Council Approves Water Tower Maintenance And Painting Funds
The Council Grove City Council heard a presentation from Rick Penner of Viking Industrial Painting on Tuesday evening regarding the findings of his assessment of the city’s water tower. Penner informed the council that the tank’s exterior coating is in good shape, but found several items that needed to be corrected. Those included an OSHA non-compliant manway, the tank’s ladder being too high and needing a safety climbing device and a lockable gate, an overflow pipe that is too far from the ground by KDHE standards, handrail openings that are too large around the tank, the need for a grate in the tank bowl, the replacement of the roof vent and corrections to the overflow pipe inside the tank. Penner recommended the corrections as well as a new aluminum coating to the exterior of the tank. The company would also add new lettering on three sides of the tank for the city. The total cost of the project was announced as $248,000, with the council voting to approve the work from Viking Industrial Painting. Funds were announced as coming from HEROES Act funding, COVID-19 relief funds given to the city by the federal government, of which the city received $321,000. HEROES Act funds are directed to be used for water infrastructure upgrades and other similar improvements by cities. Penner estimated that the job would take 30-45 days to complete and has an estimated start time of summer or fall of 2022.
