By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
There are fun projects, then there are the necessary ones. Monday night, Darren Doonan, utilities director for the city of Great Bend, asked the city council for approval on a $178,750 project to shore up the elevated tower at the airport industrial complex west of the city limits.
“This request is part of our ongoing effort to maintain regulatory compliance, protect critical infrastructure, and reduce long-term costs to the city,” Doonan said. “The airport industrial complex water tower is a critical asset within our water distribution system.”
Doonan said the tower supports system pressure, fire prevention, and service reliability for the area. During the 2023 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) inspection, several deficiencies related to the condition of the tower were found. Doonan noted those deficiencies were not cosmetic.
“A water tower is not an asset one can afford to maintain reactively,” he said. “Once coatings fail and corrosion accelerates, repair costs increase rapidly. Addressing these issues now is the most responsible and cost-effective approach to the management of that asset.”
The city received three bids for the work. The council approved the bid from Nebraska-based Viking Industrial Painting, which specializes in water tower inspection, maintenance, and rehabilitation. Doonan said the contract stipulates the work will be completed by Dec. 31, 2026, and the new coatings have a life expectancy of 15-25 years. Most of the project will be paid for via the utilities capital outlay budget to avoid any immediate rate impacts for customers.