Although surveillance cameras in Beaver Canyon have not begun live monitoring, they will remain operational throughout this weekend's Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

Borough Manager Tom Fountain said the cameras will be recording as usual through the festival so police can refer to the recordings if necessary.

Although the State College Police Chief Tom King said earlier this month he hoped the cameras would be live monitored by Arts Festival, Sgt. Mark Argiro said Wednesday that police still have not decided where on Calder Way to move one of the cameras.

King said in early July that because the buildings on Calder Way are privately owned, police have encountered problems negotiating with owners and determining who would power the camera once it was in place.

King was unavailable for comment yesterday.

The cameras were originally scheduled to begin live monitoring July 1.

Argiro said he anticipated few problems without the live monitoring.

"Every Arts Festival, we've gone without them, so I don't think we'll have problems this year," he said.

State College Mayor Bill Welch said it was impossible to tell how the lack of live monitoring would affect the festival. He said police would have to handle the crowds as they always have.

"So be it. They're the experts," Welch said. "The festival is going to happen whether the cameras are being monitored or not. Hopefully nothing will happen."

Argiro said the cameras would be more effective with fewer people on the streets than what the Arts Festival usually attracts.

"When it's wall-to-wall people, there are more witnesses ... [with fewer people] they can zoom in on a suspect," he said.

In April, the State College Borough Council voted to proceed with a plan to monitor the existing surveillance cameras installed on Beaver Avenue in September 2003. The plan calls for live monitoring of the cameras during peak weekend hours: Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.

King said live monitoring would definitely be active by the start of the academic year.

Former Off-Campus Student Union President Kristen Kofmehl said she hopes a plan for live monitoring cameras will be in place by the fall. She said she hoped an educational program about the cameras would accompany the live monitoring, so more people can become aware of their presence.

"Having them up in the summer could have been effective," Kofmehl said. "The main issue is to make sure we do a good job of educating. That's usually the missing link."

Collegian Staff Writers Kristine Snodgrass and Heather Tyson contributed to this report.