Sugar City Spending $25K to Restore Water Tower

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Story Published: Aug 29, 2008 at 5:40 PM MST

Story Updated: Nov 21, 2008 at 1:26 AM MST

By Nate Eaton

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SUGAR CITY - A major project is about to get underway in Sugar City to restore an old water tower that's not even being used anymore.

People can see the water tower from almost anywhere in the city and some are saying the peeling paint and rust are making it an eyesore.

Even though it hasn't been in use since the 1990's, the city plans to spend a lot money to fix it up.

"It's gonna be about 25 thousand dollars and the painting is guaranteed for about 30 years," said Lamont Merrill of the Sugar City Council.

The old water tower, built in 1915, will be completely cleaned off and repainted.

A few months ago, Sugar City's beautification committee asked the mayor and city council to approve the restoration project.

The issue was debated because the water tower is no longer being used. Some in the city think it's a waste of money. But, the city council gave the okay because cell phone companies are renting space on tower.

"We're going to receive about 700 dollars a month from the cell companies to go towards painting and maintenance and restoration of the toward," said Merrill.

That means in two and a half years, the 25,000 dollars will be paid off and the city will start to make a profit.

Renee Christensen's family has lived in Sugar City almost 9 years and she likes the idea.

"I don't have a problem with it," said Christensen. "If it's eventually going to pay for itself and make the city money, I think it's a really good idea because it'll be extra revenue for our city without raising taxes."

Crews are scheduled to begin work on the tower starting next Tuesday. It will take about two weeks to get completely finished.

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