Shenandoah approves funding for water tower rehabilitation

The Shenandoah City Council approved more than $600,000 in funding for rehabilitating the city's water tower during a regular meeting March 11.

Shenandoah Public Works Director Joseph Peart said the low bid for the project, which will include sandblasting both the exterior and interior of the tower and applying protective coating to the structure, is for $619,853 from contractor Tank Pro.

"The structure was built in 2002, and this has not been done since construction," Peart said.

Peart added the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality inspects the water tower annually and requested an update on the project in January. If the updates are not done, the city could face fines, or the water tower would have to be taken offline.

City Council previously discussed the project during its fiscal year 2019-20 budget workshop, where it was decided the project would be paid for out of the water and sewage enterprise fund. Prior to the project, the fund had $695,000.

Mayor Ritch Wheeler said he was in favor of still funding the project from the water and sewage enterprise fund to determine the true cost of water and sewage to residents.

While work is being done on the tower, water services are not expected to impacted.