Cadillac Lane water tower to be removed

McMinnville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen passed the resolution needed to allow the dismantling and removal of the 250,000-gallon water tower located on Cadillac Lane.

The Water and Sewer Committee met March 25 to discuss the bids. At that time, there were two bids ‘ one from Iseler Demolition Inc., and one from Allen Pittle.

‘ Iseler Demolition is a professional water tank removal company out of Michigan. Because this company has spent years removing water tanks, it has the men, equipment, and insurance necessary to remove the tank in a few days for $19,300.

‘ Allen Pittle owns a scrap metal company. After being interested in removing the tower for scrap metal only, the numbers showed the business would lose money on the deal. He offered to remove it for $15,000. However, he would need time to get everything ready, including insurance requirements.

Although Iseler’s bid of $19,300 was $4,300 more than Pittle’s, Motlow’s expansion is moving forward on schedule and the old Drivers Testing Center is scheduled for removal this Tuesday. With the tower still looming over the project, committee members chose to accept Iseler’s bid and sent that recommendation to the board.

With board approval granted, the Michigan company will be in McMinnville to take down the tank immediately following the removal of the old Driver Testing Center. Once the center is out of the way, the tower’s removal should take only a few days.

The 20,000 pounds of metal will be taken down from top to bottom, piece by piece, to the concrete foundation. The agreement with the company does not include the foundation removal or water main capping. City departments will be used to finish the jobs.