is part of that project.

“This is a completely separate system,” she said.

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