Kalispell City Council meets tonight for an informal work session, 7 p.m. at City Hall, to discuss two items.
As city officials plan to move into a new building, City Manager Jim Patrick and Information Technology Administrator Erika Hess are recommending that the city switch from its current Centrex telephone system to a new Cisco Internet Protocol phone system. The gist of the staff report to council is that the Cisco phone system’s monthly costs would be higher for three years ($9,188/month as opposed to Centrex’s $8,260), then the cost would drop to $8,200 for Cisco. But after the first four-year contract expires and the city owns the proposed system, the monthly charges would drop to $4,763. The report also said the Cisco system would be easier to expand, and has been used successfully by the cities of Bozeman, Missoula, MSU-Billings and the University of Montana.
Second on the agenda, Patrick has been negotiating with Evergreen Water and Sewer district regarding properties seeking to be served by Kalispell’s water and sewer lines, but that currently exist just outside the city border. A final draft of the agreement should be available by Monday evening, and the Evergreen Board plans to meet Friday, Oct. 19 to discuss the issue.