The total cost is $469,739 and the money will come from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund, according to the staff report.
While council member Zack Ferrell voted for the legislation, he questioned why the city is spending money to upgrade technology when some of the parks need to improve infrastructure. He said there are trees growing through the pavement at Goldman Park and some basketball rims don’t have nets.
City staff said adding public Wi-Fi benefits residents and visitors to Middletown. It allows for “stable, reliable and dependable signals” for visitors, according to the staff report. Vendors at events held at the parks would be able to use the network for their point of sales systems to process transactions, the city said.
Local sporting teams and leagues could also utilize public Wi-Fi. Many of these leagues use websites for scoring and tracking league statistics.
“It could really change the dynamics of these events,” said council member Rodney Muterspaw, who added it also would improve security.
Public Wi-Fi would also allow the city to interact with those using the service. The city could capture information about who’s visiting the parks and what they are using while there, city staff said. This information could be used for future budgeting and maintenance schedules, according to the city.
Troy Anderton, information systems director, said the six parks were selected based on their size and number of events they host.
“It’s definitely a need,” said Anderton, who added the Wi-Fi will be turned off at night.
David Pearce, chairman of the Ohio Balloon Challenge, spoke in support of the Wi-Fi plan. He said Wi-Fi is “commonplace and expected” by event organizers and it’s needed if Middletown wants to continue attracting events that drive the economy.
He said the two soccer tournaments held in the city generate $2 million in economic revenue and the Ohio Challenge created $827,000 in revenue.
Pearce also said security lights and cameras are going to be installed at Smith Park. He said $75,000 of the $100,000 budgeted has been raised. He said $60,000 came from the Miriam Knoll Foundation, $10,000 from the Ohio Challenge and $5,000 from Middletown Youth Soccer.
He expects the $25,000 gap in funding to be secured soon.
He hopes the lights encourage more residents to use Smith Park in the evening and the cameras reduce the amount of vandalism in the park. Earlier this year, three sound speakers used by Light Up Middletown, a holiday drive-through light display, were stolen.
COST OF WI-FI AT MIDDLETOWN PARKS
The following numbers show the up-front fees, monthly cost and three-year term cost for each park in Middletown that will have free internet service for the public.
Smith Park: $185,207; $1,605; $57,780
Lefferson Park: $61,070; $395; $14,220
Goldman Park: $32,610; $324; $11,699
Sunset Park: $31,860; $210; $7,560
Jacot Park: $29,167; $174; $6299
Douglas Park: $27,224; $140; $5,040
TOTALS: $367,140; $2,849; $102,598
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