[{"_1":2,"_86":-5,"_87":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,74],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":44,"_46":47,"_48":49,"_50":51,"_52":53,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":59,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},"mediaId",6222336,"mediaKeyId","3609957-b24b4fa9f0d008e87a2292d2e5bdd4f0","parentId",3609957,"title","McAllen review finds citywide Wi‑Fi cost $3.1M to deploy; annual operations about $350,000","audioSeconds",0,"startMs",1308000,"endMs","viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3609957-b24b4fa9f0d008e87a2292d2e5bdd4f0&start=1308&end=1308","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3609957-b24b4fa9f0d008e87a2292d2e5bdd4f0/thumbnail_1308000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6222336/McAllen/Hidalgo-County/Texas/McAllen-review-finds-citywide-WiFi-cost-31M-to-deploy-annual-operations-about-350000","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6222336-10fd9005dfa7552cb95ac1846eddbd03/orig.mp4?Expires=1771172583&Signature=KnJh~eltxkaPeNXEiVs7YjM2UjEUC8Gwk2dED~RHuKpbc8PmnQtrtrw5BUMuJf7xwTtXk8c42YlYOsidhGSzVUUV4he6JtfxU3PoziZMsSQUaHQq3ecKTV1Xb6O2exCZvdqzDusea7O1nQuXC~AulJ9h4eq3II2MKFTZ3ue~ZCMHV9R5n2pjBnDBCFn2CiPVKKpncLKIRke7uD-KbeFMLtdKDcTrUQaGk22z0kJf7TLmiBg4jxsi6Q3Cj9oEr98PZuOMVbhGEnRP33DFSoV1roaqY9kLxWatLW02~ogF-o3C8T8Xt5wCf24mJ5P7Mm5vufVVlyTgTIC4PWiAa0hPHQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City of McAllen","date","2025-05-28T09:45:30Z","article","The McAllen City Commission received an update on the citywide Wi‑Fi network during a workshop Tuesday, with IT staff reporting the system was built during the COVID-19 pandemic at a deployed cost of about $3,100,000 and that ongoing operating and maintenance costs are about $350,000 a year.

Robert Acosta, director of IT, told the commission the Wi‑Fi deployment began in 2020 to support remote learning and targeted underserved neighborhoods. \"We identified about 18,000 students, that didn't have the resources, Internet access to be able to do remote learning from home,\" Acosta said. He said the city deployed roughly 1,000 pole-mounted access points and that McAllen ISD identified about 214 students without access; after deployment staff estimated they covered about 10,000 students who lived within the Wi‑Fi coverage area.

The nut graf: staff said the network met an urgent pandemic-era need but usage patterns and equipment age have changed. Daily connected devices peaked at about 13,500 early after deployment and have fallen to roughly 1,400–1,600 devices daily as in-person schooling and returning workplaces reduced remote demand. Staff asked commissioners to consider whether the city should continue the current annual investment, refresh equipment in the coming years, or change the program's scope.

Acosta said the Wi‑Fi rollout took 76 days to complete and the city finished in October 2020. He said staff targeted light poles in lower-income neighborhoods (median household income thresholds and property value thresholds) and prioritized poles able to bear equipment weight; he noted some poles in parts of District 2 could not be used because AEP did not allow mounting on power lines. \"Out of 18,000, 214 students at McAllen ISD identified that did not have access to Internet, after we installed it, we covered about 10,000 of those students that were living within the WiFi coverage area,\" Acosta said.

Staff described current usage and maintenance metrics. Acosta said daily connected devices are now roughly 1,400, average connection duration was roughly 1 to 3 hours (about 1.5 hours typical), and the city logs about 75 pole outages per quarter. He said the average maintenance cost equates to about $630 per pole per quarter based on current outages and parts inventories. \"We do about there's about 75 pole outages per quarter... it comes out to about $630 per poll per quarter to maintain,\" Acosta said.

The network was also repurposed to support traffic and public-safety systems, staff said. Using the Wi‑Fi backbone the city connected 12 traffic cabinets and enabled video for about 38 camera views; staff said police and emergency management use those feeds for incident response and investigations, and that feature improved the program's non-educational value.

Commissioners asked about reliability, response times for repairs and vendor accountability. Staff said failures on pole access points are typically resolved in one to three days, while failures on larger water-tower-mounted equipment can take several weeks to replace because they require climbing and spare parts. Acosta said the city maintains spare parts for pole devices to speed swaps and that the hosted monitoring solution (CBRS/hosted software) sends alerts and trouble tickets to the vendor and city staff.

Staff said the equipment is about five years old and they hope to extend life toward seven or eight years, but a full refresh in two to three years could require a major capital replacement of water-tower head-end equipment and many pole access points. Acosta suggested an annual update report to the commission; several commissioners asked whether the recurring $350,000 annual cost remains the best use of funds now that remote learning demand has fallen.

Ending: Staff did not propose a specific scope change at the workshop, but recommended continued monitoring and an annual update; commissioners asked staff to return with performance and cost metrics to inform any refresh or scope decision.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","McAllen City Commission Workshop: May 27, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","IT staff reported the city's pandemic-era citywide Wi‑Fi network cost about $3.1 million to deploy in 2020, covered roughly 10,000 McAllen ISD students within the coverage area, now averages about 1,400 connected devices daily, and carries roughly $350,000 in annual operating costs and maintenance challenges from aging equipment.","taxTitle","McAllen, Hidalgo County, Texas","taxId",2801,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":75,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":76,"_41":77,"_43":78,"_45":79,"_46":80,"_48":81,"_50":82,"_52":83,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":84,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":85,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},6222341,"McAllen leaders outline $193 million terminal expansion, plan CMAR procurement",980,300000,1280000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3609957-b24b4fa9f0d008e87a2292d2e5bdd4f0&start=300&end=1280","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3609957-b24b4fa9f0d008e87a2292d2e5bdd4f0/thumbnail_300000.jpg","/articles/6222341/McAllen/Hidalgo-County/Texas/McAllen-leaders-outline-193-million-terminal-expansion-plan-CMAR-procurement","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6222341-148201172fe14cb559976bba665c3492/orig.mp4?Expires=1771172583&Signature=XQlJfz8KacsJmxRiRi5TtS2Ik-IoNUK0iU~rbkEB8z-ZIJ03rbYF-Bnvx8bCxuQRD6yWpxJhjPLKFlmGNu8qwhLTR8XhgPGlVdHqZVWRtoLmsZwGOil402oGq0vk04-LARkjORsb-4YnYdPVo~FUnKR0B5OzRidSUOMEuJEyjq4FDxgOJFkL-QdrAaH-37F-q4JRADMWDK817ZhpuvvXVf8PrehgP-xge108LiDtBDuOaJsLsYezJNr76qnEzCNpgA3Hu-9ZN50ZZUqsFAQeYDMSQRu42k96QNO7CsdeZ~ByFV5valJhwlGzzozr6KxNyBollfcmaN9dW4Jkz7bVyw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The McAllen City Commission heard an update on plans to expand the city's airport terminal, with staff saying the project budget is about $193,000,000 and that the city intends to procure construction services using a construction manager-at-risk (CMAR) delivery method.

The update came Tuesday during a commission workshop from Jeremy Zanesquoi, who presented details of the expansion and procurement approach to Mayor Pro Tem and commissioners. \"We're adding ticket counters, adding baggage facility, adding admin areas, TSA screening areas, innovate renovating the TSA areas as well, enhancing the entry areas into the terminal, adding 4 more gates, and then renovating the federal inspection station,\" Zanesquoi said.

The nut graf: City staff said they will use CMAR so a construction manager joins the project during design to provide phasing, value engineering and cost estimation, and to deliver a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) that will form the basis for any debt issuance. John Nemet, city manager, and airport staff framed CMAR as a response to prior bid surprises on other city projects and said the FAA has approved this delivery method for the project.

City staff described the schedule and funding in the workshop. Staff said the work is currently estimated as a roughly two-year construction timeline and that the city has already approved a design contract at a prior meeting. Staff said a request for qualifications (RFQ) for the CMAR is expected to go out within about a month and that the commission could see an award recommendation around July. \"The RFQ for the construction manager at risk proposals are should be out in the streets that we've coordinated with purchasing...we're probably looking at awarding a contract sometime in July,\" Zanesquoi said.

Staff said the project budget figure of about $193 million covers soft costs, design, construction management, materials testing and construction. They told commissioners the CMAR approach moves much of the schedule and cost risk to the contractor once a GMP is negotiated; if the project exceeds the GMP the contractor would bear that overrun risk under the contract terms staff described. Commissioners asked whether underspending would return savings to the city and staff replied that savings or shared incentives would be subject to contract negotiation.

Commissioners pressed staff on operational impacts during construction and on related elements such as parking. Staff said the expansion will add about 270 parking spaces via two new lots (one across the street and one in front of the taxi area) and that design-development for the lots is due in a few weeks with construction targeted to turn around by the end of the calendar year. Staff said short-term parking currently has roughly 200 spaces and that pricing and time limits (including a free 30-minute window) were adjusted after previous data collection to reduce meter use by \"park and greet\" patrons.

Staff also said some tenant-funded work is expected: concession and concessionaire build-outs often are funded by the tenant as part of RFP processes. As an example, staff said the most recent food-and-beverage concessionaire paid about $1,100,000 in improvements. Commissioners discussed the need to balance commercial and private aviation activity during construction and the city manager emphasized the economic importance of maintaining airline and general aviation activity.

The workshop discussion included process context: staff said CMAR presents potential time and cost savings because the contractor participates during design, but also requires careful phasing to keep terminal operations, FAA operating-certificate requirements and TSA security operations functioning during construction. Staff characterized this as the commission's first large-scale CMAR procurement and invited questions before issuing an RFQ.

The update did not include a new formal vote at the workshop; staff described next steps including issuing the RFQ and returning to the commission with an award recommendation later in the summer. Staff said the city is aiming to complete the overall program by 2029 as an \"aiming point,\" but gave a multipoint schedule tied to design development, RFQ issuance and a GMP negotiation that will determine firm dates.

Ending: Staff and several commissioners said they will return with more detailed budget columns and funding-source breakdowns as the procurement proceeds. Commissioners did not take formal action during the workshop beyond asking questions and receiving the update.","City staff updated the McAllen City Commission on a planned $193 million expansion of the airport terminal, saying the city will use a construction manager-at-risk (CMAR) procurement and expects a roughly two-year build timeline with additional funding from tenants and federal sources.","actionData","errors"]

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McAllen review finds citywide Wi‑Fi cost $3.1M to deploy; annual operations about $350,000

McAllen leaders outline $193 million terminal expansion, plan CMAR procurement