Public-works staff told the Policy and Finance Committee on Aug. 21, 2025, that the city is negotiating with a vendor to install three digital kiosks in downtown and the NoDo district as a pilot program. Public works senior management analyst Allie Weems said “we're currently in negotiations with the vendor as a result of our RFP process.”

Planned features and placement: The pilot would place three interactive kiosks — one in NoDo and two in other downtown locations — to provide information about city services, event listings, emergency messages and links to social-media channels. Staff described accessibility features (high-contrast screens, audio/screen-reader compatibility and multilingual options), LTE connectivity, vendor-provided maintenance, security cameras and panic buttons that would connect to 911 dispatch.

Costs and revenue: Staff said there is no anticipated installation cost to the city because the vendor will cover installation; revenue would be generated by advertising and screen time sales and by data services the vendor offers. Staff said the initial contract term being negotiated would be one year and renewable; staff suggested evaluating data after six months and again after one year. The company will also provide back-end analytics for city staff to track usage.

Approval process: Committee members asked whether council approval was required. City legal staff said the city manager has charter authority to execute contracts of this type, so execution would not require a governing-body vote; staff said they planned to provide a presentation to the council with real-world deployment photos and data after installation.

Privacy and public safety questions: Staff said panic buttons are intended to connect to 911 dispatch; the committee asked for clarification about whether kiosks could support two-way audio and for precise dispatch procedures. Staff said vendor negotiations would address these operational questions.

Next steps: Staff will finish vendor negotiations, complete site assessments (estimated 2–4 months), oversee vendor installation and return to council with deployment photos and usage data after the pilot is active.

Ending: Committee members asked staff to consider alternative pilot locations (including parks or Washburn areas) if data suggest different placement would improve coverage; staff noted that advertising revenue models favor high-pedestrian-traffic downtown locations for a no-cost or revenue-neutral contract.