Branson aldermen approve new phones, amend transportation district

Among the actions taken by the Branson Board of Aldermen during its Nov. 10 meeting, CenturyTel was approved to upgrade the city's telephone system with a bid that was negotiated down to $85,858, according to a city of Branson news release.

The upgraded system will use a data connection to transport voice signals and enable the city to drop several existing phone lines. Annual savings after the upgrade are estimated to be about $60,000, the release said.

The board also amended the Branson Landing Transportation Development District to include floating commercial docks at the development.

When the TDD was formed in 2005, certain real property was included in its boundaries. The floating commercial docks, which include marinas, restaurants and other businesses, are not located on real property but are moored to the land. The businesses on the city-owned floating docks have collected the TDD 1 percent taxes, and the aldermen want to be certain they are considered part of the TDD, the release said.

In other business, Chad Zickefoose, transportation project manager for the Missouri Department of Transportation presented an update on the Taneycomo Bridge project. Zickefoose told the board that MoDOT has awarded the project to Kansas-based Jenson Construction Co. at a cost of $12.2 million. Construction is to begin next month, and it is expected to take about two years to build the second bridge downstream from the existing bridge, which will then be re-decked.

The board also approved first reading on a contract with Evergreen Solutions of Tallahassee, Fla., for a classification and pay-plan development services study. For $27,000, Evergreen will review all city job classifications, wages and salaries, and compare them to the same data for similar cities to ensure fair compensation. That study should be finished by March, the release said.