McKinney TIRZ board approves full rehabilitation of Chestnut water tower, recommends budget amendment

On March 31, 2025, the City of McKinney Reinvestment Zone No. 1 Board approved awarding a contract and recommending a budget amendment to fund rehabilitation of the Chestnut 0.5 million-gallon elevated storage tank (CIP project WA2240), moving forward with the full-scope option despite bids that exceeded the engineer's estimate.

Board members voted to proceed with the full scope, which includes lead-paint removal, structural repairs, a non–lead-based repaint, restoration of the historic McKinney logo on the tank, a programmable full‑spectrum LED lighting system, and site improvements including landscaping, irrigation and paving. Gary Graham, director of engineering, told the board the design began in March 2023 and that the work will also require soil remediation where lead paint has flaked off.

The board heard that the city’s engineer estimated the project at about $2.6 million; an earlier bid received in 2024 was roughly $5.0 million and was rejected. Staff received a single bidder, Blasco, on two rebids; the most recent bid was described as “just under $4,000,000,” and staff presented three funding/options scenarios: an all‑in option (staff said up to about $4.5 million to include contingency), a reduced option removing certain leg lighting (roughly $4.275 million), and a pared option removing both leg lighting and landscaping (about $3.7 million). Gary Graham cautioned that the lighting package was a large cost driver and described the lighting as three-tiered (catwalk/top lighting, bottom-of-tank, and leg-column lighting) and fully programmable for Main Street events.

Graham said the project will remove interior and exterior lead paint using containment and disposal and will address structural coating repairs. "We began the project, the design of it in March of 2023," Graham said. He told the board the expected service life of a new paint system is about 15 to 20 years.

On funding, staff reported a $500,000 grant from the Community Development Corporation (CDC) to help pay for the lighting system. Staff proposed using a combination of TIRZ funds and a $500,000 allocation from the hotel‑motel fund to close the gap. City staff reported TIRZ No. 1 is projected to have a fund balance of about $28.8 million at the end of fiscal 2025, with roughly $2.6 million restricted for transportation; staff estimated an uncommitted balance of about $26.2 million after restrictions. For the all‑in option, staff said the board would be asked for roughly $725,000 from TIRZ in addition to the $500,000 hotel‑motel allocation; removing the lighting reduced the TIRZ ask to about $500,000, and removing both landscaping and lighting would require no TIRZ contribution under staff calculations.

Board members debated preservation versus removal. Supporters called the tank an iconic downtown feature and urged investing now to avoid higher costs later; opponents said the structure serves primarily cultural value and noted ongoing maintenance costs (repainting every 15–20 years) and competing priorities. Board discussion also touched on cell‑carrier equipment on the tower: Graham said much abandoned equipment will be removed, but an active contract with T‑Mobile runs through 2030 and would remain unless renegotiated.

After discussion, a board member moved to approve the full‑scope award and associated recommendation to council (the motion and second were recorded but individual mover/second names were not identified in the transcript). The board voted to approve the staff recommendation; one member recorded opposition. Staff will forward a recommended budget amendment and a proposed contract award to city council for final action.

Follow-up tasks identified include returning to council with a budget amendment and contract award recommendation and proceeding with procurement and remediation work once funds and contract are authorized.