NE Iowa News

The Cresco City Council discussed plans to update and improve the local water tower during a meeting held on March 6.

The Public Works Department planned a rehabilitation project for the water tower featuring repairs, new pieces of equipment and a fresh coat of paint. The Department opened bids for the project at the end of February and received eight acceptable bids to choose from. The lowest bid was made by a Texas-based company for $687,200, and the highest bid was made by a company based in Lincoln, Nebraska, for $1,076,475.

Dixon Engineering representative Tim Wilson presented the bids and offered more project details to the Council before his proposed contract could get approved. He said that the majority of the bids fell between the highest and the lowest, also explaining that there were multiple items that the PWD had listed as separate line items in the bids, meaning that they could be removed to reduce the cost of the contract. While all of the items were declared necessary, some were determined possible for city employees to accomplish on their own or to be pushed to the next budget year to be discussed further. The Council ultimately removed three items; a maintenance aspect that the PWD figured out to accomplish on its own, a heating protection element and a mixer part.

"We added a separate line item into the bid package to put the same cadet logo that's on what I would consider your West Tank onto this tank," Wilson said. "And then they provided a price for that as well. And we and the staff opted at this time to have that removed as well. Just put the lettering back on for Cresco."

The mixer part is a common item in water towers, as it helps to keep the stored water moving to prevent stagnation and potential water quality issues. It also keeps water temperatures fairly consistent throughout the summer and reduces icing in the winter. The Council recently conducted a review of the water tower's infrastructure and decided that it didn't suffer from ice damage, poor water quality or stagnation issues, so they decided to wait until further notice to install the mixing equipment.

The Council ultimately accepted the reduced bid from the Texas company for $601,200.