TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Patrick Griffin, Interim Information Technology Director
SUBJECT:Title
Consider the Installation of Public WiFi for the Metlox Plaza (Interim Information Technology Director Griffin).
DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council discuss and provide direction regarding the installation of public WiFi for the Metlox plaza.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
This potential project was not included in the current Information Technology (IT) Department budget; therefore, if approved, the project requires funding from either 1) a transfer of $25,000 from the City Council contingency budget to the Information Technology Fund; or 2) directing staff to include this item in the FY 2021 budget.
BACKGROUND:
In May and June of 2019, the City Council held public meetings and discussions to review City Council priorities, the Council Work Plan, and the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-2020 budget. During these public meetings, there was discussion about the possibility of installing a public WiFi system for the Metlox plaza, and staff was directed to investigate the viability and the potential fiscal impact of the project.
IT staff, in coordination with Public Works staff, conducted a site survey of the Metlox plaza to determine the feasibility of the project, availability of network infrastructure, and determination of necessary equipment and licensing costs to complete the project. As a result, staff developed a cost estimate of $25,000 to complete the WiFi installation, which includes the following:
• $15,000-$18,000 for conduits and network infrastructure installations / configuration; and
• $6,200 for five hardware devices required to deliver WiFi service.
DISCUSSION:
At the December 3, 2019 City Council meeting, staff presented the information described above. Discussion ensued regarding the project and the associated costs, and staff was directed to contact businesses in Metlox Plaza to solicit potential interest in partnering with the City on the provision of public WiFi in Plaza. In January 2020 letters were mailed to 31 businesses located in the Plaza area. One business responded to the outreach with potential interest, and was subsequently contacted to discuss the project further. Ultimately, given that the total project cost would be divided between the City and a single business, the business was not interested in considering the partnership further.
This information was originally scheduled to be presented to the City Council in April; however, due to the COVID-19 situation, the report was deferred so that the Council could concentrate on items directly related to the City’s pandemic response.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
No public outreach was completed for this issue.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant effect on the environment; therefore, pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.