MONROE - In a meeting Monday, April 1, members of the Board of Public Works discussed options for building a new water storage tower and retiring the current tower near the hospital. They voted unanimously to include the project costs in an upcoming water rates study.
According to Water Utility Director Alan Eckstein, repainting the 1950s, riveted tank tower is estimated to cost $600,000 to $1 million, a cost higher than normal. That's because the tower is located near Monroe Clinic and hospital and a residential area. Without an adequate buffer zone of land to protect nearby residents, patients and employees, the tower will require a complete tenting before the sandblasting and repainting project begins. The tower was last painted about 20 years ago.
Eckstein said the cost to build a new tower away from the area would be about $1.2 million.
The remaining life expectancy of the old tower could be as little as five years, Eckstein said, but because the water tank construction uses rivets to hold overlapping metal panels, a rust leak could develop at any time. Board members recognized the old tower could be sold for salvage metal to offset the cost to rebuild.
- Tere Dunlap
According to Water Utility Director Alan Eckstein, repainting the 1950s, riveted tank tower is estimated to cost $600,000 to $1 million, a cost higher than normal. That's because the tower is located near Monroe Clinic and hospital and a residential area. Without an adequate buffer zone of land to protect nearby residents, patients and employees, the tower will require a complete tenting before the sandblasting and repainting project begins. The tower was last painted about 20 years ago.
Eckstein said the cost to build a new tower away from the area would be about $1.2 million.
The remaining life expectancy of the old tower could be as little as five years, Eckstein said, but because the water tank construction uses rivets to hold overlapping metal panels, a rust leak could develop at any time. Board members recognized the old tower could be sold for salvage metal to offset the cost to rebuild.
- Tere Dunlap