Keokuk, IA – A second round of bids will determine the size of Keokuk Municipal Water-Works's new elevated water storage tower.
The company originally planned to build a tower with a two-million gallon tank in western Keokuk. It would be located behind the former Lincoln Elementary school, which was purchased by Keokuk Municipal Water-Works.
President Bill Cole says the project was expected to cost around $5,000,000. He says the bids came in around $4,000,000 because of the falling price of steel.
Cole says while a low bid is normally good news, the presence of roughly $3.6-million in state and federal funding changes the situation. "If we would have gone ahead and accepted the bid on the two-million gallon tank," says Cole, "we would have been leaving more than $1-million in state and federal money on the table that would have gone to another project in another community."
Cole says Keokuk Municipal Water Works has secured a $2-million EDA grant and $1.6-million in federal economic stimulus funding. He says the project must meet a certain cost threshold to take advantage of all of the money.
Bids for a four-million gallon elevated tank will be accepted next month. The project will be presented to the Keokuk City Planning Commission on July 27.
Cole says the city does not have to approve a change in the size of the tower because the original permits did not designate a specific size for the project.
Work could get underway in October. Cole says the structure should be operational in late 2011.
Keokuk Municipal Water Works plans to borrow $3-million for the project. Cole says proposed water rate increases have been based on that number.