With a resolution to attach Artificial Intelligence-powered software cameras to garbage trucks to monitor home and road conditions on the agenda, Thursday night’s regular meeting of the Huntsville City Council promised to be interesting.

It was, and also very long, with nothing being settled over the AI project. It will be re-addressed at the Sept. 25 meeting.

By the time the second roster of public comments began, the meeting had already lasted four hours and continued for another 45 minutes. A long list of people signed up to speak, but many left before their name was called.

However, about a dozen people stayed to take a turn at the microphone, a few fresh off a Wednesday night meeting at Huntsville Utilities where those gathered voiced opposition at not being able to opt out of the smart meter. They don’t want cameras on garbage trucks, either.

The idea behind the system, by City Detect, is it would raise efficiency. The technology would locate city ordinance violations like high grass or illegal dump sites and also flag maintenance issues such as potholes.

City Administrator John Hamilton likened the system to ring cameras on front doors. Someone compared it to Google or Zillow and another to dash cams. The residents in attendance didn’t buy it.

“It becomes a surveilling governmental agency,’’ Huntsville resident David Snyder said. “You’re attaching cameras that can surveil people’s homes and doing that multiple times a week.’’

That was a sampling of the crowd’s mood with some still steaming about health concerns related to the smart meters that replaced the analog version.

“This whole smart meter was not only ludicrous, but it’s something that’s gonna be phased out,’’ Don Campbell of Madison said. “Worldwide, they’re having problems. It’s being phased out slowly.

“So everybody should be planning on how to get rid of these things and what to put in instead of them. I think we need to go back to the old analog meters, just like we don’t need cameras on trash trucks.’’

Even District 1 Councilwoman Michelle Watkins was skeptical.

“Zillow and Google are not out weekly taking pictures,’’ she said. “The garbage trucks are gonna be out weekly taking pictures. A few things concern me: privacy concerns, surveillance overreach, constant video recording of residential areas is invasive. It raises concerns about being watched or recorded without consent.’’

The project would cost $335,700 annually.

“But what’s the value of making sure neighborhoods are properly maintained, making sure that we’re finding hazards way more rapidly,’’ Hamilton said. “It’s kinda hard to put a dollar value on that.’’

Hamilton tried to calm fears of privacy invasion and data misuse. The system obscures faces and license tags and doesn’t detect a person’s race. The camera will just be taking exterior images.

But he was having a hard sell. The cameras would take photos during each route. The system is programmed to highlight any property neglect or road issues. The images would then proceed to someone with the city to inspect for damages, and at that point an employee would go to the site and assess the situation.

“What I wanna do tonight first is kinda go through what it is,’’ Hamilton said, “and why we have several departments that believe it’ll be valuable to the work that they do.’’

“City Detect is under contract and is being implemented in a number of other cities around the country and has been for a while,’’ Hamilton said. “So, this is not a brand new thing. There’s quite a bit of lessons learned, and development of the system that we are kinda jumping onto an existing moving train.’’

Department benefits

Community Development

In 2024, roughly 3,600 of 8,500 citations were related to overgrown vegetation.
During peak growing season, inspectors are nearly fully occupied with vegetation complaints.
City Detect will free up staff to address structural blight and severe property issues.
Enables a proactive, city-wide approach rather than relying solely on resident complaints.

Public Works

Debris Pickup Optimization: Currently, boom trucks must search entire routes for debris piles. With City Detect, garbage trucks can gather data during regular runs, and a targeted pickup route can be generated for boom trucks the next day, thereby reducing wear, improving efficiency, and expanding coverage.
Pothole Detection (in development): Within 12 months, City Detect aims to roll out a new feature that detects potholes and road degradation using front-facing cameras. This becomes a powerful tool for future repaving decisions.

Landscape Management

Illegal dumping and litter: City Detect will help identify hotspots for litter and dumping so they can be addressed proactively.
This data can also support volunteer efforts and community cleanup coordination when areas are safe and accessible.

Hamilton said the system would not lead to workers losing jobs.

“We are not proposing it nor do we intend to,’’ he said. “I think with the growth of the city, we’re more likely to come to (the council) with adding positions when we can afford it in the budget as opposed to reducing.’’

This initiative will begin as a pilot program with five vehicles supporting the Community Development and Public Works departments. If successful, the system could be expanded to other departments and services. If not successful, Hamilton said the city could simply invoke a termination clause.

“We’re not looking into the house. Identifying information is blurred,’’ Hamilton said. “What it’s identifying is if the shutter on your house is setting at an odd angle.’’