By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG -- City officials are investigating the cost of purchasing and installing surveillance cameras at Kid’s Kingdom, the skate park, tennis court, volley ball court, and city boat slips.

This discussion took place after Ogdensburg Parks and Recreation Director Matt Curatolo shared the cost of installing high resolution fixed cameras at Kids Kingdom following recent arson at the playground.

City councilors Michael Morley and Dan Skamperle said they opposed to surveillance of people visiting city parks and playgrounds.

“I see it as an invasion of privacy,” Morley said.

“I can stand cameras,” Skamperle said, adding that he wasn’t a fan of the age of “Big Brother.”

City Police Chief Rick Polniak said the cameras would be a useful tool for law enforcement agencies as they could not constantly patrol the area.

Morley said the resolution on cameras is often of too poor quality to help catch offenders. He pointed to the photos submitted to media from stores that are often posted online.

Polniak said that is true of fixed cameras that do not auto focus, but said there are cameras available that detect motion and are able to follow, zoom and focus.

Polniak said the cameras will also act as a crime deterrent regardless of their quality.

Morley questioned if installing cameras would also deter people from visiting the parks and using the city’s facilities.

Curatolo explained that the camera footage would be stored for roughly 30 days and only examined when an incident occurred.

“We wouldn’t be monitoring the cameras all the time,” he said.

However, in a memo to Pinkerton from Curatolo, the parks director wrote another option “would be to install wireless routers, one at the visitors’ center, the other at the camera site, so the footage could be viewed directly at the visitors’ center.

Cost for installing four cameras at Kids Kingdom was estimated at $2,021.66, with an additional $440 to include the ability view the footage at the visitors’ center.

Councilor Jennifer Stevenson recommended a cost analysis of vandalism in the past few years versus the cost of surveillance cameras.

“I’d like to see the bigger picture,” she said.

Pinkerton said he would obtain cost estimates for higher resolution cameras and larger quantities as well as vandalism costs at the parks.

Further discussion on the issue is expect at the next meeting.