The phone network used by Piedmont’s city offices may be in dire need of repairs, which would come at a high price. For this reason, city officials are reluctant to commit to the upgrade without first gathering more information.
Representatives from TekLinks, a Birmingham-based technology company, told the council that it would likely cost less than their $168,000 estimate to upgrade the decade-old system. Account Manager Wesley Templeton said that the current system is “dangerously close to failure.” Cisco Engineer Terry Smith added that “it’s not a question of if, but when” the system will go down.
Not only is such a failure likely, but it has happened before. Ben Singleton, who oversees the city’s phone system, reminded the council that just this past December, the system went down, affecting even the city’s police and fire departments ability to receive emergency calls.
Mayor Bill Baker, along with the city council, acknowledged that the system needed an upgrade, but were unsure how the city would fund it. Because TekLinks was unsure how much the price tag could be reduced, Baker recommended that the city delay a vote until they could get a “better dollar figure.” No action was taken on the matter.
In other business, Council Member Ben Keller made a motion that the council reconsider their previous decision to award a contract for the aquatic center’s concessions to local food vendor Brain Freeze. Keller argued that Booker T’s BBQ, who was interested in submitting a bid, failed to do so only because they were not aware of the bid process. Keller’s motion failed to receive support.
The council agreed to make available $10,000 for Doyce White to use to produce a Native American festival in May 2016. Council Member Mark Harper requested that White provide the council with frequent updates on the festival’s progress.
Bills for payment were approved in the amount of $366,485.52 in addition to a payroll amount of $112,533.79 for a total of $479,019.31.
The next regular Piedmont City Council Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19th, at 6 pm.