The Village of Roslyn Estates continued discussions on possibly installing stop sign cameras and hired a village consulting architect, who will assist the architectural review board, at the board of trustees meeting Monday night.

The village listened to a presentation by Stop For Kids, a local organization that installs AI-powered cameras at stop signs to cite divers who fail to stop.

Cameras from the organization have been installed in Saddle Rock, the only village in Nassau County to implement them so far, but conversations about implementing them in other neighborhoods have increased.

Stop For Kids was founded by Kamran Barelli, a former Saddle Rock trustee, whose wife and young child were struck by a car that had failed to stop at a stop sign.

He told the board that it was a miracle the both of them survived, with his wife having to relearn how to walk after the collision.

The village discussed the possibility of implementing the cameras at its village meeting in April, bringing up the issue of stop sign violations and the methods to deter them.

One alternative was to increase policing in neighborhoods. Barelli told the board Monday that the solution proved ineffective in Saddle Rock as it was never consistent enough to deter it wholly.

The stop sign cameras would operate 24/7.

The New York State DMV grants Stop For Kids access to license plates in order to run them and issue violations captured by their cameras, with the option to issue warnings.

The village then directly collects the money from citations. The village pays fees to Stop For Kids.

Demo cameras were installed in Roslyn Estates from April 27-May 1 collecting data on drivers’ habits at stop signs.

At some locations, the cameras detected that less than 3% of cars came to a complete stop before the stop sign line. About 27%-40% came to a rolling stop, and 55%-75% failed to stop entirely.

While the allure of deterring these violations is evident in the village, questions regarding the legality of the cameras arose.

State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) is currently introducing legislation to allow stop sign cameras, as reported in Newsday.

There is currently no laws that grants municipalities to implement stop sign cameras, nor are there laws that forbid it.

Trustee Stephen Fox said the legislative push to legalize them indicates to him that it is illegal for the village to have them at this moment.

The village’s attorney Chris Prior said that he does not believe the village has the power to install these cameras and issue violations yet. Trustee Brett Auerbach agreed that, while it sounds like a great idea, it feels too early to install the cameras.

The board did not vote on a resolution to decide whether or not they will implement stop sign cameras.

The village also hired village consulting architect John Sandgren.

Sandgren is an architect and partner at Keller located in Amityville and Roslyn Estates for 39 years. He has conducted three projects in the village in the past but told the board Monday that he has no current projects in Roslyn Estates.

Sandgren’s responsibility will mostly be regarding consultation on aesthetics and detailing of architectural projects to ensure it meets the village’s standards. This would also include consulting on major streetscape-related projects.

He will be used on an as-needed basis at the architectural review boards’ discretion and be paid approximately $100 an hour.

The board plans to convene again at 7:30 p.m. on June 19 in the village hall.