OMU officials say water tower project $500,000 under budget

James Mayse, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·2 min read

Aug. 5—Owensboro Municipal Utilities' work to renovate its Frederica Street water tank is nearly complete, and the cost is considerably less than officials anticipated.

City Utility Commission members received an update on the project Thursday morning and gave their approval to a logo on the tower calling the city the "Bluegrass Music Capital of the World."

Much of the work refurbishing the tower is nearly complete, OMU director of operations Brad Howton told commission members.

Sonya Dixon, OMU's public relations and communications manager, said the project includes blasting the tank's interior to clean it and then repainting the interior and exterior.

"Obviously, the tanks are a critical part of the water delivery system," Dixon said. "It's important to keep them in the best operating condition that ensures a safe and reliable water supply."

The interior cleaning is complete, and the contractor, Tank Pro Inc., is completing the interior painting. The tank's exterior is in the process of being blasted and painted with a first coat.

OMU budgeted $900,000 for the work. With the city logo, the actual cost is expected to be $389,825.

Howton said the bidding process on the project was more competitive than OMU officials anticipated.

"Tank Pro was hungry for the work, and we felt they were capable" of handling the project, Howton said.

OMU general manager Tim Lyons said, "we had a really good bid year, and that's fortunate."

The logo on the tower will feature a banjo with a globe inside and will say "Owensboro Bluegrass Music Capital of the World."

The tower previously had the OMU logo. Lyons said utility officials were approached with the idea of the bluegrass logo by Mayor Tom Watson and the Bluegrass Music Capital of the World Task Force.

"We had planned on having the city logo on it," Lyons said. The bluegrass logo will face toward the south, while the OMU logo will be on the other side.

The tower is "a landmark," Lyons said, and putting the bluegrass logo on the tower would be " 'Welcome to Owensboro' from the south."

Weather permitting, the tower is expected to be complete by last August.

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse