Monticello Live

City Council met Sept. 20 to review important topics such as an assessment of the water towers of Monticello.

The company, Utility Services that assessed the water towers completed their work over the past week. Their company repaired and maintained water tanks in the area for many years and recently updated the Conrad Tank in 2012 by pressure washing away rust and corrosion and adding a two-coat paint job.

Brian Woodring of Utility Service said, “We pioneered a full service preventative maintenance program and essentially take ownership of the tanks, if you will. All the risk is put on us; we take care of it making sure it is sanitary, secure, coatings are good and everything. It is all encompassing.” The company began in 1985 and possesses over 5,000 water tanks under their maintenance program. All tanks in Monticello received inspection by Utility Services.

The Burlington Tank, built in 1972, showed severe problems with corroding paint jobs, presents of mildew, safety hazards, rust and a degrading foundation. The recommendations for the tank included a full abrasive blast to strip away rust and old paint, new coats of paint, a new frost proof vent, safety repairs for ladders, new pipe insulation and redoing the foundation.

“This tank has been neglected for so long that it is literally starting to fall apart in some places,” Woodring said.

The University Tank located near the University of Arkansas at Monticello earned the title of tallest tank in Monticello. Its exterior received a fair condition report that allows for a simple overcoat rather than blasting away to the metal and starting with fresh coats of paint. The cables and antennas on the tank need to be relocated to more secure and safe locations on the tank. The ladder needs to be welded to the tank rather than bolted also.

The tank’s recommendation included pressure washing followed by spot cleaning and over coating. They also included an interior blast to remove corrosion and then apply two coats of paints. A standard ladder gate needs to be installed as well as weep holes for adequate drainage on the balcony, cable safety for exterior ladders and 24 inch steel vent for easier access.

 

The remaining tanks‘, Country Club Tank, County Barn Tank and Old Troy Tank, assessments resulted in good condition. Most received better than fair results for the exterior of the tanks while the interior of them received fair condition. The recommendations included pressure washing, spot cleaning and priming and then painting of the interior and exterior in the near future.

Each tank would receive its own one-year contract that would automatically renew until cancelled that would fall under the Utility Service’s full service maintenance program, which involved a 10 year program of paint, full cleanings and inspections and visual inspection.

“I’m going to push pretty hard to get started on taking care of these tanks and getting the safety issues for sure taken care of,” Mayor Allen Maxwell said.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2012 at 7:35 am and is filed under City. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.