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Council hears HMG estimate and grant options for Mason Street water tower
Summary
Consultant Jesse Maynard told the council HMG estimates a new 300,000‑gallon Mason Street water tower at $1.65 million and that grant and refurbishment options could push potential bids to about $2.2 million; councilors discussed smaller tank options and service‑area constraints.
The Pinckneyville City Council on March 24 heard an update from Jesse Maynard of HMG on options for the Mason Street water tower and how a pending DCEO grant could shape the city’s replacement plan.
Maynard said HMG’s current estimate for a new 300,000‑gallon water tower is $1.65 million and that some previous bids that approached $3 million were higher than HMG’s expectation. He told the council the DCEO grant process includes an option to reduce tank size to 200,000 or 250,000 gallons, which could lower bid costs.
“Once the water is sent out to that water tower, it doesn’t bring it back due to the pressure,” Maynard said, explaining why the tower near the prison cannot feed water back into the city distribution system and why system redundancy matters.
Commissioner Joshua L. Kuhnert asked about the consequences if the Mason Street tower were removed from service; Kuhnert noted that would leave the city relying on the Diamondtown tower. Maynard told the council that Diamondtown’s tank is 200,000 gallons while the East water tower by the prison is 400,000 gallons. He estimated the cost to refurbish the Mason Street tower would exceed $600,000. Combining that figure with the $1.5 million grant the city plans to seek could lead to acceptable bids in the $2.2 million range, he said.
Mayor Robert L. Spencer said the city should agree to pursue a $2.2 million ceiling for bids while retaining the option for a smaller tank if required by grant conditions.
The consultant also requested a letter for the DCEO grant application stating how much city matching money will be committed; Maynard asked that the council provide that figure by the end of the week. No formal vote occurred on the funding commitment during the meeting.
