The premise of this memorandum is to seek consensus from the City Council concerning a potential partnership between Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach County school district, and the City of Riviera Beach. On multiple occasions, the Riviera Beach City Council has expressed its desire to provide Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the City. Additionally, the City staff has researched the costs associated with creating a Wi-Fi mesh network to serve areas within the community. However, the costs associated with such an endeavor would be extremely high, not to mention the reoccurring maintenance costs and personnel expenditures that would have to be incorporated in the budget to make the program a success. Furthermore, the cost of equipping residents and students as well as of providing much-needed technical support would place a significant strain on existing City resources, and additional personnel would be needed to accommodate network issues and the servicing of devices. Based on preliminary discussions, the cost could be millions of dollars, as the City would, in fact, be creating another utility-like operation with limited revenue opportunities.
Fortunately, as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, Palm Beach County received $261 million. Various categories and initiatives have been established for spending this money, one of which involves an increase of Internet connectivity and bridging the gap referred to as the digital divide. The City of Riviera Beach has had two conversations with county staff about the feasibility of initiating a program here in the City to provide Wi-Fi connectivity to residents and students within the municipal boundaries of Riviera Beach.
Out of the $261 million, $10 million has been set aside for projects such as this. The collaborative effort, if all parties approve of it, will result in Wi-Fi connectivity for a large portion of the City as well as the provision of devices at no cost to families so that they can benefit from the investments made in the infrastructure. Furthermore, the City is looking at expanding the network to public parks, beach access locations, and gathering areas to provide connectivity throughout the City in a seamless mesh network. Additionally, through the investments made in this infrastructure, the City will be able to create landing pages to push out pertinent and critical data to the residents of the City at little to no cost.
The county will fund this investment in the City. In addition, the school district will provide the necessary devices, including the much-needed extenders, to ensure connectivity within households. The City’s cost will be de minimis, as the City infrastructure will be used to formulate the mesh network (i.e., the Florida Light and Power infrastructure).
The City staff, as a result of this item, would like the opportunity to negotiate the terms and conditions of establishing a free Wi-Fi network within Riviera Beach that will include all public parks, gathering spaces, and beach access areas. The staff will have to move very quickly, as the money needs to be expended in infrastructure investments prior to December 2020.