Recommendations on Water Tower repairs have been passed down by Prescott’s Committee of the Whole.
The committee suggests the town direct staff to; address high risk health and safety risks in 2018, engage the town’s engineers in the planning process for replacing the tower within the next five years and exploring all available funding and grant options to ease the use of reserves and debt.
Treasurer Mathew Armstrong says Landmark Municipal Services, who conducted the inspection, did not suggest repairing the tower because it would not extend the water tower’s life by more than five years. Landmark believes the tower should be replaced in the next half decade anyways. It was pointed out that relying entirely on the town’s reserves is not an option and that they will need to pursue grant opportunities.
Armstrong says the last time they applied for the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund they were unsuccessful but another opportunity is coming up in the spring.