3-year return on investment anticipated
By Bert Lehman
The Clintonville City Council approved the purchase of a new telephone system for the city at a cost not to exceed $35,000.
On June 10, one day before the council’s approval, City Administrator Sharon Eveland told the Clintonville Finance Committee said she has been working on replacing the city’s telephone system since last fall.
“We have a really old system and a really expensive system as far as our annual charges,” Eveland told the committee.
She said the city spends about $30,000 per year on phone services.
“To me it’s hard to fathom spending $30,000 a year on phone service,” she said. “So I’ve been working with Frontier, who is our current provider, on a new system, and based on our current use, came up with a program.”
Under the new program, the city’s monthly Frontier charge for phone service would be reduced to $1,500, Eveland said.
She said the city currently pays about $2,500 per month for phone service.
The new telephone system program would cost up to $35,000, providing the city with roughly a three-year return on investment.
“It is three years. I was really hoping it would be less than that, but at the end of the day, if we can do this and in three years we can save ourselves an extra $12,000 a year, I think it’s worth it,” Eveland said.
The new telephone system could be installed this year, Eveland said.
Eveland recommended that the new telephone system be paid for with the cost savings from the city’s decrease in its monthly telephone usage bill.
Committee Chairman Mike Hankins, who used to work for Frontier, said he reviewed the proposal and is comfortable with it.
The $35,000 cost will be split between the city’s general fund and Clintonville Utilities.