The Festus City Council has entered into a seven-year contract with a water storage tank maintenance company to refurbish and then maintain the city’s four water storage tanks. The cost is $298,100 for the first year of the contract, with the price decreasing over the remaining years.
Council members voted 6-0 on May 12 to award the contract to Viking Industrial Painting-Water Tower Painting & Maintenance of Omaha, Neb. Council members Jim Tinnin and Mike Cook, both of Ward 4, were absent from the meeting.
The company submitted the lowest of three bids for the work, and city staff felt like the company also presented the best maintenance plan among the bidders, City Administrator Greg Camp told the council during a work session immediately before the meeting.
“Viking had the best approach of taking care of the tanks,” he said.
Festus has a 500,000-gallon concrete twin tank; two 500,000-gallon elevated tanks; and a 411,000-gallon ground storage tank, according to city documents.
“The first three years, they’re refurbishing all the tanks. Then, we go into inspection and maintenance mode,” Camp said. “The cost drops to about $296,000 in year two, $283,000 in year three, $147,000 in years four and five and $111,000 in years six and seven.”
He said this is the first time the city has entered into a water storage tank maintenance agreement, rather than calling for service periodically.
“We’d do one-offs as needed (for maintenance issues),” he said.
When the matter was discussed during the work session, Ward 3 Councilman Kevin Dennis asked staff if the city would ever downsize or eliminate the water storage tanks since Festus and Herculaneum share the Cathy Jokerst Water Treatment Plant and usually get their water from the plant.
“No, we need them as backups,” Public Works director Michael Christopher said.
According to information provided by the city, the services to be provided under the contract include annual inspection services, rehabilitation, repair, component replacements, repainting and interior work, among other tasks, as part of “a custom designed water storage tank preventative maintenance program.”