The prospect for wireless Internet in downtown Ketchum was called into question Monday when some members of the Ketchum City Council argued the city shouldn't open its purse strings any more this budget cycle.
"Where in the budget is this coming from?" asked Councilwoman Terry Tracy. "How did we get there without more discussion and debate on this? This is moving really fast for me."
Since last December, Ketchum resident Heidi Dhose has been volunteering on behalf of the city to bring wireless technology to town. She has 15 years of related professional experience in the industry.
The plan is to install wireless routers in a 35-block area of the downtown, from Spruce Avenue to Second Avenue and from Second Street to Eighth Street.
Wireless in Ketchum could mean much more than personal computing on street corners, Dhose said. The city could use the network to manage parking meters were they installed. The network could also be used to manage streetlights or home security systems.
"There are some really great technologies that can not only enable us to be a better managed city but a greener city," Dhose said. "The network's really just the plumbing."
At a council meeting in March, Dhose and representatives from San Diego-based NetLogix presented city officials with a plan to create a demonstration project in Ketchum.
NetLogix and other service providers would supply about $80,000 of the $100,000 needed to install wireless infrastructure throughout the downtown area. The city would be responsible for the remaining $20,000, as well as $60,000 per year in ongoing network management costs and $12,000 per year to pay for the bandwidth necessary to operate the network.
Wireless routers, similar to office routers but larger, would be painted green and mounted on top of light poles.
"Bringing wireless and access to broadband in general enables entrepreneurs to reach the global market," Dhose said. "In some ways we've been limited in being able to offer that in a cost-effective way."
Despite the obvious savings, Tracy and Councilman Ron Parsons were uncomfortable with the unplanned expense of what should amount to $40,000 in this fiscal year.
"I think we spent some extra money this year already," Parsons said. "I'm just to the point in the budget year where I'm not sure this is what I want to do. If we think this is as important as everyone seems to think it is, then there's got to be something else in the budget that's less important than this."
Ketchum City Administrator Ron LeBlanc said he will examine that possibility before the council's June 18 meeting.
Mayor Randy Hall maintained that the council should find a way to seriously consider the proposal one way or another.
"This is an incredible opportunity that came our way," Hall said. "This community, the broadband wireless, at some point the reason this has been compressed into this timeframe is because this opportunity is already paying dividends. I see it just as a great economic development tool."
But Tracy was resolute.
"We've got a long list of special projects," she said. "Every one seems to be equally important, and every one has a little hook to it. There has to be a stopper somewhere. I don't want any more requests coming to me that aren't budgeted. I don't want this to just keep escalating. And it has. Every meeting there's $10,000 or $15,000 or $20,000 that wasn't in the budget."
Hall countered.
"We haven't had at every meeting $10,000 or $15,000 where we've had to go into the budget," he said. "We're on budget. We're on target."
The debate split the council.
"Well we obviously have two for and two against, and Randy's going to break the tie," Councilman Baird Gourlay said. "Let's answer the questions, put the decision off for two weeks and find out how much we'll save."
Parsons liked the sound of that.
"That's the rub with me," he said. "I've got 10 minutes to decide this."
