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INFORMATIONAL MEMO <br />Page 5 <br />the community rather than a few large (costly) projects. Projects <br />identified include: <br />a. Purchase additional speed cushions and radar driver feedback <br />signs for future deployments. ($130 thousand) <br />b. Complete the widening of 53rd Ave S between 5.137th and 52nd <br />Ave S to restore two-way traffic. ($250 thousand) <br />c. Provide funding for additional traffic counting services and to the <br />NTCP on-call design contract. ($100 thousand) <br />ii. Other Capital needs <br />b. Other service and staffing needs <br />i. Each City department has unmet staffing and resource needs due to the <br />reductions taken in the 2021-2022 Adopted Budget. These could be <br />funded through ARPA funds. As mentioned in previous memos, these <br />include specific areas such permit review, street and parks, fire, and police <br />services. <br />3. Investments in infrastructure <br />a. Broadband infrastructure investment — reduce the digital divide with a focus on students <br />and low-income residents ($1 million implementation, $100,000 ongoing) <br />i. The digital divide in the City of Tukwila was made even more apparent by the <br />COVID-19 pandemic, which required both students and employees to go online <br />full time, but often without the broadband needed. Tukwila is one of the most <br />diverse cities in the nation, with over 80 languages and dialects spoken, and 41% <br />of the population are foreign born, and 17% living in poverty. This is much higher <br />than the Washington State poverty average of 10%. <br />1. The Tukwila School District is able to provide 20% of its families with <br />mobile hotspots and 23% of families receive internet access through <br />Comcast's Internet Essentials Program. Tukwila has been on the <br />forefront by providing free internet access to students by developing a <br />free City Wi-Fi program in multifamily neighborhoods, with the highest <br />concentration of students that receive free and reduced lunch. But city <br />leaders recognize these numbers do not add up to 100% of the families <br />in their schools in need of access to high-speed internet, and they are <br />committed to closing the gap. <br />By utilizing ARPA funds, Tukwila has the opportunity to construct and <br />deploy high speed internet to income -qualified families throughout the <br />city. This proposed program has the opportunity to provide all families in <br />Tukwila with the needed modern-day building blocks for our students and <br />families to thrive. <br />4. One -Time Investments for long-term financial health — (City will need more information to <br />clarify eligibility and some might fit under other priorities) <br />a. Teen and Senior Center Investment — planning, design, and/or land purchase <br />i. One-time funds could also be used to support the Teen and Senior Center <br />project. Depending on site investigations later this summer, fund could be <br />used to support the purchase of property or, should the community and council <br />support using a city -owned site, funds could be allocated to begin the design <br />process, which would start in 2022, assuming the Council wants to move <br />forward with construction of the facility. Because the project is in the feasibility <br />and programming phase, it is too early to determine the overall project <br />cost. Staff expects to provide the Council with an early project cost and <br />5 <br />