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This story was corrected on June 18, 2009. An explanation of the correction is at the end of the story.
Mount Rainier's City Council approved a measure Tuesday night to place a mobile speed camera near city schools.
Municipalities outside of Montgomery County didn't have the authority to install speed cameras until Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) signed a law in May that allows the cameras statewide. The law, which takes effect Oct. 1, gives municipalities and counties the option to install speed cameras within a half-mile of schools and the state to install the cameras near highway work zones.
Mount Rainier Police Chief Michael Scott said he wants to first put a camera on Queen's Chapel Road and 30th Street, near Thomas S. Stone Elementary School, where speeding was indentified as a problem during an October 2007 study.
Mayor Malinda Miles said the study found that the average speed of motorists on the road was 54 mph. The speed limit is 35 mph.
"That's one of the places where we need a camera more than anything, and Rhode Island [Avenue] second," Miles said.
Scott said he wants to move the camera to other locations such as Rhode Island Avenue and 34th Street, near Mount Rainier Elementary School, after speeding on Queens Chapel decreases.
"The whole point is to slow people down," he said.
Motorists driving 12 mph over the speed limit from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays will receive warnings during October; in November they will begin receiving $40 tickets that carry no points. Scott said residents can pay the fines at City Hall or online.
No residents spoke during the public hearing before the city council unanimously approved the speed camera measure.
In other city news, the city received $100,000 from the Maryland Energy Administration to oversee energy-efficient repairs in units at the Rainier Manor Apartments, a senior-living complex.
The money, which is half of what the city had requested, will be used for retrofitting patio doors and making window repairs on at least 25 units.
"There are problems with sliding glass doors and problems with air intrusion into each unit and it's causing a lot of residents there to have higher than normal utility costs," City Manager Jeannelle B. Wallace said.
The MEA offered the city a no- interest loan of $100,000 to make repairs on windows in city hall. The council approved taking out the seven-year loan and will make the first payment in July 2010.
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the source of funding for a program to oversee energy-efficient repairs at the Rainer Manor Apartments. The money came from the Maryland Energy Administration.
E-mail Elahe Izadi at eizadi@gazette.net.