The Riverton City Council and City Administrator Tony Tolstedt discussed the possibility of community wireless internet hotspots around Riverton in the future Tuesday night at their regular City Hall meeting.
Tolstedt said that he and City of Riverton IT Director Tim Hugus had begun to explore the possibilities and costs associated over the last few days. Tony gave a lot of credit to the job Hugus had done saying he had gone, “way above and beyond.” He also credited City Councilman Lance Goede for presenting the idea, citing a trip to the San Antonio, Texas RiverWalk and discovering their public WiFi as the inspiration behind the suggestion.
The City Administrator explained that the current City fiscal budget does not include the possibility of adding WiFi hotspots, however, he would like the conversation to begin for the 2019 budget.
Tolstedt said that the council has discussed the possibility of adding a WiFi hotspot to Riverton City Park, additional parks, and throughout Main Street. “The idea being where you get the most foot traffic, the most recreation, the most people moving about,” he said.
Councilman Lance Goede said that the feedback he’s received has been, “almost entirely positive.” He said he was happy to see the conversation starting and appreciated the work being done to look into it. Goede added that he supported Tony’s proposal of having hotspots specifically available in parks and expanding it to downtown Riverton.
City Councilman Kyle Larson inquired about the WiFi hotspot available near Central Wyoming College and the area that it covers compared to the area that City Park would need for WiFi.
There was not a proposal at this time, just the beginning of the conversation about the issue. Tolstedt said he hopes to revisit the issue soon if there’s enough support around the project.