A D.C. Council committee on Thursday stripped Mayor Adrian Fenty’s 2009 budget of nearly $900,000 slated for the city’s new closed-circuit camera program, an initiative the panel said was started prematurely.

The five-member public safety and judiciary committee, chaired by Councilman Phil Mendelson, also erased an increase of a fee levied on phone lines and directed Fenty to reduce recently raised ambulance fees. The recommendations will be taken up by the full council May 13.