Woods County reviews bids to paint four water towers, discusses temporary bypass tank and schedule

Woods County commissioners and staff reviewed contractor bids to repaint four county water towers, discussed how to keep water service running during inside painting and stressed the need to finish the work by the end of the fiscal year.

County staff said bids for individual towers ranged from about $17,375 up to $35,575 and that painting all four towers would cost roughly $105,000 on the printed estimate. “That 1 is $12,350,” staff said of the temporary bypass tank rental that would allow crews to keep service running while a tank is taken out of service and painted. Staff also said larger tanks carry higher prices; the North Tower was listed at $27,175 in the bid materials and another tower bid was $35,575. One staff member told commissioners “Less than 30 days” when asked about the expected timeframe for work on each tower.

Nut graf: The county is weighing the cost of interior painting, which county staff said has not been done before on these tanks even though the exteriors have been repainted multiple times; commissioners emphasized completing the work within the current fiscal year so the county can pursue future grant funding.

In discussion, staff explained why interior painting had been deferred previously: repainting interiors requires taking a tank out of service and the county lacks a permanent bypass tank at each site. To address that, the bid package included a temporary bypass tank rental option vendors estimated at $12,350 per rental. Staff said the bid package included work for several tanks and that two similarly sized towers had the same contractor estimate. On timing, staff said contractors would schedule the work after formal approval and that the county requested completion no later than the end of the fiscal year so it could apply for another re-grant next year.

Commissioners and staff also compared costs between interior and exterior painting, noting the exterior work cost substantially less in prior maintenance work. A staff member summarized the broader cost: based on the printed bid summary, painting all four towers could be about $105,000. Staff told the panel that if total costs exceeded the budgeted amount (the transcript noted roughly $70,000 currently available), the county would pay the remainder out of pocket. The transcript contains no formal motion or recorded vote on the bids.

Ending: Staff said they would provide commissioners with copies of the bid documents and would notify contractors to schedule work once the county provided formal approval; an explicit vote or contract award was not recorded in the meeting transcript.