The bid for painting the Avenue A and Adams water tower in Hutchinson was approved on Tuesday. Public Works Director Brian Clennan explained the scope of the project.
"This project is going to include recoating of the interior and the exterior of the tank and the columns that support the tank," Clennan said. "We're also going to be adding a rail on top to mount antennas from on top of that tank. There's also going to be some brackets that we'll be installing to better organize those communication cables that feed those antennas. We're also going to be making improvements to the ladder safety climb system on that facility and we're also going to be increasing the size of the access port. Right now, it's about 18 inches in diameter, roughly. We're going to increase that to 30 inches."
The council approved awarding the project to G&L Tank Sandblasting & Coatings LLC at $347,300.
"We're going to have a pre-construction meeting and at that point in time, they will lay out their schedule," Clennan said. "The other thing that we understand is that they've got a crew that is ready to go. That was one of the reasons we believe they came in so good. They didn't want to lose that crew."
The council also approved a contract with MKEC for construction inspection services, which includes putting together that pre-construction meeting. Those inspections are at an hourly cost not to exceed $39,850.
Right now, the council has set aside the idea of lighting the tower to save money.