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Home My WebLink About05/05/2020 09B Information on Free Wi-Fi Service in Parks 1 to\'4\lyy tbxk ik 1 + PPP d g. P A P p P 1 PPi ir4 ittYlltYlt.\ta. BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL YAKIMA, WASHINGTON AGENDA STATEMENT Item No. 9.B. For Meeting of: May 5, 2020 ITEM TITLE: Information on free Wi-Fi service in parks SUBMITTED BY: John Carney, IT Services Manager SUMMARY EXPLANATION: See attached. ITEM BUDGETED: STRATEGIC PRIORITY: APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL BY THE CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION: ATTACHMENTS: Description Upload Date Type D r ational Mark on Free WiFi er ne,in Parks 4/ / r Me o IT•Services ram. ' x C ty 00 P t M A •-� : : 129 N Second Street , Yakima, WA 98901 + The concept of free Wi-Fi in parks has been discussed various times over the past few years. City staff has identified considerations for implementing free Wi-Fi in our parks: 1. Cost: IT Services approached one vendor about putting together a proposal to add Wi-Fi to Gilbert, Miller and MLK parks. The vendor provided a very rough guesstimate of$5,000+to put together a plan and proposal for a Wi-Fi mesh in three of our parks. IT Services expect Miller Park to be the most inexpensive of our major parks. At this time, IT Services estimate an upfront cost of$50,000 to $60,000. Approximately 1/3 of this is for the required technical equipment and internet service with the rest to cover electrical and other expenses. Additionally, we estimate an ongoing annual equipment replacement fund of$3,500 to $5,000. This expense was not budgeted for in the current 2020 budget. 2. Security: One of the major disadvantages of public Wi-Fi lies in its inability to: a. Offer proper security to the users. Public Wi-Fi networks are often a target of hackers. This opens up other Wi-Fi users to attacks from these potential hackers. b. Properly shut down malicious or illegal activity of the Wi-Fi users. This could include, pornography, illegal downloading of media, etc. While we have the ability to restrict this to a degree, we would not be able to completely do so. 3. Location: The Yakima Parks and Recreation Division maintains 41 parks and properties covering 375.41 acres. Some of these parks, like Randall Park and Kiwanis Park, are large areas that would be difficult to provide Wi-Fi coverage. 4. Redundancy: Yakima currently has several free Wi-Fi locations available:Yakima Regional Library,Yakima Transit Buses, North Town Coffeehouse, Dutch Brothers, Starbucks, McDonald's, Panera Bread,Target, Best Buy, etc. According to Wi-Fi App, a free mobile app tested by IT Services,there are over 200 free or crowd sourced Wi-Fi networks in Yakima. Screen Capture from WiFi App of some of the available Wi-Fi networks in Yakima j2 4m110* 11111, tarr.. upercent a 3 5. Community Centers: Another approach would be to provide Wi-Fi at existing community serving locations such as: The Henry Beauchamp Jr. Community Center,Washington Fruit Community Center and the Harman Center. This approach may provide a means to monitor usage and potentially reduce the liability. However, IT Services is not aware of existing demand at these centers and does not have a true cost estimate at this time. Should Council decide that providing Wi-Fi to the general public within our parks,it is the recommendation of staff to test this service at one of these parks. Park Address Acres Current Amenities Gilbert Park N. 50th&Lincoln 10.9 Parking lot, open space,picnic tables MLK Jr. Park S. 8th Street&Race 3.48 Spray park,playground,picnic shelter,picnic tables, Street mini soccer, basketball courts Miller Park N. 4th Street and E"E" 3.96 Picnic shelter,performance area,playground,picnic Street tables,basketball courts During the 2017—2022 Comprehensive Master Planning process for Yakima Parks and Recreation,a community wide survey was conducted. Surveys were sent to 4,500 homes. A survey for our next Comprehensive Plan will be conducted in early 2021 and a specific question could be asked about the level of interest in free Wi-Fi in the parks. OW THE ITEMS Community Survey 2016 U LIKE ON SPEND AS YO$100 TO and pathways, YOU HAVE More walkways $14.33 Other, $5.14LISTED BELOW , - i 2, concerts,$5*76 it I e movies—neighborhood Par a spaces areas,$2.01 I* i Increase ode ks, I, I II .t. more sma $5.06 courts,$1.01 swimming opportunities. Construct e'tennis more indoor $12.02 I:iEE .i..... e1 4,"ar i fill '1,. ‘ 1'1* outdoor_ swimming.$11*69 More Construct more skate parks,$1*16 s,$3.24 Increase recreation program Construct moreQre sports fields,siA7 it.$3.28 land,___Large park. , More IQ( la more spray Parks' -s6.9s nds,$5.14 Maintain existing facilities,$21.75 Construct more playgrounds 5 2019 Master Plan for Lions & Franklin Pools Survey If funding can be found for the renovations at Franklin Pool, what improvements are needed? Rank 1 to 14 t_g Watershdes t_g Family Restrrooms 3 Spray Toys 6 Beach Entry 6 Concessions 6 Picnic Area 7.5 Lobby/Waitrngarea ,g. Lap Lanes g. Lazy River g. Water Playground. io. Shaded Grass Area rr Climbing features ir..5 . WiFi 14 I Don't 1lnow 1,5 Other If funding can be found for the renovations at Lions Pool, what improvements are needed? Rank 1 to 14 T i iMaterslides 2 Floatables 3 Family Restrooms 4 WiFi .._ 6.5 Spray Toys 6.5 Lap Lanes Concessions I 75. Climbing features 7.5. I Don't Know Beach Entry rn_5. Water Playground 12 Lobby/Waiting area z3 Lazy River 14 Other.