Staff writer
Hillsboro City Council again found itself discussing the future of Hillsboro water tower Monday after a call came from the contractor explaining more problems with the top two rings of the water tower.
“I’m hoping this is the very last time we have to come back and talk about water tower repair,” city administrator Larry Paine said.
Paine explained that the bottom two rings on the water tower have 1/8th of an inch of steel, while the top two rings only have 1/16th of an inch.
“Do we have any idea how much it would cost to demolish the thing?” Bob Watkins asked Larry Paine at the city council meeting.
Paine did not have an exact cost of demolition, but estimated it would be around the same price.
“I’d hate to waste all that money,” Bryan McCarty added. “It would just be money down the drain.”
Other suggestions for fixing the water tower included replacing both rings, removing the rings but not replacing either one, and replacing only one to make a shorter tower.
Council members voted to defer the issue until the next meeting, when more information about costs would be available.
In other business:
- City council members voted to change city ordinance to allow the public building commission to work with a private organization. There will be a 60-day comment period before the ordinance is enacted.