Medina declines WiFi hotspot at Village Office/City Hall
MEDINA – The Village Board has declined an officer to have a WiFi hotspot installed for free in the parking lot at the Village Office and City Hall on Park Avenue.
RTO Wireless has offered to install the hotspots and is working to put them in place at nine town halls and two of the village offices – Albion and Holley. Ridgeway is the only town not participating because it is close to the Medina Village Office and the town has a small parking lot.
Medina Mayor Mike Sidari said he didn’t feel comfortable with WiFi access off the village’s network.
“I don’t want a back channel into our system,” Sidari said during a board meeting on Friday. “I don’t feel comfortable having it available for use or access.”
The mayor said ambulances and police cars also use the system and he worries their information would be compromised with public WiFi access.
Sidari said RTO Wireless has tried to assure him the system can’t be compromised, but he remains concerned.
“They say they can’t be hacked but everyday you hear about people being hacked,” he said.
Sidari and the board members also noted there are other public WiFi access spots in the community, including Lee-Whedon Memorial Library, which is a block away from the Village Office. The school district also has WiFi for students to access at the school parking lots.
The board on Friday also hired Jonathan Miller as a firefighter/EMT. He starts on July 27 and will be on a 78-week probationary period.
