The Emporia-Metropolitan Area Planning Commission is on board with final plans for a water tower in southeast Emporia.
Board members approved a conditional use permit towards that end at their monthly meeting Tuesday night. With a combination of residential and heavy industry near the site at Warren Way near Penny Lane, City Engineer Jim Ubert says this will help water users across the board.
The configuration will be identical to the city’s existing water tower at Interstate 35 near Burlingame Road.
Caldwell Tanks won the bid for the 1-million-gallon tower, which will go up at Warren Way between Penny Lane and a dry detention pond. Estimated total cost is between $3 million and $3.5 million, although the federal government is offsetting $1.5 million of that cost.
Some site work is in the process of starting. Ubert says on-site construction will start next month and could last through November. Additional work to help facilitate remote operation could last into spring 2020.
