The city owns and maintains about 85 miles of fiber optic cable, which was first installed in the late 1990s.
The city hopes to modernize its digital infrastructure, which could help with economic development and bridging the digital divide, said John Rike, Dayton’s chief information officer.
The inventory, which should be completed in the first quarter of 2023, will help the city make decisions about expanding the network and making other changes, the city said.
About 42% of Dayton’s households do not have access to broadband (high-speed internet), which can negatively impact economic growth, household income, educational performance, healthcare access and job searches, the city said.
Credit: Ty Greenlees
Credit: Ty Greenlees
The city is looking at making its recreation centers public access digital hubs.
It also is interested in helping connect residents to low-cost fiber providers and digital literacy training, and possibly assisting people with acquiring low-cost computers.
“We have a tremendous opportunity to start serving our communities — our underserved or unserved neighborhoods — in a higher manner,” Rike said.
City commissioners also recently approved spending $264,500 to help renovate a building on the 100 block of East Helena Street for the Access Center of Independent Living.
The new space will benefit the center’s Recycled Equipment Donated for Independence project, which provides provides free medical equipment to individuals with disabilities to help them remain in the community.
The project distributes equipment like Hoyer lifts, wheelchairs, walkers, bath chairs, canes and hospital beds — items that can help people with disabilities avoid becoming institutionalized or homeless, the city said.
“This also will give the center the opportunity to have a permanent home,” said Jeremy Caffee, executive director of the Access Center for Independent Living. “We’ve bounced around since its inception in 1984.”
“This will allow for our programming to continue to expand,” he said.
The funds for the fiber inventory and the building renovation come from the $139 million the city received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
“From the very beginning we wanted to use the money received (from ARPA) to lead and champion projects that would create long-term transformation for residents and would help disrupt multi-generational poverty,” Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein said in a prepared statement.
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