Cost may trump OC water tower upgrades
OC Public Works recommends removal of old water container
The Ocean City Public Works Department will recommend the Town Council approve a plan that would end with the 42-year-old tower's removal this winter.
The 400,000-gallon capacity tower is no longer necessary to maintain the town's water supply, and it hasn't been since a 1 million gallon tower was built 10 years ago at 64th street, according to Public Works Director Hal Adkins.
The decision was made to continue operation of the 66th Street tower after the 64th Street tower's construction as an added safety margin for the water infrastructure in the midtown area of the resort, according to a written report from Jim Parsons, deputy director of Public Works.
The Public Works Department was asked to further monitor the situation and to revisit the issue in the future.
Eighteen months from now, the 66th Street tower will be due for renovation at an estimated cost of about $450,000, according to the report. Tower removal would save the town a great deal of money, Adkins said.
"We've looked at it from every single angle possible, and there is really no need to keep this tank," Adkins said. "If you've got a tank you don't need, do you really want to spend all that money to paint it and maintain it?"
When Public Works was looking into its removal in 2001, the cost would have been roughly $50,000, Adkins said. The estimate may be different now, a decade later, he said.
All entities with a connection to the tower and resort's water supply -- including the Ocean City Fire Department -- have been consulted about the potential removal, and nobody is concerned, Adkins said.
Included in the report is a letter from Whitman, Requardt and Associates LLP, an engineering firm that evaluated the tower's necessity. The firm concluded the tank may be removed without adverse affects to the town's water-distribution system.
A number of cellular providers have antenna apparatus on top of the 66th Street tower, and if the council votes to remove it, the town will have to move them to the 64th Street tower this winter.
The providers have been aware of the tower's potential removal for some time, and knew they'd probably have to move their apparatus at some point, Adkins said.
"It was really just a matter of timing," he said.
The 400,000-gallon capacity tower is no longer necessary to maintain the town's water supply, and it hasn't been since a 1 million gallon tower was built 10 years ago at 64th street, according to Public Works Director Hal Adkins.
The decision was made to continue operation of the 66th Street tower after the 64th Street tower's construction as an added safety margin for the water infrastructure in the midtown area of the resort, according to a written report from Jim Parsons, deputy director of Public Works.
The Public Works Department was asked to further monitor the situation and to revisit the issue in the future.
Eighteen months from now, the 66th Street tower will be due for renovation at an estimated cost of about $450,000, according to the report. Tower removal would save the town a great deal of money, Adkins said.
"We've looked at it from every single angle possible, and there is really no need to keep this tank," Adkins said. "If you've got a tank you don't need, do you really want to spend all that money to paint it and maintain it?"
When Public Works was looking into its removal in 2001, the cost would have been roughly $50,000, Adkins said. The estimate may be different now, a decade later, he said.
All entities with a connection to the tower and resort's water supply -- including the Ocean City Fire Department -- have been consulted about the potential removal, and nobody is concerned, Adkins said.
Included in the report is a letter from Whitman, Requardt and Associates LLP, an engineering firm that evaluated the tower's necessity. The firm concluded the tank may be removed without adverse affects to the town's water-distribution system.
A number of cellular providers have antenna apparatus on top of the 66th Street tower, and if the council votes to remove it, the town will have to move them to the 64th Street tower this winter.
The providers have been aware of the tower's potential removal for some time, and knew they'd probably have to move their apparatus at some point, Adkins said.
"It was really just a matter of timing," he said.
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