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Westfir staff to contact local broadband provider as council explores options to improve cell coverage
Summary
Council discussed repurposing equipment at Portal Park and whether carriers like Verizon could piggyback on existing infrastructure; members flagged frequent Spectrum outages and topographic coverage gaps that hurt businesses.
Staff briefed the council about current infrastructure and a possible path to improved cell coverage: contacting Emerald Broadband about equipment in Portal Park that carriers might piggyback on, or whether Verizon would need to build a tower. Staff said the city does not own the Portal Park equipment and would need to coordinate with Emerald Broadband to determine whether it could host carrier gear or backhaul.
Council members described severe connectivity problems that affect local businesses. One councilor said the recent instability with Spectrum made operating a business "really, really difficult" and gave examples of service failures that interfered with guest access and door control systems. The council directed staff to gather contact information, equipment specs, costs and potential backhaul/electricity implications to determine whether any low-cost option exists for the city to enable better coverage.
