Huntsville council authorizes contract to rehab Palm Street 2-million-gallon water tank

The Huntsville City Council on Feb. 3 authorized the city manager to award a purchasing contract to O & J Coating Incorporated for rehabilitation of the 2,000,000-gallon elevated storage tank at the Palm Street Water Plant, waiving the second-reading requirement and approving the award by unanimous vote (no roll-call tallies were read in the transcript).

City project manager Miss Kimbrough told the council the tank’s last full sandblasting and repainting was in 2008 and that the city received four potential bids. "It did come in quite a bit under budget," she said, and staff called references — including College Station — before recommending O & J Coating.

Kimbrough described the work as a complete sandblasting and painting of the tank interior and exterior and said the project will update tank signage to include the new Sam Houston State University and Huntsville Hornet logos to match other city facilities. When Councilmember Burt Lyle asked if the interior work would cause any water interruptions, Kimbrough replied, "It will not."

Councilmembers framed the timing as important to complete the work before spring and summer demand periods; the mayor described the tank as an auxiliary supply that improves system reliability, not the system’s primary source. The council moved, seconded and voted to authorize the manager to award the contract; the motion passed unanimously as recorded in open session.

Next steps: staff will finalize the contract award and schedule the rehabilitation work to minimize system impacts and complete the project prior to peak demand periods.