CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Gov. John Lynch and the Executive Council put off accepting a Homeland Security grant to protect the Interstate 95 bridge between New Hampshire and Maine.

The $100,000 federal grant would pay for alarms, fences and security cameras on the largest bridge crossing the Piscataqua River.

But councilors raised questions Wednesday about who would be monitoring the cameras and decided to postpone their vote until they got some answers.

“Are we going to be putting in those cameras and alarms and not really know what’s happening?” asked Councilor Ruth Griffin.

David Brillhart, of the state Department of Transportation, said eventually the cameras would be monitored by people in the state’s emergency operations center, which has yet to be built. Where bridge security cameras are used elsewhere, the recordings are not monitored but can be replayed later if there are security concerns, he said.

The cameras proposed for the Piscataqua River would record car traffic on and boat traffic under the bridge, including the oil and natural gas tankers that use the channel.

“This will greatly enhance the surveillance capabilities in the harbor and assists in determining an adequate response to an event,” state Transportation Commissioner Carol Murray wrote to the Executive Council.

“Any damage to, or closure of, this structure would severely disrupt transportation in northern New England and have significant economic impact to both states,” Murray wrote.

The fences and alarms would be on land approaches to both sides of the bridge.

The Executive Council agreed to take up the issue of the grant again at its first meeting in February.