Orland Officials Say No To Ornate Water Tower

ORLAND PARK, IL — A water tower in need of state-recommended painting on the east side of Orland Park will remain plain village trustees decided earlier this month.

A decorative option developed as a gesture of goodwill to disgruntled business owners was nixed because opponents said the design cost too much.

The savings is $40,000. The decision came after trustees' debated for 15 minutes over what a water tower should look like.

The 48-year-old tower is in good condition, village documents show, but the Illinois EPA recommended that officials fix paint problems to avoid further troubles. The tower at the northwest corner of Harlem Avenue and Wheeler Drive is the first of seven the village will rehabilitate in coming years. About $1.2 million had been budgeted for this project, but the lowest bid came in at $547,000, documents showed.

Trustee Kathleen Fenton explained to the board that business owners on that side of Orland said that they feel like they have been forgotten because of the number of vacant properties that remain at the corridor and because of other upkeep issues. Adding an image of a brick wall and prairie grass to the otherwise undecorated tower was intended to show the village takes extra steps to make the area attractive to residents, visitors and business owners, she said. The design, Fenton added, went through several rounds of committee approvals before the final edition was passed to the board.

"We're trying to send a positive message to business owner on 'hey — we're really trying to help out over here,'" she said.

However, trustee Cynthia Nelson Katsenes, who sits on the committee that approved the design, said she opposed it because it was "too busy." Trustee Bill Healy said he doubted businesses cared about what the tower looked like because all owners wanted was lower water bills.

Trustee Michael Milani pushed the issue because he said the $40,000 was an excessive cost and he wanted to keep the cost down.

Through his questions, officials learned that some options discussed, such as painting the stem of the tower dark, would create condensation and other problems with the tower. An all-white tower needs to be cleaned more frequently at $7,000 for each power washing. They also learned that sandblasting off paint first will cost more, but would also extend the life of the tower.

Trustees voted down the decorative option by a vote of 4 to 3. Milani appeared to change his vote from yes to no. You can watch that at the village's recording of the meeting at the 30:17 mark.

Staff will come back at the next board meeting with options that include a white tower with the village logo and answers to some other questions.

Orland Park does have some decorated water towers. In this Patch file photo, you can see Sandberg High School's logo on the one near the campus.

Water towers are not pretty, as Fenton pointed out. However, sometimes, they evoke nostalgia, as the vintage one in Frankfort does for a group of residents trying to restore it.

Whatever they look like, water towers are necessary to a village's water supply. Just ask astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who "loves" them. Watch how he explains how they pump water into homes.