Rick Langenberg
Smile, you are on candid camera, so open your pocketbook. By the way, you are busted.
Even with the hammering of a consistent and stern anti-speeding safety message and the levying of fines, little letdown is occurring with motorists roaring through the downtown corridor of Green Mountain Falls.
GMF, which initiated an aggressive campaign to curb speeding at the end of 2025, via the implementation of automated state-of-the art cameras run by a third-party Louisiana operator, is issuing an average of close to 300 citations per month, according to Marshal Sean Goings. This translates to a net profit for the town of several thousand dollars per month at a minimum, after the costs of renting the equipment are deducted. These revenue numbers could even dramatically increase, if the cameras are extended to U.S. Hwy. 24 usage along the GMF corridor.
But one fact remains: Statistics indicate GMF still has a definite issue with speeding.
Despite some complaints, Goings reported a mostly positive response from local residents and business operators. The marshal also noted that most of the violators aren’t residents of GMF but are either visitors or people from the Cascade and Chipita Park region, a group representing the vast majority of the citations.
“I am still not getting a lot of negative feedback,” said Goings. Again, he stressed the goal of the effort is not to generate money for the town, but to reverse a speeding scenario that has accelerated in the last few years. This trend is further supported by several traffic studies.
Goings, in a recent meeting, told the board of trustees he hopes to see this trend reversed. “Hopefully, people (driving through GMF) will catch on,” said Goings.
This concern also was voiced by several trustees at the board’s March regular meeting. At the beginning of the campaign, a few elected leaders expressed caution about GMF developing a reputation as a speed trap, a perception that sometimes negatively impacts tourist-driven communities.
On the upside, the marshal reported that a very small percentage of speeding tickets issued are going to GMF residents. “The town people got it figured out,” said Goings, in commenting on the location of the cameras. The marshal said local law officers are quite open in telling citizens where the cameras are located, in emphasizing that the effort is not an anti-locals’ campaign, as some perceived at the beginning of the crackdown. In fact, Goings previously indicated that local residents can only receive one citation per week.
In response to a question by the trustees, the marshal also noted that the vast majority of people receiving the citations are paying the tickets and aren’t taking the issue to court.
The entire program is part of an earlier state effort to de-criminalize speeding violations, with these offenses now considered civil penalties, and not subject to points against an individual’s driver’s license. Consequently, this opened the door for the use of automated cameras in issuing tickets, and not having to rely on law enforcement officers to stop violating speeders.
