The Salem City Council has approved offering WiFi to visitors of a large part of Bryan Memorial Park.
The council Monday night approved a proposal from Wabash Communications to install WiFi hubs on the southeast corner of the Salem Aquatic Center and near the bathrooms and band stage. Repeaters would allow coverage to be extended to the entire south end of the park and all of the pavilions.
Wabash will pay up to $2,000 for the equipment and construction cost, leaving the city’s expense at around $1,700 plus the recurring $122 a month cost of the internet service.
City Manager Rex Barbee is hoping the service will be available in the near future.
“I spoke with a representative from Wabash and they will have to order some of the equipment. But they think it will be relatively easy to get so they are hoping to have it started within about 60-90 days.”
Barbee sees several uses for the service.
“Number one it helps community individuals out who don’t have WiFi at home or can’t afford it. Students who have a rural address and don’t have a direct feed to provide them with good WiFi service, I think it’s going to benefit them. But it’s also going to allow us to provide a service to those visitors who come to town and spend the night in a hotel and want to go do something in the park, one more thing to attract them to the park.”
The council agreed at least initially to put a two hour limit on the service and to shut it off after park closing hours.
In other action, the city council gave first reading approval to the $1.3-million property tax levy for next year’s property tax bills. It is 2.5-percent higher than this year’s tax collections. Normally the city levies for a 4.99-percent increase, but Barbee says they are not going to get that much more money anyway under tax caps. The council will consider final approval of the levy at the next meeting.
