The owners of Houston’s red-light camera system have agreed to a new City Hall request to shut down the system on Monday morning, but the Arizona firm’s lawyer said questions remain about how the company will recover its investment if the city cancels a contract expiring in 2014.
This week, officials with American Traffic Solutions Inc. received a letter dated Nov. 10 from city attorney David Feldman, which apparently reversed his earlier opinion that the contract requires the city to give ATS a 120-day notice before the camera system was switched off.
Now, according to the letter, Feldman said ATS must shut down the system 10 a.m. on Monday, the day City Council is scheduled to canvass the results of the Nov. 2 elections, during which Houston residents voted to end the cameras. Proposition 3 passed with 53 percent of the vote.
Last week, Feldman said the cameras would still be in full operation and civil fines issued during the 120-day notice period stipulated in the ATS contract.
