HOLMES BEACH – Commissioners have approved changes for the school zone in front of Anna Maria Elementary School, but drivers won’t notice them until school begins on Aug. 12.
A new ordinance will expand the school zone by 300 yards – 200 to the south and 100 to the north. The area will be restriped and flashing signs will be moved to alert drivers of the lowered speed limit during school hours in the mornings and afternoons.
A no-cost camera system also will be installed by Blue Line Solutions to catch speeders through the school zone during the same hours before and after school when children are likely to be crossing the street. At a previous public hearing, Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said the camera system would only be used to catch and issue tickets to speeders during times when the flashing beacons are in use to indicate an active school zone.
In the agreement with Blue Line, the city could choose to either pay a service fee to the company of $25 per ticket, taken out of the ticket cost to a speeding driver, or lease the camera system. In messages to The Sun, Tokajer said the city had chosen the service fee agreement.
Once the system is active, he said speeding tickets during school zone hours will cost drivers $100 with $25 of that going to Blue Line, $40 to the city, $20 to the state of Florida, $12 to a school fund and $3 to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s criminal justice training program. A nominal processing fee of $4-5 may also be charged by Blue Line for processing credit card payments.
