The roof on this water tank needs to be replaced.
By Nancy Peckenham
The city of Newburgh has three water tanks that need $2 million worth of repairs, according to city engineer Craig Marti, who also told the city council recently that state and county grants along with low-intest loans could pay for some of the work, easing the impact on the cash-strapped city.
City engineer Craig Marti said that the three tanks, the oldest built in 1922, are deteriorating on the outside and inside, with corrosion that creates a potential for contaminating the water supply if repairs are not made.
The most serious structural problem exists at the one million gallon holding tank on Marne Avenue. The roof on the structure needs to be replaced, according to proposal from a tank maintenance company, which recommends replacing it with an aluminum geodesic dome at a cost of $198,000.
Cleaning out all three the tanks, which involves sandblasting and coating the interior, would run $670,424.
This 30-year-old tank needs to interior cleaning.
Engineer Marti said that the city water department would take each holding tank off line in order to make the repairs, which could start as early as this summer. He also told the council that he intends to put out a request for proposal for an engineer to prepare a scope of work report. He noted that his department is working to re-direct a half-million dollar grant from state senator Bill Larkin to apply to the first stages of the repair work.
Councilwoman Marge Bell questioned why all the tanks needed repairs at the same time, creating a hefty price tag. Marti said that he can’t speak about what happened before he arrived in his current position two years ago, but he agreed that there the city needs a long-term capital plan that addresses problems before they require repairs as substantial as these.
Loading...
