CHARLACK • Charlack's plan to be the first Missouri municipality to install a camera to catch speeders on a state highway has slowed to a roll.

A camera was supposed to begin catching speeders along the town's quarter-mile stretch of northbound Interstate 170 this week. Violators were to get warnings in the mail for the first two weeks, tickets thereafter.

But Police Chief Tony Umbertino put the brakes on the idea Friday, saying he wants to wait to see how pending state legislation — that could regulate use of speed cameras — fares.

"I didn't want to start the program if we might have to stop it," Umbertino said. "It doesn't mean we're not going to have the program, it just means we're postponing it to monitor the bills in Jefferson City closely."

State Rep. Mike Corcoran, D-St. Ann, said his bill to limit speed cameras to school, work and construction zones has attracted bipartisan support.

Sen. Tim Green, D-Spanish Lake, has attempted in recent weeks to add provisions to various bills to limit Charlack's ability to use a speed camera.

Plans to photograph the license plate — but not the driver — raise constitutional questions about due process, said Sen. Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis. He has sponsored two bills: One would ban the use of cameras to enforce traffic laws altogether, the other would require that cameras photograph drivers, and that resulting tickets count as moving violations.

So far, though, legislative attempts to regulate speed and red light cameras haven't gained much traction.

Lembke said that adding restrictions to cameras would also mean recognizing their legitimacy, which he said could hinder constitutional challenges to their use.

If this year's bills go nowhere in the session that runs to May 15, Charlack's cameras will "be in full swing," Umbertino said.

St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch has been one of the most outspoken critics, saying the camera would be about raising revenue, not safety. He recommend a freeze on use of speed cameras until details can be settled at the state level.

Fitch lauded Umbertino's decision Friday to hold back.

"I think it took real leadership on his part to listen to what the public had to say about the cameras and recognize that it was wise to hold off and see what legislative act the state would take," Fitch told a reporter.

To prove that he has safety at heart, Umbertino said, he has plans to refund part of the fines paid by violators who attend a city-run traffic school.

B&W Sensors, the St. Louis-based company that would provide the cameras, would get 40 percent of each $90 fine, with the rest going to the city, Umbertino said. A ticketed driver who opts for the safety school would get a refund of the city's share, minus its cost of roughly $20. That's about a $35 incentive to take the class.