The Piedmont City Council, on Tuesday, agreed to upgrade the aging phone system at city offices at a cost of $154,708.
For quite some time, the outdated system has caused city officials headaches, cutting off calls, and going down completely for extended periods. The most alarming result of the system’s failings is the affect that it has on emergency calls to the city’s police and fire departments.
While there is some redundancy, when the system is down, those departments can only answer one call at a time, versus five to six.
The problem lies with the system’s antiquated call-manager system, according to the city’s technology manager Ben Singleton. The 14 year old system is “just worn out,” Singleton said.
The council voted to use funds from the city’s general obligation bond to allow Birmingham-based TekLins, a Cisco company, to perform the upgrades. Officials estimate that it will take about six weeks to have the new system up and running.
Bills for payment were approved in the amount of $400,644.41 in addition to a payroll amount of $117,163.51 for a total of $517,807.92.
Two city trucks were declared as surplus. The 2004 Ford F-250 and 2003 Ford F-150 trucks will be listed on Gov Deals to be sold to the highest bidder.
The council adopted the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance in order to comply with FEMA’s updated flood zone maps.
Also, the council voted to change the hours of the Piedmont Public Library. The new hours are as follows: 8 to 4 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; 8 to 12 Wednesday; and closed Saturday and Sunday.
At the request of a local resident, the council agreed to place water meters at three different houses, which were previously all served by a single meter.
The next regular Piedmont City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 15th, at 6 pm.