Gurnee to vote on new water tower project
Just two weeks after the old water tower near Gurnee Fire Station 1 came down, the village board could award a $3.9 million contract to build its successor.
The board will vote Monday on whether to grant the contract to build the tower to Chicago Bridge & Iron.
The new tower, which will be built on village-owned land at 1525 Knowles Road near Rollins Road, will have 10 times the capacity of the old 200,000-gallon tower that was torn down.
The contract is for construction of the tower and doesn't include other costs such as engineering, permitting and the work that will need to be done to hook the tower to the water supply.
With all those costs included, the village is estimating the project will cost around $7 million.
Jack Linehan, assistant to the village administrator, said Friday it's possible the project will end up costing less than that.
"The construction bids came in lower than expected," Linehan said. "Seven million is a high number, but there can be unforeseen challenges, so we budgeted conservatively."
Under a plan approved earlier this year, the village will use a $5.5 million low-interest loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the difference will be paid with reserve funds.
The contract calls for Chicago Bridge & Iron to build a spheroid-style water tower, the kind shaped like a golf ball on a tee.
The tower will increase the village's overall water capacity and improve water pressure. The water pressure in Gurnee generally gets worse the farther west you are, so the new tower will be placed where it is needed most.
The village anticipates construction will start in late summer or early fall.